I was born and raised in the same small town in West Michigan as my family and yet they are never bored during the summer months regardless of its size. Why? It's a tourist town so it's always buzzing with new people and a plethora of things to do. Growing up in a tourist town is unlike living in any other town--its perks and downsides are unique to any other. Here are some traits that definitely ensure you are grew up in a tourist town.
1. You can spot a tourist from a mile away.
It's so entertaining when tourists try to blend in with your town because it makes it even easier to tell they're not from there. They try too hard and they have a perpetual look of confusion which they try to mask with unnecessary "coolness."
2. You have most of the big name chain restaurants/fast food joints in your town even though you have a pretty small number of permanent residents.
Let's be real. Grand Haven has roughly 10,000 permanent residents. We don't need Wendy's, McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell, Subway, Culvers, Applebee's, Tim Horton's/Cold Stone, Biggby, and three different places to get Starbucks. I'm almost positive I'm forgetting one, but you get the point. Don't get me wrong. I am in no way, shape or form complaining about this abundance of options, but do 10,000 people really need all of this? Not even close. It's specifically because it's a tourist town, and tourists just love having options that are cheap and familiar to them. Thank you, tourists for contributing to our food variety--it is appreciated.
3. Your town has an "off season."
Just like sports, your tourist town has off season too. For most it's probably called "winter." Fancy, I know. AKA when all of the tourists have long gone and now that there are only permanent residents in town, it almost seems like a ghost town. Only in a tourist town can you struggle beyond your sanity to find parking in July and then feel like you're the only one in your town in February.
4. You know that street signs are apparently a different language to tourists in your town.
The number of times I have almost crashed my car over the summer because some oblivious tourist didn't read the "One-Way" sign is too many to count. Believe it or not, "one-way" does in fact mean "one-way" in my town. I promise we don't have a secret language--we're not that cool.
5. Someone will ask you for directions while you're downtown.
The best part about this is if you are from a small town or not. In small towns, there are only so many places you can get to before exiting the city limit in general. Meaning my directions are usually "Where's the pier? See that giant concrete half-bridge looking thing? Yeah it's that. Just keep walking." Sometimes it's hard to stifle a chuckle when tourists ask for directions in my town. When it's the bigger "tourist attractions" they're not entirely hard to find. Also the town is small. You'll find it eventually I promise. "Where's Kilwin's? Literally I can see it from here," (obviously I'm not this sassy, but c'mon). Kilwin's! That's the other chain I forgot to mention.
