A miserable place. A definite "no-no".
(lowest rating) to
(highest rating - in the beginning). The
ratings were based not only on the quality of the attraction, but also how
I FELT when I went there. If I was in a good mood that day, I generally gave
what I saw a higher rating than it deserved (and vice versa). The ratings
are also comparative. If I gave something 
,
then later saw something better, I would give it 
or more stars. As I saw more and more things, it became increasingly
difficult to rate different attractions. "Better than
, but not as good as
became a problem! Then I started using
(half stars)! Eventually, it got to the
point where I had already given an attraction
(Lincoln Memorial - Washington DC)
, but I liked something else (National Air
and Space Museum - Washington DC) better than a
rating. So the Air and Space Museum was the first attraction to get a
(that's six) rating. Things became a lot
easier after that! I made up my mind about how I would decide on a rating.
In my descriptions of Trip #2 and the
Hawaii trip, all the ratings you see are based
on these general guidelines:
0
A miserable place. A definite "no-no".
Not a good place. Regretted coming here. A waste of time and money.
An "O.K." place. Did not regret coming here, but would not recommend it to others. Fine as a "secondary" point of interest on a longer trip to some place else!
Nice. Worth a visit. "Ya got me's recommendation!"
Very nice. Strongly recommended. Almost excellent. Definitely worth coming back for a second (third, fourth, fifth....) visit. [Majority of the attractions I saw fit this description]
Excellent. The best of the best. MUST come here at least once in your lifetime! Not to be missed by ANYONE!!! Fantastic! Great! Superb! Magnificent! "Wow!"
As you read the ratings in On The Road Again and my Hawaii trip log, don't forget about the
"WOW!!!"
Even better than the "Best of the Best" (if that's possible)! Has something extraordinary to put it over the top. For example, Glacier National Park in Montana had an ice cave at 6400 feet elevation. The snow typically lasts all year at an elevation of 8000 feet and higher. To see and walk inside an ice cave 1600 feet below the snow level in the middle of August was an unexpected surprise. If it were not for the ice cave, I would have given the park . [Only four places on my second trip have "earned" a rating -- THAT'S how good they had to be to get six stars!]
's... those are the places that are "in between" the above ratings!
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