Omaha. Somewhere in the Middle of America: The Business Travel Thread

[PaloAltoCougar]

Redding, CA Oddly, the biggest deal I ever did (the sale of a huge lumber company, including thousands of acres of land, for nearly a billion bucks)

Stockton, CA As a new associate, I helped set up an emergency loan for $10MM to an S&L. We had to deliver negotiable bearer notes for that amount (meaning that anyone who had them could sell them), and neither Brinks, Wells nor any other armored transport service would take them. As the low man on the totem pole, I got to drive them to beautiful Stockton in my Plymouth Champ (), and only after the partner told me he trusted that I'd wouldn't go rogue.

East Brunswick, NJ eh

[mtnbiker]

This is the business travel thread. That did not sound like business travel.

Yeah, but at least I gave an explanation, unlike others, to explain the poor rating. Although Barstow probably needs no further explanation.

[Surfah]

Union City, New Jersey
Gainesville, FL
Huntington, WV

[smokymountainrain]

Burley, ID.
Tacoma, Wa.
Barstow, CA.
Waukegan, Ill.

[Donuthole]

Wells, Nevada, comes to mind. I got a late start driving to the Bay area with my kids, and tried to find a motel along the way in Wells. All hotels there were booked for a car show, and it was dark and nothing but scary-looking people were out.

We continued on to Elko and, surprisingly, had a very good experience. A Comfort Inn or similar motel was just opening that night and as we were one of their first guests, we got a very nice rate and the rooms were the cleanest they'd ever be. The one glitch was that the swimming pool water was still pretty cold and had about 3 times the chlorine that it needed, but one daughter braved it for a while.

This is the business travel thread. That did not sound like business travel. But, since you mention Wells, i'll bring it full circle. I had to attend an accident inspection near Wells, NV a couple years back. Freezing cold, and my expert had to spend an entire day outside inspecting an accident site and a second day outside inspecting a demolished tow truck (super gory accident--3 dead, 2 others severely injured). I pretty much sat in the car for 2 days and watched movies on my laptop. We also stayed in Elko, at a brand new extended-stay Marriott.

[mtnbiker]

Wells, Nevada, comes to mind. I got a late start driving to the Bay area with my kids, and tried to find a motel along the way in Wells. All hotels there were booked for a car show, and it was dark and nothing but scary-looking people were out.

We continued on to Elko and, surprisingly, had a very good experience. A Comfort Inn or similar motel was just opening that night and as we were one of their first guests, we got a very nice rate and the rooms were the cleanest they'd ever be. The one glitch was that the swimming pool water was still pretty cold and had about 3 times the chlorine that it needed, but one daughter braved it for a while.

[TripletDaddy]

terrible places (any combo of dumpy, ugly, high crime, nothing to do, horrible food, etc) I've visited (staying multiple days, not just in town for one meeting and leaving) for work:

Pascagoula, Mississippi
Saginaw, Michigan
Terre Haute, Indiana
South Bend, Indiana
Vidor, Texas


There are probably more but these places come to top of mind when putting together a list of places that were not only awful but had very little to any redeeming value for visitors. There are lots of small towns and cities across the country that may be boring to visit, but are beautiful or have some sort of geographical or historical appeal. The towns I listed above I found to be not only ugly but noteworthy for all the wrong reasons. Interestingly enough, there are neighborhoods not far from the Detroit area that are actually beautiful and wealthy. Very interesting juxtaposition when considering Detroit's overall depressed and horrific state.

[Donuthole]

We've got a bunch of travel-related threads for destinations people want to visit. This thread is for those destinations we probably wouldn't ever visit if it weren't for work.

On that note, I'm an emergency fill-in for a deposition taking place in Jacksonville, Florida. My co-worker is sick and won't be able to travel, and the deposition can't be postponed because the deponent is being deployed to Iraq next week. Can anyone recommend a great place to eat in Jacksonville? I'm meeting Tim Tebow for lunch on Friday, but I'll need somewhere decent to eat dinner Thursday night.