Editorial: borderline locations

[darkling]

I've got three locations that I'm not entirely sure about retaining (and another couple I'm not sure about adding myself).

• https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/eu/de/hitlers-speech/ I'm not sure what the specific location marked is about, or which speech is being referred to here.
• https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/eu/gb/a-place-where-a-saint-once-preached/ The saint in question is Thomas Becket. The entry could definitely do with a rename and an explanation; should we keep it at all?
• https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/eu/gb/a-church-which-inspired-dickens/ There's apparently a strong connection between Dickens and the town of Rochester. It's less clear which church this entry is pointing at (the location is vague, and there's several churches nearby).
• The Pendulum Hotel in Manchester has (or at least, had, the last could of times I've been there) a working Foucault's Pendulum in the main stairwell. Is this on its own enough to add an otherwise unremarkable hotel?
• Similarly, the Barceló Sants hotel in Barcelona is decked out like a space station from 2001. Should this be added?

[darkling]

• https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/as/pk/kallar-kahar Not sure if this qualifies as nerdery?

[darkling]

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/eu/gb/the-balancing-barn

Looks like a holiday let -- so not really suitable for a day trip, regardless of how interesting the architecture.

[takarabune]

I think for the legacy listings, if in doubt leave it out. If it is of value someone might add it under the new criteria and explain it.

[popey]

The Pendulum Hotel in Manchester has (or at least, had, the last could of times I've been there) a working Foucault's Pendulum in the main stairwell. Is this on its own enough to add an otherwise unremarkable hotel?

If by "working" you mean "There's an enormous pendulum swinging back and forth, which is powered by a motor in the roof" then yes. :)

[darkling]

Bah. I missed the motor. Forget that one, then.

[darkling]

How do we feel about regular but non-permanent festivals?

Effetto Venezia in Livorno is one annual festival I've seen on the site currently (and left on), but I'd be very tempted to add the Venice Biennale of Architecture, for example. Maybe the Beltane Fire Festival in Edinburgh as well? I'm sure there are plenty of others that could go on.

[takarabune]

I don't see why not. Perhaps if they are tagged as such they could have a different graphic and color on the pin.

[darkling]

More things I don't know what to do with:

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/ca/kensington-market/ (https://kensingtonmarket.to) -- covered market, but nothing particularly nerdy there, as far as I can tell.

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/antiques-at-gresham-lake/ (https://greshamantiques.com) -- it's an antique shop

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/arizona-rattlers-arena-football/ -- sports arena and handegg team

[popey]

Agreed on Kensington Market.

I think Antique shops like that, where there's the opportunity to pick up trinkets like toy cars, retro signs, clocks etc are interesting. I spend quite a bit of time in them over here. There's one near me which looks like the one linked, where it's less a shop, and more a building with a ton of tiny concessions from designers, collectors, and dealers. Not sure exactly how nerdy it is, but I nerd out in them :)

On football/hand-egg/sportsball stadiums, I can't see the value of them. I think they're pretty easy to find, for those that need to.

[bsanders]

I've been looking at the small handful near me (San Diego, CA, USA) that appear to come from the original data set, and was wavering on if they qualify.

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/mt-soledad/ - is a mountain with a lovely view both inland and to the sea, a Veteran's memorial built in the 50's, and a giant cross.

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/sunset-cliffs and https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/cowles-mountain are both very scenic spots in parks/nature reserves. As a local, I might spend a day hiking around those places (and I might recommend them to a tourist who was into nature/scenic views), but I'm not sure I'd call them nerdy?

On the other hand: https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/queen-califias-magic-circle is an impressive art installation - that seems more fitting to me and I'll edit the location to highlight that.

[darkling]

Generally, in my comprehensive review of the pre-2016 entries, I've been leaving in nature reserves/scenic spots for now -- casting the nerdery net wide -- but I wouldn't object to pruning those (unless there's some other geophysical reason for them being interesting, like Schiehallion in Scotland).

And where would you draw the line? A great view over a karst landscape vs a set of natural limestone caves? A walk in a deep forest vs a trip to the face of a glacier? Dark skies park? Site of Special Scientific Interest (a UK designation, usually indicating high levels of biodiversity).

[darkling]

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/edward-h-nabb-research-center-for-delmarva-history-culture -- Seems to be a research institute. They say there's access for the general public, but I'm reluctant to add working academic sites that don't have a permanent exhibition.

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/edward-mckays-used-bookstore-and-more -- now has five stores, none of them at the indicated location. Which location do we point at (if any)?

[popey]

For both, remove.
If someone wants to add all five (or one of) the book stores, they can.

[darkling]

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/monument-avenue -- was a collection of five monuments honouring Confederate soldiers from the civil war, plus one honouring Arthur Ashe. All five Confederate monuments have now been removed (in 2020 and '21).

[popey]

Delete.

[darkling]

There's a few entries I've come across that definitely read like advertising, grouped in a couple of places. There's a cluster of 3 or 4 marine yacht hires near the Whitsunday Islands in Australia, and a couple of entries on K'gari (Fraser Island), also Australia. For the latter examples:

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/nomads-cathedrals-on-frasers (moving to https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/oc/au/cathedrals-on-frasers soon)
and
https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/nomads-fraser-island-tag-along-2-day-departs-noosa (moving to https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/oc/au/fraser-island-tag-along-tour soon)

I've left them in for now, but I'm skeptical.

[popey]

I find it odd that people put "poster" as their own business name, which makes a bad smell :)

(Makes me wonder if we need a "report this site" button with a drop-down with a list of reasons, so people can report sus places)

Yeah, agreed that they're just businesses, not "noteworthily nerdy" shall we say.

[darkling]

A couple more queries:

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/roland-house-the-old-spaghetti-factory -- is just a restaurant (and not in an old spaghetti factory). Nice-looking decor, though.

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/raleigh-little-theatre and https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/rose-garden are in the same (small) park, run by the same people, and have the same top-level website. While they're different kinds of things, I'm not sure about keeping both. For reference, there are places like https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/eu/gb/dan-yr-ogof/ which have lots of different things (caves, dinosaur park, heavy horses), but a single entry on NDT.

[popey]

The old spaghetti house does do murder mysteries while you eat, which is unfortunate if you're the one murdered, I guess.

Yes to rationalising, as I did for RMC

[darkling]

@popey See the last four comments -- any opinions?

[popey]

Opinions deployed.

(We should codify this stuff)

Maybe a new top level page or a simple blog post? Shall I put some stuff together as a draft, based on decisions so far, and put it in the repo for discussion (or have a discussion topic and turn that into a blog post or page?).

[darkling]

Yes, having a set of guidelines as a page would be good. I've been thinking about it in this clean-up process, but I'm not sure I can articulate anything very well, except as a series of don'ts, which isn't nearly as good as a collection of dos.

[darkling]

I've left in https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/us/st-julians-winery but: (a) their website has been throwing 403 for the last month (according to archive.org), and (b) they don't seem to do much in terms of tours or education. There's wine tastings, but it looks pretty much like just a fancy off-license to me. Possibly delete?

[darkling]

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/eu/nl/setup -- I'm not sure whether to leave this one in or not. They do occasional events, but I'm not sure about drop-in visits.

[darkling]

https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/eu/gb/birmingham-indoor-market -- We've rejected other food markets (e.g. https://nerdydaytrips.org/daytrip/na/ca/kensington-market/, above). Unless there's some special reason for keeping this one, I'm leaning towards deletion.