Ever done research before a vacation and stumbled on a slew of tips on how to enjoy your intended destination like a local?

How to eat like a local. How to shop like a local. How to relax like a local ... they're all classics in the travel guide world, and why not? As locals in a tourist destination, just about anyone in Sullivan County could tell you where the best places are to eat, shop, and relax. This is their vacation. This is our life.

And that's exactly what makes it important for those of us who live, shop, eat, and relax here in the county to be careful about the information we share with would-be visitors to our neck of the woods.

We know what to do.

We also know what not to do.

We know not to take a canoe out on the river when it's swollen with rain.

We know the restaurants and establishments that are really more for the grown-ups, so please leave the kiddos home.

We know the parks that aren't made for our pups.

We know how to live safely and responsibly.

And it behooves us to keep all of that in mind when our visitors come along asking for advice on where to go and what to do.

If it's been pouring rain for a week, don't recommend they take a tubing trip down the Delaware.

If they say they've got a group of small children, don't recommend they head to a museum designed for adults.

If they're looking to get out with their pups, don't recommend a park that's dog-free.

And so on.

Tourism brings millions of dollars into Sullivan County every year, and we as residents want to make the most of it. But people take our advice seriously. They count on us to get it right.

We're the experts.

Let's act like it.