Come on, Bakersfield, we’re not that boring!

Looking to attract more tourists to Bakersfield and Kern County? Promoting The Bakersfield Sound is a good place to start. But don’t stop there.

Californian columnist Robert Price wrote recently about using the lure of good music to help fill Bakersfield hotels (“How we can untap Bakersfield’s tourism potential,” Oct. 20). Price, a recognized Bakersfield Sound authority, backed up his suggestion by noting the success Clarksdale, Miss., is having by capitalizing on its ties to the iconic Delta Blues.

Although Clarksdale’s population is only about the size of Lamont in Kern County, the remote wide spot along an old Mississippi Delta road packs crowds into its hotels, restaurants, clubs and shops every day — all year round.

Price allowed that if Clarksdale can do it, so can Bakersfield. But a closer look reveals a few differences between the big city of Bakersfield and Clarksdale.

Clarksdale is the No. 2 stop on a popular six-stop, 75-mile Mississippi Delta tour that begins in Memphis, Tenn., and ends in Indianola, Miss. — at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center. Likely that accounts for much of Clarksdale’s appeal.

And who wouldn’t want to visit Clarksdale, with all its blues clubs, music museums and local color? A big draw is its Crossroads, a tall pole that supports a trio of huge electric guitars. According to legend, it’s the very spot that famed blues musician Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil.

For the many people who want to mix adventure with their music, the Quapaw Canoe Co. offers rides down the Mississippi River and a guide named Chilly Billy offers Delta Bohemian Jeep Tours into the woods. An abundance of websites lures visitors to sample these Clarksdale attractions.

Compared to Clarksdale, Bakersfield might seem a bit boring to out-of-town visitors. Google “things to do in Bakersfield” and the “attractions” lists don’t exactly get your heart pumping. Take, for example, the Tripadvisor.com listing that includes:

Buck Owens Crystal Palace; California Living Museum (CALM); The Park at River Walk; Fox Theater; Peacocks at Hart Park; Buena Vista Museum of Natural History; Kern County Raceway Park; Murray Family Farms; Rabobank Arena; the Great Central Valley; Gaslight Melodrama Theater; McMurtrey Aquatic Center; Buena Vista Aquatic Recreational Area; Bakersfield Museum of Art; Weedpatch Camp; Valley Plaza mall; Central Park Antique Mall; Merry Go Round Antique Mall;, Kern River State Park; Sam Lynn Ball Park; Hillcrest Memorial Park and Mortuary; Camping World; Faith Baptist Church; Golden West Casino; Unity Church; Saunders Park; Metro Galleries; Stars Theatre Restaurant.

Thank goodness, another online listing included the Kern County Museum and its Pioneer Village, Lake Ming and Lake Isabella. And still another tossed in a few restaurants, including Wool Growers and Luigi’s. One gave a nod to just one golf course.

You get the idea. There are a lot of existing attractions missing from these lists. And there are others that could be created and listed. Maybe someday, a casino at the base of the Grapevine will be included. But meantime, here are some attractions that might be arranged:

Factory tours: The Rio Tinto (former U.S. Borax) open pit mine in Boron; Amazon’s soon-to-open “fulfillment center” in Bakersfield; Frito-Lay’s Highway 58 plant; Grimmway Farms’ and The Wonderful Co.’s packing plants; Tehachapi wind energy parks; Edwards Air Force Base; and Bakersfield oil fields.

Outdoors: Kern River rafting; Tehachapi glider flights; off-highway vehicle rides; Ridgecrest petroglyph exploring; tours of local famous Kern County movie locations, and tours of Bakersfield’s iconic neon signs, which can be viewed along the city’s streets and at the Kern County Museum.

Weird stuff: Be honest, we can be weird. For starters, how about a ghost tour at the historic Union Cemetery? There’s a really cool searchable website that helps people find weird things to do like that. www.atlasobscura.com/ things-to-do/united-states

Local city and county promoters paid big bucks to develop new “branding” slogans for the city (“The Sound of Something Better”) and for the county (“Grounded & Boundless”).

While we aren’t quite sure what either means, spreading the word about Bakersfield and Kern County attractions will put some meat on those slogans’ bones.

And maybe hiring a tour guide named Chilly Billy might help, too.