I personally retain similar views of England. As in, why would anyone bother... it's not that special. I could think of many prettier things to go an look at and many more civilised places to spend some time. A similar effect is possible on a smaller scale, too - for example people migrating towards the beaches in the summer months. I've never considered the land meeting water that special but this is likely because I grew up around it.
I would suggest it's mostly born of perspective. Something you see every day rapidly becomes less amazing even if it is pretty special to begin with. Such becomes "background noise" and is then only noticed by those generally absent this "noise" - similar to how when in a busy resteraunt you can focus on a single persons conversation and autonomously filter the excess without effort.