Yes the display did suck last year. Plus, I ended up getting chased out of a public park in a dark area, because the park closes at 10:00 PM.
It’s tough finding a place away from car headlight traffic, let alone city lights.
Boy, you can say that again! Probably the best place around here is a site that's popular with amateur astronomer types. But it's 60 or 70 miles away, up winding mountain roads. It's so far away I've never actually been.
When looking for a site, you've got to get well off the road to get away from the car lights, as you say, but not trespass on anyone's property. If there are trees or hills nearby, your view will be obstructed.
The observing sites I've found and gone to all by myself (not too many people are interested enough in astronomy to bother going with you -- or maybe it's just me?) are generally too uncomfortable: not level, voracious mosquitoes, too windy, etc.
Then there are the spooky sites where you hear rustling in the brush and twigs snapping all around you. Before long you're imagining the chupacabra are closing in on you and one hand is tending the telescope while the other hand is resting on the 44 magnum on your hip.
Don't need a telescope for meteor watching, so I might go up there anyway this year. That way I can watch meteors and be doubly safe with a 44 magnum on each hip. ;-)
Darkness is of essense. I remember a great shower I caught several years ago. We live in a town of approx. 7k people with high school, industrial lights etc. I went outside at approx 4 am in town and within 15 minutes saw several, then decided it would be worth the 10 minute drive to a favorite farm field (pre scouted) away from city lights.
What I saw then, I had never witnessed. There were at least on average, one meteor per minute. One 10 second period, I saw three, one of which broke up in the atmosphere. There were many that broke and split into fiery fragments and a couple of fireball types. This lasted until approx 6 am and it started getting light. Didn't have a cell phone then to alert the family, so my they slept through it.
I have gotten up many times and gone back to bed seeing only one or two, but that one night made all the trips worth while.
Meanwhile, the 7 am news (the previous night's 11 pm news hyped the celestial show) reported the shower as a dud as seen from the city. The city lights had almost completely masked the fine show.
Good luck, and pre-scout a place with dark skies if at all possible.