My thoughts on taper

As I mentioned before, I tapered before the Louisiana Marathon this past week. It's the first time I really tapered, so I was curious to see how I felt. Would my legs feel fresh and energetic? Would I be chomping at the bit at the starting line?

Underneath those tights are unprepared muscles. 

Hardly.
Here's how my taper went and how I felt:
What I normally do: Well, this totally depends on what other races I've done in the past few days or weeks. Usually my last long long run is two weeks out; this could be 18 or 20. I drop volume just a little in the days leading up to the race, with 3 - 6 miles the day before the race. If I just ran a hard or long race, I may take the whole week leading up easy.
Taper summary: This time my last long run was 20 miles, a full three weeks out from race day, The next weeks my long runs were 14 and 12 miles. I did "easy" speed work each week, except that I skipped one week while I was sick. I decreased my total mileage to around 35 miles (down from 45 - 55) and my last week I did just 30 heading into the race.
How I felt before the race: In a made-up word, unfresh. My lack of miles and low speeds made my muscles feel unused, and each run for the last week felt like I had taken a long break. Rather than feel rested and ready, I felt stiff and uncomfortable. Less running affected my appetite, too, and I didn't feel like eating much. That would be normal, except I didn't want to head into a race hungry.
How I felt during the race: I started out with the same "unused" feeling in my muscles, as if I'd taken too many days off. But that was not the biggest problem. I think my long taper had made my body forget how to retain fuel for the finish. I hit the wall in this race, and that is NOT the norm for me, yet overall I had fueled well during the race. I just think you have to train your body to use fuel efficiently for a long distance, and my body wasn't used to this. Usually during a race I start feeling the need for fuel at very regular intervals: I start at mile 6, even though I don't feel like I need it yet, then I continue to take half-packets of GU at 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22. Sometimes I'll take some at 8 instead of 22. But this race I felt like I was burning through the energy and not hanging onto any of it. Result? WALL. 7:41 instead of 7:11. And felt like I was running a 5:30. Ugh.
How I felt after the race: I am rarely sore, but I think my muscles took this one a little too seriously. I have some quad and hamstring soreness. I usually recover speedily, but this time I'm not.
What I think will work for me: No more long tapers. I will do my last long run (like 20) two weeks out, and while my regular runs will be easy, I'd rather take an extra day off instead of decreasing mileage each day. I will keep the speedwork, as I find it keeps my muscles ready for race pace. And I will NEVER take off the day before a race if I can help it; when I have it has always resulted in poor performance!
So - do you taper? If so, how long? And if you run short distances, do you still do a taper or a rest day?