Florida’s health department issues blue-green algae alerts for stretches of its rivers almost every year. That’s only one reason why locals avoid swimming in certain rivers. These are the Florida rivers people refuse to swim in. 1. Fenholloway River The Fenholloway River near Perry carries a distinction no other waterway in the state holds. In…
Tennessee law limits a funeral balloon release to 25, and state code fines a family $250 for each balloon beyond that count. Balloons are only part of it. A lot of what Tennesseans do to say goodbye to their loved ones traces back generations, and a good share of it has worn out its welcome….
Missouri’s Department of Conservation opens the season’s first firearms deer portion next weekend, Oct. 9 through 11, in the counties that allow antlerless permits. That’s just the early portion. Shop owners, cooks, and processors across the Ozarks and the river bottoms notice the shift weeks before the big November opener. These are the signs hunting…
Could you explain to a first-time visitor why blaze-orange vests take over gas stations and diners across South Dakota the third Saturday of October? It’s pheasant season. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks traces the tradition back to 1919. These are the everyday habits that only make sense to South Dakotans. Note: This is general…
Washington’s vehicle code requires headlights the moment rain or fog keeps other cars from being seen a thousand feet down the road, under Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 46.37.020. Longtime residents flip the switch without a thought. These are the rain habits that give away a lifelong Washingtonian. 1. Skipping the Umbrella Lifelong natives walk…
NPR reported this fall that a member of the Backstreet Boys sued a Walton County beachgoer for trespassing, twice, over a folding chair on wet sand. The catch? She had stayed on the public sand. These are the Florida beach rules locals follow that are never posted. Note: This is general information, not legal advice….
A grandmother in Mobile lays a fussy grandbaby down for a nap on their stomach, the same way she did with four kids through the 1970s. Her daughter says nothing. She waits until grandma’s car pulls out of the driveway before doing something about it. These are the things Alabama parents won’t say to a…
The Georgia National Fair opens in Perry on Oct. 8, and the interstate exits leading into town will fill with drivers who each grew up trusting a different gas station to fuel up along the way. These are the gas station habits that give away which part of Georgia someone is from. 1. Growing up…
A Nevadan who packs up for almost any other state gets a jolt on their first paycheck: An extra line for state income tax. That’s just one of many things that Nevadans miss most after they move away. 1. Public Land Nobody Fences More than 80 percent of Nevada’s land belongs to the federal government,…
More than half of every bottle of Korbel brandy sold in the U.S. lands in a Wisconsin glass, according to a 2019 sales count from the distillery. It comes from the supper club, the classic Wisconsin restaurant built around a slow dinner, a stiff drink, and a set of rules nobody hands out-of-staters at the…
