Ask a newcomer to North Carolina which animal worries them most, and sharks often top the list. The coast logged exactly one confirmed bite last year. The animals that catch newcomers off guard are smaller, far more ordinary, and nowhere near the ocean. These are the North Carolina wildlife encounters newcomers handle horribly. Note: This…
California made surfing its official state sport in 2018, and the state never wrote down how the lineup works. Nobody had to. Every beach below the high-tide line legally belongs to the public in California, so there’s no single owner standing by with a rulebook for the sand. These are the unwritten California beach rules…
Alabama lawmakers wrote “Heart of Dixie” into the state’s license plates in 1951. The phrase has appeared on every standard-issue plate since 1954. More than seventy years later, nobody driving through Alabama needs the phrase explained. But not every sign in the state comes with that kind of built-in decoder. These are the Alabama roadside…
One Berks County fire company has sold the same square, hole-less doughnut every winter for 58 years running. Fire companies, bakeries, and churches across Pennsylvania Dutch country fry the same treat to use up a year’s worth of lard before Lent starts. Nobody blinks. These are the Pennsylvania festival foods that leave newcomers staring at…
Some of the highest property tax rates in the entire country sit in upstate New York, on some of the state’s cheapest homes. None of those counties touch New York City. These are the things Upstate New Yorkers are tired of explaining to New York City residents. 1. Where Upstate Starts New York State draws…
Alabama’s home football games are worth about $23 million apiece to Tuscaloosa’s economy, according to the University of Alabama’s research. On the season’s first Saturday, the whole state changes. These are the things that change around Alabama the weekend college football comes back. 1. Hotel Rooms Near Campus Book Solid Alabama’s season opener doesn’t need…
A typical home in Pennsylvania costs about $281,000. Cross into New York, and that same kind of house costs around $527,000, a gap of nearly a quarter million dollars. Housing is just where the differences start. Ask someone who’s called both states home, and many will give Pennsylvania their vote as the best place to…
Alabama doesn’t wait on a cold front to call it fall. It waits on a whistle. Football conferences, wildlife agencies, and county fair boards each pick their own date months in advance, and not one of them consults a meteorologist. These are the signs that fall has landed in Alabama that have nothing to do…
Think a jar in the back of your Georgia grandmother’s pantry has to be trash by now? Not necessarily. She might still be working through a jug of sorghum syrup from last year’s Blairsville Sorghum Festival. The syrup’s sugar content means it’d be hard-pressed to spoil. These are the things a Georgia grandmother’s kitchen holds…
Tennessee residents will defend just about anything tied to their state, whether the facts hold up or not. These are the things Tennesseans defend hardest about their state, even when they can’t fully explain why. 1. Jack Daniel’s Tennesseans wear Jack Daniel’s like a state symbol, stamped on koozies, murals, and welcome signs from Bristol…
