About two out of three of Tennessee’s 95 counties keep Central time. The rest keep Eastern time, an hour ahead. The line between them traces county borders rather than a river or a mountain ridge. Federal regulators drew that line decades ago, and nobody voted on it. These are the headaches two time zones cause…
If you miss checkout at an Ohio state park campsite by fifteen minutes, the office doesn’t send a friendly nudge. It sends a bill for a night you never planned to book. State rule lets a park charge the full site rate again the moment the posted checkout time passes, and that’s just one line…
South Carolina grew faster than any other state in the country last year, a growth rate of about 1.5 percent. Every new arrival grew up under a different set of house rules. These are the etiquette debates South Carolinians are still fighting about, sometimes with new neighbors and sometimes with family members. 1. Bringing an…
A recycling bin sits at the curb in Philadelphia all Labor Day morning. The garbage truck isn’t late. Philadelphia skips today’s route, and the way it reshuffles the rest of the week behind it is what catches residents off guard. These are the things shutting down in Pennsylvania today. Note: This is general information, not…
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…
