A ribbon drops outside a new grocery store in Virginia Beach at 7:40 a.m., cameras and curious bystanders both aimed at the doors. Twenty minutes later, those doors open on one of the first Lidl stores the United States has ever seen. Shoppers walk in curious about a name nobody recognizes. Many of them end…
North Carolina kids grow up ordering Cheerwine like it’s a fifth food group. Ask a tourist to guess the flavor based on the name, and they never land on cherry cola. These are the foods North Carolinians grew up on that outsiders don’t understand until they’ve tried them. 1. Livermush and Eggs A North Carolina…
A tourist eases a rental car around the orange barricade blocking a flooded wash outside Tucson. Twenty minutes later, the driver is standing on the roof, waiting on a swift-water rescue crew and a bill from the fire department. Arizona has a name for that mistake, and a vocabulary to match. These are the words…
A cashier at a Publix near Ocala braces for the same argument at least twice a week. He never quite wins it. The shopper grabs a receipt, insists the store rang something up wrong, and drives off upset. These are the Publix myths in Florida that wouldn’t survive one look at Publix’s own policy pages….
A Californian in Ohio tells new coworkers that there was a Sig alert on the way in. Everyone stares. Nobody has any idea what it means, and the Californian has said it their entire life without knowing it isn’t universal English. These are the phrases Californians repeat their whole lives without knowing nobody else says…
Do you think you could pass as a lifelong Floridian after a single year in the state? We’re willing to bet it’ll take longer. These are the habits Florida transplants have that never fool a lifelong resident. 1. Skipping the Winter Coat Florida transplants love to announce they’ve toughened up once the temperature dips into…
Alabama’s Sunday potlucks put chain restaurants to shame. Luckily for locals, while much of America traded potlucks for drive-through windows, this Sunday tradition is still common. These are the Southern traditions Alabamians keep going that the rest of America has either forgotten or never heard of. 1. Sacred Harp Singing No instrument enters the room…
Nobody hands Ohio kids a rulebook, but they learn every rule anyway. The siren blows every March, and nobody flinches. A cow made of butter shows up every August at the state fair, and nobody asks why. These are the things only people who grew up in Ohio understand. 1. Your Own Beggars Night Halloween…
Think a few summers in North Carolina means you’ve seen it all? Hardly. Some of the state’s oldest traditions run so local that even five-year transplants walk past them without knowing what they’re looking at. These are the North Carolina summer traditions most newcomers never hear explained. 1. Ocracoke’s Fourth of July Parade Ocracoke Island…
A Rumpke truck slows outside a ranch house in Ohio’s Hamilton County before seven a.m., and the driver already has an opinion about the garbage can waiting at your curb. Ohio’s sanitation crews cover thousands of houses a week. And every week, they see people making the same mistakes. These are the things Ohio’s garbage…
