An Arkansas summer once came with amusement parks, metal-tipped lawn darts, and rides in the back of a pickup truck. Some of those experiences disappeared when businesses closed. Others faded after new laws, recalls, and safety rules made people realize just how risky they were. These are the old-fashioned summer experiences kids in Arkansas today…
Would you let your dog trot barefoot across a Phoenix parking lot in August? Not a single Arizonan would. Asphalt across the Valley can hit 180 degrees on a summer afternoon, hot enough to blister skin in seconds. These are the things Arizonans refuse to do once August heat sets in, no matter what. Note:…
A 1998 survey of Oklahoma speakers found that a third of them used “y’all” to address just one person, not a group. Strict Southern grammar has a blunt word for that move. A mistake. These are the Southern sayings Georgians keep using wrong without ever realizing it. 1. Can’t Never Could Georgians who grew up…
Grocery shopping in Virginia used to mean a bag boy who carried your bags all the way to the car and a butcher who’d cut a steak exactly the way you asked for it. Try finding either one now. A wave of local chains vanished from Virginia in the ’80s and ’90s, bought out, renamed,…
A thrift store rack has the potential to hold a pair of jeans that once sold at auction for more than $87,000, pulled decades earlier from an abandoned mine out west, of all places. That’s an extreme case, not the norm. But it’s proof that what’s on a thrift store shelf isn’t always worth what…
North Carolina and South Carolina have been arguing about where one state ends and the other begins since before either was officially a state. Surveyors first drew that line in 1735 with little more than a compass and rope. It’s needed fixing more than once since. That’s just the start of what these two states…
Ask someone who grew up near Philadelphia what Wawa means to them, and settle in for a long answer. The same question in a state where Wawa just arrived usually gets a shrug. These are the ways Wawa culture differs from other states it’s in. 1. Calling It a Hoagie The word “hoagie” itself started…
A Mississippi transplant stands in the condiment aisle of an Ohio grocery store, checking every bottle of ranch and Thousand Island twice. No comeback sauce anywhere on the shelf. These are the things Mississippians miss most once they’ve packed up and moved away. 1. Delta Hot Tamales Delta hot tamales are the food many Mississippi…
Think you could clean your plate at a Texas table without hesitating once? Many out-of-staters can’t. Texans grow up eating whole animals, organ meats, and dishes many other states have never put on a menu. These are the Texas foods many out-of-staters refuse to try. 1. Menudo Tripe, the lining of a cow’s stomach, forms…
Ask a Connecticut resident what county they live in, and watch them pause. The state abolished county government back in 1960. So, towns handle the schools, the roads, and the taxes a county runs everywhere else. These are the things Connecticut residents are tired of explaining to everyone else. Note: This is general information, not…
