Originally posted by: Fern
Originally posted by: ockky
i just thought you guys might like to know but, if you are not from either Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, So Carolina, No Carolina, Tennesse, Kentuck, Arkansas, Virginia, or West Virginia...you are not from the south...
oh yea, i'm from St. Mtn and can't wait to see ol' stonewall at the lazer show yet again! GO DAWGS! SiC'EM!
You should have included North Florida in that list. The central and eastern parts are (or were) more like extensions of GA than anything else, landscape & people-wise. North Western FL is more like AL.
And there are (or were) a lot of Southerners even further South. I'd say down to Orlando. Before Disney moved in, it was Southern cattle & horse raising country.
I grew up in Northern FL. It was very Southern back then (60's), people used to sit out on the porch (My grandfather always wore a hat, coat & tie, no matter how hot) and visit. We enjoyed great, large home cooked meals in the evening. Everybody sitting around a big table. The streets were made of cobblestone (still are too) and the houses were wooden & raised off the ground to keep cool, very high ceilings too. When you went for a walk, you had to stop and visit with everybody you met or passed, at least for few minutes. The place I grew up in was kinda of a cross between "To kill a Mocking Bird" type small town (without the crime stuff in the movie) and Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn. If you were ever an adventurous/curious little boy and didn't have a river/swamp with fishing, and snakes & gators to fool around with, you missed out.
The smells of the South are the best, whether the food or the lucious ordor from the many flowers and/or sweet fresh cut grass carried in the warm breeze. The women are hotter than the weather, sports are like religion & we like to play both
The people are friendly and polite. They may act slow (the heat will do that to you), but you gotta be careful - I've heard more Northern type business peeps (carpet baggers) bitch about getting 'burned" by the "hicks" than you can imagine.
Sometimes the politeness is a facade, you can get "pwned" in a conversation before you see it coming. All with a sweet smile & friendly words.
The landscape is mostly lush and gorgeous. I've lived in the Smoky Mountains for a long time now. This is the only part of N. America never covered by glaciers (no "Ice Age" was here), consequently we have the greatest biodiversity in N.A. There are annual trips here by scientists still working on catelogeing the flora and fauna. Seems every year they announce another 100+ new species, mostly plants, some insects/animals. So, if you like the outdoors, camping, hiking & swimming in the cold mountain creeks, it's great here.
I've lived in NYC, Miami, Paris, London, Berlin etc, I still like the South. Sadly, it's al starting to look the same around the USA. But if driving through, stay off the Interstate system and theres still lots to see.
When possible I like driving those old, almost forgotten, roads and seeing the big old ancient Live Oaks with Spanish moss hanging down and old wooded houses raised off the ground with big porches. You can also still find the old style home cookin restaurants too. Get a big pile of fried chicken, mashed potatos, black eye peas and some sweet tea for dinner. Gotta remember to nod "hello" to everybody even though you may not know any of 'em.
BTW: For all you Yankees - Football is the "official Southern sport", not NASCAR.
:music:
Wish I was in the Land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten, Look away look away look away Dixie Land :music: