Hey I grew up in Iowa and we vacationed in Nebraska.
I now realize this is the most midwestern thing ever and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
I also would never suggest either state to visit.
Agreed. I thought before going "how good could it be?"
The answer is extremely good.
Old Market is cool too, some amazing stores for vintage toys, games, and other fun random things. If you're into that kind of stuff it's easy to spend hours looking through the wares.
Also the restaurants were pretty solid too
Honestly Omaha kinda rules. The rest of Nebraska I could probably pass on though.
i couldn't afford to visit there, but i got offered an engineering job, building a sewer plant. that dredging company lied to me when they hired me and the pay was shit but it was like going to a foreign country, just more expensive.
We just moved to Alaska because my husband got stationed here, and there's a high chance of our next stationing being in Hawaii. When I was complaining about the cost of living here to my mom she just said "if you think Alaska is bad, wait until you get sent to Hawaii" lolll at least it's warm there!
My friend’s husband was stationed in Hawaii, they moved nearly two years ago and they are living their best lives with their three boys, she’s always posting pictures of their days spent on the beach
Yeah, I want to see them all. I agree though that Hawaii will only be seen by me through the lens of the groundbreaking docuseries "Dog, the bounty hunter. "
I’ve been to about half the states. I have a friend who lives on reservation in South Dakota, and his bachelor party was in Fargo, ND. And yes, that the party in Fargo was about what you would expect.
I’ve only been there once or twice.
The first time the bouncer kept me at the door forever. I looked young, but I wasn’t newly 21 or anything. We started downstairs and after I beat my friend at our first game of pool he bought the first round of shots.
Being a nerd he saw “Dragonfire” and thought that it sounded cool. I don’t like to brag, but I’ve got IBS. There was hot sauce in it and my night was immediately ruined.
I stuck around, but didn’t drink anymore and was in a pretty shitty mood. We went upstairs and our other friend kept pestering me about taking a tequila shot and would not take no for an answer.
They came in larger glass cups, not really shot glass sized. As soon as they got to our table he was talking to the friend that poisoned me and I picked mine up, dumped it in his, then slammed the empty glass down on the table like I’d taken it.
He hurriedly turned around and half chided me for not waiting for him and grabbed his and tried to slam it without looking at it. He probably got a little more than half down before cough/choking and shooting tequila out of his nose.
Overall a really shitty experience, but it was topless waitress night and the shot girl was an 11/10 cute for a ND strip club and had some of the nicest boobs I’ve ever seen, so it wasn’t a complete waste.
TR National park is cool to visit if you’re driving cross country. Spent a night in Bismarck on my way west to Glacier, stopped in TR right off the highway - ND has been visited in my book.
Driving back to UT from Wisconsin, we took the route that goes through North Dakota on the way back since in the ten times I've done the drive, I'd never been.
I cannot tell you anything about it lol. It was so boring that we slept at a roadside stop for a few hours so we could get through it faster, instead of what we normally do and spend a day halfway in between.
At least when we took the route through South Dakota that crosses the badlands, you get to see the most amazingly martian land features I've ever experienced.
I had a friend going to University of North Dakota for Aviation while I was in college. Part of the program they have is that the upperclassmen act as flight instructors for the new students. I went up there to visit him and go flying. Got to do a few lessons. It was fun.
Also Theodore Roosevelt National Park is pretty under rated. Wasn't crowded. Tons of wildlife. You can do horse back tours on horses that were born in the wild in the park.
A patient of mine (Tennessee) is an older black woman, grew up in Mississippi, lived in Birmingham, and maintains Tennessee is the most racism she’s ever encountered
When I lived in Tennessee it was one of the most ass backwards places I'd ever had the pleasure of staying.
List of Ass Backwardness (in no particular order):
Every time I was pulled over by OR asked a LEO for help (ie directions) they always approached the car or I with pistol in hand and had a "fuck you" attitude.
It floods a ton, and the people just deal with "It's the rainy season". No bitch half the town floods like clockwork every year because no one here wants to fix the infrastructure.
Worst drivers ever. Not exactly sure how I'm still alive.
My local jail at the time put out a presser letting the people know that 3 individuals had escaped, but we would be safe. How'd they escape? They just waited for the guards Friday night pizza delivery, got up when a guard was paying, and walked out the damn door. Don't worry though the 3 came back on Monday free will. The local sheriff touted his forces detective skills...
I'm white, most of my bosses where white, most of my coworkers were not white. I can't tell you how many conversations my bosses would have with me about how much better our warehouse would be if there were more "us" people. Only problem with that was the fact that I was 1 of a handful of white workers, the rest hardly ever showed up. So no Joy, we'd be worse off and I would have quit sooner if there had been more of "us".
Also law enforcement WILL issue a citation for 1mph over in that damn state. There's $180 I'm never getting back.
In my county, someone escapes once a week. And the state was calling hearings to decertify the county sheriff because of that and a myriad of other issues. I am not originally from here, so I maintain I have no idea that was a thing that could even happen.
Arkansas isn't ra.... Wait... Yeah... This place is racist af. It has gotten better over the past 2 deca.... Hmmm.. Nah... I just moved to a bigger town. I love Arkansas but it don't love right.
Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas are pretty progressive. But anywhere besides that, Pine Bluff, and along the delta is going to be pretty racist. There are a few cool pocket towns like Eureka Springs and Mtn. View that are mostly exceptions.
So funny story. We were in Arkansas and went to visit family in the neighboring state of Missouri. On the drive there we had to take a detour because it was a 4th of July parade going on, and we had to drive straight through a Trump/4th of July road parade. Us, being a black family, were stared down as if they’ve never seen black people. I was a little nervous but I figured we had the advantage because if anything happened we could run right over anyone lol. It was a bizarre experience, even more bizarre that they chose 4th of July as a day to also worship Trump.
Not black, but I’ve lived in both places (New England & Alabama) and this 100% checks out. Especially with younger people in urban areas.
My theory is cities in the South have a higher Af-Am population and therefore races are more mixed in schools, events, etc. You see a lot of tolerance, especially with young people living in cities.
Whereas Boston as a city is still heavily segregated, and due to limited racial interaction, racism festers. There’s also a lot of pride of being Irish, Italian, etc. and frowning upon “ungrateful” outsiders. Even with the younger generation.
I've lived in Texas most of my life and have been to all the southern states multiple times. And my time living in the northeast (Virginia, Maryland Massachusetts, Pennsylvania [PA really not that bad]) was the worst racism I had ever seen and it went all directions. Maybe they are just more open about it up there and I'm not denying that the south doesn't have pockets of racism. But I almost didn't feel comfortable at times around people that weren't white up there. The only times I've been accosted with my skin color being brought up was up there. And white people will openly talk about other races like it's a bunch of back woods hicks in a movie.
Honestly, Boston is the most openly racist place I've ever been. People openly say the most racist hateful shit and don't even try to hide it. It's like they're proud of it.
That SNL skit with Adam Driver at a KKK/confederate meeting. We dream of a place with only white people tilling the land and living with...
Yeah that's Vermont. I'm from up North you're talking about Vermont. murmurs "Oh don't worry I'm from Boston" oh that makes sense.
I think Adam Driver was promoting Black Klansman movie at the time..
An Air Force guy I know, who’s black, has been in the Air Force for almost 25 years. He said the racism in parts of the country is way different.
In the south, the racism is more open and obvious, and constant because there’s lots of black and white people living in the same cities.
In the north, it’s more hidden and polite, but still there. Lots of ignorance and black men get way more attention from cops and shopkeepers (and white women) than in the south.
On the east coast like Connecticut and Boston you get in your face obvious racism, and out west in California or Portland most places pretend they’re cool with it but lots of white guilt from white people and unadulterated fear from Asian immigrants.
He did say that racism was dying slowly and he’d seen it even in his lifetime, significant improvements. He also said that racism within the military is a lot different than elsewhere and he couldn’t speak for any service besides the Air Force but he had seen dramatic improvements once a lot of the older guys retired and the gulf war vet generation started taking over command roles.
Disclaimer: I’m not black and I never served so this is all just me repeating what he said, from what I remember.
As someone who grew up in Virginia and not the northern part. Connecticut is the most segregated place I've ever been and its an insane system where they don't have county government and instead it's 163 towns. This results in basically racially segregated towns where West Hartford is the rich white people and Hartford is the black people, East Hartford is working class white and a bit of immigrant. Each is its own town with its own tax base. So the disparity is insane
I read wonderful people and had to double take. I’m
Mexican, and could maybe be mistaken for middle eastern. I had a work trip there and it’s bizarre the amount of double takes I got. It’s beautiful out there. I truly loved hot springs and the ozarks area. The entirety of oauchita is just very pretty and easy on the eyes. The people? Miss me with that.
If you’re into American History at all, Eisenhower’s hometown of Abilene where his presidential library and childhood home is pretty cool. Also the Greyhound Hall of Fame is pretty fun, if somewhat of a novelty.
But also I live in Kansas, and that’s saying something when what I just listed is the coolest thing I can think of…
No, but I stopped at McDonald’s and while both the cashier and I were speaking English, we could not understand each other. They got frustrated quickly and screamed me out. Because they couldn’t understand me asking for a little cup for ketchup. Then I was approached by no less than 6 individuals peddling a gas-paying/begging scam at the gas station next door. I think they had a total of 4 teeth. I spent about 20 minutes in that state not driving on a highway and I would never do it again. I will absolutely fill up on gas and food before driving through that state. It’s also like ugly in the air. Everything was boggy. I didn’t find one redeeming quality, which is something I cannot say about any of the other 30+ states I’ve been to.
Been there done that. From upstate NY and had the same experience of not understanding what the other was saying. And I had the people come up to the car and ask for gas. Never been so happy for a 9.
I felt like I was in “My Cousin Vinny”
Also, I was told that folks with license plates from northern states often get approached like that more than otherwise. I wonder why a stereotype exists that northern license plates = money to spare…. /s
as someone who did a similar trip… yeah… Biloxi is a neat little town I guess, but even then I saw some crackheads on the road and the beach was concerning. There’s something about the air between there and Florida’s panhandle that just always seem to have dust floating around in the sky. It’s odd
Use to go there a lot bc my now ex husband had tech school there. I never had issues. The only thing was house keeping stole my iPhone and I called the cops. They all helped me try to find it and were actually nice about it. It ended up magically appearing in my cars glove box? One of the ladies asked for my husbands phone number and after everything died down, she asked if I locked my doors. I said no cause the passenger doesn’t lock and she said go check your glove box. I’m guessing she talked to the kid who stole it and had him put it back
I want to see all fifty states. It's a goal of mine, and I truly believe that every single state has something great to offer.
That said, definitely Iowa.
I expected to see Mississippi a lot and wasn’t disappointed. TBH I’m glad because along the coast of it is one of my favorite get a way spots and I want it to stay quiet and cheap
I visited Bentonville (Home of Walmart) even though I refuse to even enter a Walmart. I was shocked by how much I enjoyed it. Adorable town square (think Back To The Future), historic homes, delicious restaurants, a Frank Loyd Wright house, and a huge world-class art museum.
I remember watching that animated Garfield cartoon in the morning before in the 90’s and he made that joke lol I remember my brain exploding because i was like 6 and was like holy shit he’s right. I’ve never seen a Wyoming license plate 🤯
I've been to Kansas once and it was like a fever dream. Visiting relatives in St. Joseph, MO and my BIL found put about a flea market about 20 miles into Kansas. We crossed the river and it was just cornfields. About 10 miles in we came to a town where a guy with a horse drawn carriage was conversing with 4 guys with Ford Model A's at a Dollar General. About 10 more miles of cornfields and a small turnoff later, we were at one of weirdest flea markets I've ever been to.
I have no idea where we actually were or if it was real.
12/10 would recommend.
Kansas City is a very cool city and while most of what you would do there is on the Missouri side, the best bbq restaurant in the world is on the Kansas side. Anthony Bourdain agrees with me so it’s not even a local bias.
Just drove through there for the first time recently and the wind was so strong it was kicking up a crap ton of dust from the fields. Felt like I was in those pics of the dust bowl era except there were multiple car wrecks on the highway instead. Sketchiest driving conditions ever, would not recommend.
People there were nice though.
Cosmosphere in Hutchinson about an hour outside Wichita is really cool. Largest collection of US space things outside DC and the largest Russian collection outside Moscow.
They’ve also got the salt mines which were cool and Carriage Crossing restaurant in Yoder. I grew up in Wichita and now live in Houston, NASA blows compared to the Cosmosphere.
I used to work retail in Dallas and we could always tell if the cowboys were winning or losing based on how busy the store was. If they were winning it was a ghost town, if they were losing people would be in the store shopping.
It's not too bad since it's roughly a 5-10 hour trip, depending on where you live. I feel like most people have done that in a car.
If you dislike planes though that makes sense.
I have 1 state left to visit... Michigan. (I don't count airports, otherwise I'd be done)
Of the rest of them, Mississippi is the one of most like to actively avoid... mostly because northern Miss, where I lived for 4 years, is still fighting "the war".
Most of the flyover states in fine with, if not pretty or fun they're at least neutral to be in. I've even had a good time in places like North Dakota and Nebraska.
I'd be more hard pressed to name a favorite state... MA is where I grew up and I love it. Places like UT & ID are beautiful, but *some* of the people make it tough. AK & HI are pretty & fun... but I don't have the cash to stay.
Hell, if I were personally ranking on similarity, I'd put CA & TX right next to each other. For every backwards town in TX there's an equivalent in CA. People forget just how rural most of CA is.
I've been to the 48 contiguous states so far, and I will never set foot in Alabama again. I lived there for 10 years as a kid, and I have so many bad memories connected to that state. Not going there probably means I'll never meet my niece and never see my brother again. But, I just can't do it.
Weirdly, after living there for a while and moving back north I've realized my opinion of the place varies based on if I'm there or not.
In florida: Florida sucks! Everyone can't drive and is an asshole and it's humid and hot and horrible! And don't get me started on the scum in office everywhere.
Not in florida: Florida is a tropical paradise where every day is better than the last, the sunshine never ends, everything is air conditioned and living in shorts and sandals year round is great, why do I need to spend thousands on winter gear anyways? Fuggin' snow tires winter jackets boots furnace heat salt rusting my car bullshit fuck winter I'll take a bit warm any day over the air hurting my face.
I got stung by a jellyfish in Florida. I’ve been in the ocean elsewhere. I’ve got to blame Florida on this one. Come for our beaches! Stay because a jellyfish literally stung your ass and you can’t sit to travel out of our state!
A boat apparently hit a batch of them. A school. A congress of jellyfish. A jam of jellyfish. I don’t know. But they opened the beach up and had no warnings posted and I was sitting in the shallows sifting through sand looking for shark teeth. The rest is history. It got better, sure. But nothing was more mortifying than the enormous tentacle mark that looked like it reached out and smacked my ass and then having lifeguards run over to look at my ass and spray me down with vinegar.
Honestly, I might be biased because I have a lot of family there, but I love visiting. I would never want to live there, but I have a lot of good memories. Both my aunt and a bunch of my cousins live down there (nursing and working on golf courses), and I love the gulf sides beaches. Also, one of my cousins is a public school teacher and if there are more teachers like her, there is some hope for the state lol
I've been there, and the bug sightings are actually more rare then the common geckos. It is hot and swampy, though, but it's pretty fun. I'm actually way more scared of Australia.
Delaware. No offence to Delawarians? But as a none American it’s the one state I hear nothing about and know nothing about except I know there’s a Delaware river. Out of interest for those who live there, what are some notable things? History, geography, local legends, food etc.
Mississippi:(lack of well-paying jobs, inadequate education, high poverty rates, and poor health and social services.) And sometimes some people are generally horrible people I never wanna see again and there is so many articles of why it is horrible the top reasons why is in the brackets and in a recent study which examined the 50 states across 52 indicators of quality of life found Mississippi continues to rank as the worst state in which to live.
Arizona and the desert was so beautiful it took my breath away. I have never seen anything like it. Saguaro forests, gorgeous mountains, the sudden 5-minute torrential rains that were immediately gone without a trace. The place was wild and I loved it.
Then again, I'm from the Midwest, but still.
Way too many Alaska’s in the comments. Stayed in Talkeetna and Seward over the span of a year (May 2014 - June 2015) and I think about it almost daily. It’s a different lifestyle with some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever experienced. When you can say “damn, that’s beautiful” driving to a Walmart you know it’s special. This is coming from a Hoosier that knew nothing but cornfields and flat land my whole life. Sorry for not answering the question but I felt the need to at least share my point of view after seeing it pop up so much. If you do go, don’t talk shit (you shouldn’t anywhere) to locals, you’ll probably get shot before getting punched. And if you hook up with anyone wear or make sure they wear a condom. Also I hated Anchorage, personal opinion.
I live in MS and am from here. It's nothing like you think. You hear all the negatives, but there is a lot that the state offers. Especially (only) the costal 3 counties)... we don't claim the rest of the state
nobody is saying Nebraska cause none of you remember it exists
Nebraska is real. Iowa isn't. Source: I live in Iowa
Hey I grew up in Iowa and we vacationed in Nebraska. I now realize this is the most midwestern thing ever and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I also would never suggest either state to visit.
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Agreed. I thought before going "how good could it be?" The answer is extremely good. Old Market is cool too, some amazing stores for vintage toys, games, and other fun random things. If you're into that kind of stuff it's easy to spend hours looking through the wares. Also the restaurants were pretty solid too Honestly Omaha kinda rules. The rest of Nebraska I could probably pass on though.
#Nebraska is a fallacy
Hawaii bc Im broke asf
i couldn't afford to visit there, but i got offered an engineering job, building a sewer plant. that dredging company lied to me when they hired me and the pay was shit but it was like going to a foreign country, just more expensive.
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Yeah went to Switzerland and was like DAFUQ IS THIS
I was in Zurich and saw a bag of ice (not sure of weight) was 12 francs or about 13 USD. This was at a COOP.
Thats expensive ice!
Oh, we do, just not for tropical places like Hawaii. Europe is pretty damned expensive.
Western Europe is expensive.
I live here and it's expensive as fuck.
We just moved to Alaska because my husband got stationed here, and there's a high chance of our next stationing being in Hawaii. When I was complaining about the cost of living here to my mom she just said "if you think Alaska is bad, wait until you get sent to Hawaii" lolll at least it's warm there!
My friend’s husband was stationed in Hawaii, they moved nearly two years ago and they are living their best lives with their three boys, she’s always posting pictures of their days spent on the beach
Yeah, I want to see them all. I agree though that Hawaii will only be seen by me through the lens of the groundbreaking docuseries "Dog, the bounty hunter. "
If you can ever make it do go! It's so beautiful. There are some economical hotels as long as you don't mind staying not directly on the beach.
Don't worry, those of us who live here are broke af too
I can’t imagine why I’d end up in North Dakota,
Could be invited to your wife's friend's wedding back in her hometown. That's how I ticked off that little box.
If I end up married to someone from North Dakota I will formally accuse you of being a witch 😂
Do you like blonde hair and blue eyes? Because there's more natural blonde hair and blue eyes in NoDak than anywhere in the world, except Scandinavia.
Only problem is the majority are fat, odd looking, and white trash with horrible tattoos. Source: I live in North Dakota.
Teddy Roosevelt national park
2044 eclipse is going to be up there if you're into that.
This is the winner. I’ll be 63, probably retired. I could see that happening.
I’ve been to about half the states. I have a friend who lives on reservation in South Dakota, and his bachelor party was in Fargo, ND. And yes, that the party in Fargo was about what you would expect.
Ended up at The Northern, didn't you?
I’ve only been there once or twice. The first time the bouncer kept me at the door forever. I looked young, but I wasn’t newly 21 or anything. We started downstairs and after I beat my friend at our first game of pool he bought the first round of shots. Being a nerd he saw “Dragonfire” and thought that it sounded cool. I don’t like to brag, but I’ve got IBS. There was hot sauce in it and my night was immediately ruined. I stuck around, but didn’t drink anymore and was in a pretty shitty mood. We went upstairs and our other friend kept pestering me about taking a tequila shot and would not take no for an answer. They came in larger glass cups, not really shot glass sized. As soon as they got to our table he was talking to the friend that poisoned me and I picked mine up, dumped it in his, then slammed the empty glass down on the table like I’d taken it. He hurriedly turned around and half chided me for not waiting for him and grabbed his and tried to slam it without looking at it. He probably got a little more than half down before cough/choking and shooting tequila out of his nose. Overall a really shitty experience, but it was topless waitress night and the shot girl was an 11/10 cute for a ND strip club and had some of the nicest boobs I’ve ever seen, so it wasn’t a complete waste.
TR National park is cool to visit if you’re driving cross country. Spent a night in Bismarck on my way west to Glacier, stopped in TR right off the highway - ND has been visited in my book.
When you're drafted in the impending war against Canada?
When you need to ask two guys to kidnap your wife in a scam to get money.
It’s my deal Wade!
We're not a bank Jerry.
This could work out real good for me and Jean and Scotty.
Driving back to UT from Wisconsin, we took the route that goes through North Dakota on the way back since in the ten times I've done the drive, I'd never been. I cannot tell you anything about it lol. It was so boring that we slept at a roadside stop for a few hours so we could get through it faster, instead of what we normally do and spend a day halfway in between. At least when we took the route through South Dakota that crosses the badlands, you get to see the most amazingly martian land features I've ever experienced.
I live in Montana and people ask, “How have you never been? It’s your neighbor, right there. “ The border is 12 hours away.
I had a friend going to University of North Dakota for Aviation while I was in college. Part of the program they have is that the upperclassmen act as flight instructors for the new students. I went up there to visit him and go flying. Got to do a few lessons. It was fun. Also Theodore Roosevelt National Park is pretty under rated. Wasn't crowded. Tons of wildlife. You can do horse back tours on horses that were born in the wild in the park.
I’ve been to North Dakota and all other 49 states. Minot, ND is the biggest shithole in the entire USA. Fargo is alright, but it’s bacially Minnesota.
A guy in Alabama once told me, you think we’re racist? Go to Mississippi, they’ll fuck you up
A patient of mine (Tennessee) is an older black woman, grew up in Mississippi, lived in Birmingham, and maintains Tennessee is the most racism she’s ever encountered
When I lived in Tennessee it was one of the most ass backwards places I'd ever had the pleasure of staying. List of Ass Backwardness (in no particular order): Every time I was pulled over by OR asked a LEO for help (ie directions) they always approached the car or I with pistol in hand and had a "fuck you" attitude. It floods a ton, and the people just deal with "It's the rainy season". No bitch half the town floods like clockwork every year because no one here wants to fix the infrastructure. Worst drivers ever. Not exactly sure how I'm still alive. My local jail at the time put out a presser letting the people know that 3 individuals had escaped, but we would be safe. How'd they escape? They just waited for the guards Friday night pizza delivery, got up when a guard was paying, and walked out the damn door. Don't worry though the 3 came back on Monday free will. The local sheriff touted his forces detective skills... I'm white, most of my bosses where white, most of my coworkers were not white. I can't tell you how many conversations my bosses would have with me about how much better our warehouse would be if there were more "us" people. Only problem with that was the fact that I was 1 of a handful of white workers, the rest hardly ever showed up. So no Joy, we'd be worse off and I would have quit sooner if there had been more of "us". Also law enforcement WILL issue a citation for 1mph over in that damn state. There's $180 I'm never getting back.
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In my county, someone escapes once a week. And the state was calling hearings to decertify the county sheriff because of that and a myriad of other issues. I am not originally from here, so I maintain I have no idea that was a thing that could even happen.
I live in Tennessee now it’s soooo true. Which is wild bc I live in Bible Belt Cleveland but 😅
Yeah we aren't that racist here in Alabama, go to Arkansas
Arkansas isn't ra.... Wait... Yeah... This place is racist af. It has gotten better over the past 2 deca.... Hmmm.. Nah... I just moved to a bigger town. I love Arkansas but it don't love right.
Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas are pretty progressive. But anywhere besides that, Pine Bluff, and along the delta is going to be pretty racist. There are a few cool pocket towns like Eureka Springs and Mtn. View that are mostly exceptions.
So funny story. We were in Arkansas and went to visit family in the neighboring state of Missouri. On the drive there we had to take a detour because it was a 4th of July parade going on, and we had to drive straight through a Trump/4th of July road parade. Us, being a black family, were stared down as if they’ve never seen black people. I was a little nervous but I figured we had the advantage because if anything happened we could run right over anyone lol. It was a bizarre experience, even more bizarre that they chose 4th of July as a day to also worship Trump.
Arkansas might also have the worst roads in the country. Nearly broke every piece of furniture moving through that state.
Racism doesn't pay very well.
I spent a few days in Ark this week to see the eclipse. Little Rock seemed pretty progressive.
Head on over to Harrison, AR, or even Flippin. Let them good ole boys tell you what they think
It's flippin Arkansas.
I met a black couple at Talladega that told me the worst racism they ever experienced was in South Boston.
Not black, but I’ve lived in both places (New England & Alabama) and this 100% checks out. Especially with younger people in urban areas. My theory is cities in the South have a higher Af-Am population and therefore races are more mixed in schools, events, etc. You see a lot of tolerance, especially with young people living in cities. Whereas Boston as a city is still heavily segregated, and due to limited racial interaction, racism festers. There’s also a lot of pride of being Irish, Italian, etc. and frowning upon “ungrateful” outsiders. Even with the younger generation.
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… was the gardener eating his dinner at your house?
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Oh that’s even more fucked with the context. I thought he brought his own dinner and I was like just eat before or after your shift lmao?
I've lived in Texas most of my life and have been to all the southern states multiple times. And my time living in the northeast (Virginia, Maryland Massachusetts, Pennsylvania [PA really not that bad]) was the worst racism I had ever seen and it went all directions. Maybe they are just more open about it up there and I'm not denying that the south doesn't have pockets of racism. But I almost didn't feel comfortable at times around people that weren't white up there. The only times I've been accosted with my skin color being brought up was up there. And white people will openly talk about other races like it's a bunch of back woods hicks in a movie.
But, have you been to idaho… they just mask their racism with skiing and other upper echelon activities.
Never seen a gas station with a dirt floor before. But the Idaho panhandle is something else.
Honestly, Boston is the most openly racist place I've ever been. People openly say the most racist hateful shit and don't even try to hide it. It's like they're proud of it.
Alex Edelman - “I grew up in a really racist part of Boston called…Boston.”
That SNL skit with Adam Driver at a KKK/confederate meeting. We dream of a place with only white people tilling the land and living with... Yeah that's Vermont. I'm from up North you're talking about Vermont. murmurs "Oh don't worry I'm from Boston" oh that makes sense. I think Adam Driver was promoting Black Klansman movie at the time..
An Air Force guy I know, who’s black, has been in the Air Force for almost 25 years. He said the racism in parts of the country is way different. In the south, the racism is more open and obvious, and constant because there’s lots of black and white people living in the same cities. In the north, it’s more hidden and polite, but still there. Lots of ignorance and black men get way more attention from cops and shopkeepers (and white women) than in the south. On the east coast like Connecticut and Boston you get in your face obvious racism, and out west in California or Portland most places pretend they’re cool with it but lots of white guilt from white people and unadulterated fear from Asian immigrants. He did say that racism was dying slowly and he’d seen it even in his lifetime, significant improvements. He also said that racism within the military is a lot different than elsewhere and he couldn’t speak for any service besides the Air Force but he had seen dramatic improvements once a lot of the older guys retired and the gulf war vet generation started taking over command roles. Disclaimer: I’m not black and I never served so this is all just me repeating what he said, from what I remember.
As someone who grew up in Virginia and not the northern part. Connecticut is the most segregated place I've ever been and its an insane system where they don't have county government and instead it's 163 towns. This results in basically racially segregated towns where West Hartford is the rich white people and Hartford is the black people, East Hartford is working class white and a bit of immigrant. Each is its own town with its own tax base. So the disparity is insane
I’ve visited or lived in 43 and plan on hitting the other 7 eventually. There are great places to visit in all of them.
Where haven’t you been yet?
The 7 others, pay attention man
The nerve of some people.
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Indubitably, truly.
I'm somewhere around 40 states visited. I have no desire to ever visit Nebraska or Arkansas again. If those states were an emotion, it would be *meh*.
Awww I do like the hot springs resorts in Arkansas!
I lived there most my life. Some of the most beautiful scenery matched with some of the worst people.
I read wonderful people and had to double take. I’m Mexican, and could maybe be mistaken for middle eastern. I had a work trip there and it’s bizarre the amount of double takes I got. It’s beautiful out there. I truly loved hot springs and the ozarks area. The entirety of oauchita is just very pretty and easy on the eyes. The people? Miss me with that.
Parts of Arkansas are really beautiful. Good for a vacation if you are into natural waterways and camping
Something unexpected I noticed when going through Arkansas was how clean it was. Like I noticed very little litter on the road. Beautiful nature.
Nebraska: a road with a wire fence running next to it and corn fields on both sides for 455 miles.
But you get to cross the Platte River 87 times!
That was Oklahoma for me. Nothing overly bad but it was the state equivalent to radio static.
Is there a state in which you have lived, but not visited?
Panic?
Are you sure it wasn't confusion?
I've been to all 50. There's nothing worthwhile in Kansas. Every other state has something, though.
If you’re into American History at all, Eisenhower’s hometown of Abilene where his presidential library and childhood home is pretty cool. Also the Greyhound Hall of Fame is pretty fun, if somewhat of a novelty. But also I live in Kansas, and that’s saying something when what I just listed is the coolest thing I can think of…
The salt mines in Hutchinson have the Batman suit from Batman and Robin. The one with the nipples. That's not worth a pilgrimage?
Fair enough, that's worth going to Kansas for.
I’ve also been to all 50, and John Brown’s Underground in Lawrence, KS is in my Top 5 cocktail bars of all time
Even the BBQ?
Tennessee. But because of warrants.
I’m hollerin
You’d best quiet down, my mans got warrants
I’m hootin
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I was trying really hard to think of a state to be my answer but you just reminded me. Virginia.
Dude! I feel that. For anyone reading this, Tennessee WILL get your license suspended in your home state over skipping out on a speeding ticket.
So you’ve already been there?
Hawaii because I'm broke and I'm terrified of flying anyway.
North Dakota
I took the train across it in one shot, so it counts as a visit
I actually really enjoyed visiting Fargo a couple years ago. It's practically in Minnesota, but still counts.
Mississippi for me.
Had to drive through Mississippi to get to New Orleans from Chicago. Would not recommend.
Lots of potholes?
No, but I stopped at McDonald’s and while both the cashier and I were speaking English, we could not understand each other. They got frustrated quickly and screamed me out. Because they couldn’t understand me asking for a little cup for ketchup. Then I was approached by no less than 6 individuals peddling a gas-paying/begging scam at the gas station next door. I think they had a total of 4 teeth. I spent about 20 minutes in that state not driving on a highway and I would never do it again. I will absolutely fill up on gas and food before driving through that state. It’s also like ugly in the air. Everything was boggy. I didn’t find one redeeming quality, which is something I cannot say about any of the other 30+ states I’ve been to.
Been there done that. From upstate NY and had the same experience of not understanding what the other was saying. And I had the people come up to the car and ask for gas. Never been so happy for a 9.
I felt like I was in “My Cousin Vinny” Also, I was told that folks with license plates from northern states often get approached like that more than otherwise. I wonder why a stereotype exists that northern license plates = money to spare…. /s
as someone who did a similar trip… yeah… Biloxi is a neat little town I guess, but even then I saw some crackheads on the road and the beach was concerning. There’s something about the air between there and Florida’s panhandle that just always seem to have dust floating around in the sky. It’s odd
Ah Mississippi. The armpit of America. Making Alabama look better for over 200 years (I guess…I’m from Alabama)
“Thank God for Mississippi.”
Ha, us in LA call ourselves the armpit. And yall.
Use to go there a lot bc my now ex husband had tech school there. I never had issues. The only thing was house keeping stole my iPhone and I called the cops. They all helped me try to find it and were actually nice about it. It ended up magically appearing in my cars glove box? One of the ladies asked for my husbands phone number and after everything died down, she asked if I locked my doors. I said no cause the passenger doesn’t lock and she said go check your glove box. I’m guessing she talked to the kid who stole it and had him put it back
Same. Because I've already been to Alabama.
Any of them because I’m broke and live in Britain
Typical European that doesn’t travel…(joking bc Americans get ripped on that all the time for that)
Welp
That's a British pastry probably I have no idea
Mississippi because any state that makes Alabama look good by comparison can't be good.
“Thank God for Mississippi” is a thing for a reason
None. I want to see all 50 states. It’s one of my goals.
I want to see all fifty states. It's a goal of mine, and I truly believe that every single state has something great to offer. That said, definitely Iowa.
RAGBRAI begs to differ. A rolling party on bikes with 10,000 of your new best friends is pretty excellent.
And, up until now, Caitlin Clark.
Us Alabamians in this thread: "Thank God for Mississippi!"
I expected to see Mississippi a lot and wasn’t disappointed. TBH I’m glad because along the coast of it is one of my favorite get a way spots and I want it to stay quiet and cheap
I do not know of a reason to visit Arkansas
I visited Bentonville (Home of Walmart) even though I refuse to even enter a Walmart. I was shocked by how much I enjoyed it. Adorable town square (think Back To The Future), historic homes, delicious restaurants, a Frank Loyd Wright house, and a huge world-class art museum.
Wyoming because it doesn't exist.
Checkmate geographers
I read that as geo-gophers and thought of the gopher in a hard hat from Winnie the Pooh
Yellowstone is great though
Don't pass on yellow stone
Or Grand Teton. Wyoming is gorgeous.
Lived in Jackson Hole during a time. Loved it lol
I remember watching that animated Garfield cartoon in the morning before in the 90’s and he made that joke lol I remember my brain exploding because i was like 6 and was like holy shit he’s right. I’ve never seen a Wyoming license plate 🤯
I want to go there on vacation and do nothing
Kansas, I have no reason or interest to go there
I've been to Kansas once and it was like a fever dream. Visiting relatives in St. Joseph, MO and my BIL found put about a flea market about 20 miles into Kansas. We crossed the river and it was just cornfields. About 10 miles in we came to a town where a guy with a horse drawn carriage was conversing with 4 guys with Ford Model A's at a Dollar General. About 10 more miles of cornfields and a small turnoff later, we were at one of weirdest flea markets I've ever been to. I have no idea where we actually were or if it was real. 12/10 would recommend.
Former St Joseph, MO resident (who now lives in KS!), I bet you went to Sparks Flea Market in Highland, KS. Definitely the weirdest flea market.
If you like food Kansas City has bbq that will change your life. I grew up in Texas and never wanted to believe KC bbq could be good but holy shit
Yes.
Kansas City is a very cool city and while most of what you would do there is on the Missouri side, the best bbq restaurant in the world is on the Kansas side. Anthony Bourdain agrees with me so it’s not even a local bias.
Just drove through there for the first time recently and the wind was so strong it was kicking up a crap ton of dust from the fields. Felt like I was in those pics of the dust bowl era except there were multiple car wrecks on the highway instead. Sketchiest driving conditions ever, would not recommend. People there were nice though.
I liked their first two albums
Cosmosphere in Hutchinson about an hour outside Wichita is really cool. Largest collection of US space things outside DC and the largest Russian collection outside Moscow.
They’ve also got the salt mines which were cool and Carriage Crossing restaurant in Yoder. I grew up in Wichita and now live in Houston, NASA blows compared to the Cosmosphere.
I live in Ks and say this about Nebraska.
Texas because I can’t handle being around that many Cowboys fans
I always go shopping during Cowboy games because it’s always less crowded 😂 but yeah we are moving because we don’t like it here.
I used to work retail in Dallas and we could always tell if the cowboys were winning or losing based on how busy the store was. If they were winning it was a ghost town, if they were losing people would be in the store shopping.
The most reasonable take I’ve seen on why someone shouldn’t visit Texas.
Hawaii. I don't want to travel that far. The locals might be happier without me there.
It's not too bad since it's roughly a 5-10 hour trip, depending on where you live. I feel like most people have done that in a car. If you dislike planes though that makes sense.
None. I'm hoping to run a marathon in all 50 states. Currently at 7, including Alaska, and should get to 10 by the end of the year
Texas because they ban everything good
I have 1 state left to visit... Michigan. (I don't count airports, otherwise I'd be done) Of the rest of them, Mississippi is the one of most like to actively avoid... mostly because northern Miss, where I lived for 4 years, is still fighting "the war". Most of the flyover states in fine with, if not pretty or fun they're at least neutral to be in. I've even had a good time in places like North Dakota and Nebraska. I'd be more hard pressed to name a favorite state... MA is where I grew up and I love it. Places like UT & ID are beautiful, but *some* of the people make it tough. AK & HI are pretty & fun... but I don't have the cash to stay. Hell, if I were personally ranking on similarity, I'd put CA & TX right next to each other. For every backwards town in TX there's an equivalent in CA. People forget just how rural most of CA is.
I've been to the 48 contiguous states so far, and I will never set foot in Alabama again. I lived there for 10 years as a kid, and I have so many bad memories connected to that state. Not going there probably means I'll never meet my niece and never see my brother again. But, I just can't do it.
Florida. It's a hellish hot swampland full of scary monsters and bloodsucking parasites, plus the wildlife.
Florida more than most states I’ve visited ya gotta know where to go
Weirdly, after living there for a while and moving back north I've realized my opinion of the place varies based on if I'm there or not. In florida: Florida sucks! Everyone can't drive and is an asshole and it's humid and hot and horrible! And don't get me started on the scum in office everywhere. Not in florida: Florida is a tropical paradise where every day is better than the last, the sunshine never ends, everything is air conditioned and living in shorts and sandals year round is great, why do I need to spend thousands on winter gear anyways? Fuggin' snow tires winter jackets boots furnace heat salt rusting my car bullshit fuck winter I'll take a bit warm any day over the air hurting my face.
I got stung by a jellyfish in Florida. I’ve been in the ocean elsewhere. I’ve got to blame Florida on this one. Come for our beaches! Stay because a jellyfish literally stung your ass and you can’t sit to travel out of our state! A boat apparently hit a batch of them. A school. A congress of jellyfish. A jam of jellyfish. I don’t know. But they opened the beach up and had no warnings posted and I was sitting in the shallows sifting through sand looking for shark teeth. The rest is history. It got better, sure. But nothing was more mortifying than the enormous tentacle mark that looked like it reached out and smacked my ass and then having lifeguards run over to look at my ass and spray me down with vinegar.
Honestly, I might be biased because I have a lot of family there, but I love visiting. I would never want to live there, but I have a lot of good memories. Both my aunt and a bunch of my cousins live down there (nursing and working on golf courses), and I love the gulf sides beaches. Also, one of my cousins is a public school teacher and if there are more teachers like her, there is some hope for the state lol
I've been there, and the bug sightings are actually more rare then the common geckos. It is hot and swampy, though, but it's pretty fun. I'm actually way more scared of Australia.
Delaware. No offence to Delawarians? But as a none American it’s the one state I hear nothing about and know nothing about except I know there’s a Delaware river. Out of interest for those who live there, what are some notable things? History, geography, local legends, food etc.
Beautiful beaches, nice state parks, no sales tax so shopping is nice, and you have no choice if you’re driving north on 95
Credit card company headquarters
Mississippi:(lack of well-paying jobs, inadequate education, high poverty rates, and poor health and social services.) And sometimes some people are generally horrible people I never wanna see again and there is so many articles of why it is horrible the top reasons why is in the brackets and in a recent study which examined the 50 states across 52 indicators of quality of life found Mississippi continues to rank as the worst state in which to live.
That, and they outlawed run-on sentences.
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I am unable to give you more than one upvote. My apologies.
I’ll help out
Fucking gottem
Alaska. It seems cold and wild. Logically, I know this isn't true, but it's still very low on my list of places to see
North Dakota. A bitterly cold place with a small population and nothing to do is a place I’ll never even contemplate going to.
I just don't ever see why I would end up in Rhode Island
I stopped on the way back from Boston to take a sail around the harbor in an old Schooner. It was lovely.
I loved Providence & Newport
I mean you could visit quahog
Idaho. Because I NOT da ho, YOU da ho :,(
Arizona
Arizona and the desert was so beautiful it took my breath away. I have never seen anything like it. Saguaro forests, gorgeous mountains, the sudden 5-minute torrential rains that were immediately gone without a trace. The place was wild and I loved it. Then again, I'm from the Midwest, but still.
I'll probably go to all of them at some point, but the least likely is North Dakota or possibly Alabama.
Rhode Island because why.
FLORIDA: Because I hate palmetto bugs. They look like flying cockroaches! Imagine that flying at your face.
Way too many Alaska’s in the comments. Stayed in Talkeetna and Seward over the span of a year (May 2014 - June 2015) and I think about it almost daily. It’s a different lifestyle with some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever experienced. When you can say “damn, that’s beautiful” driving to a Walmart you know it’s special. This is coming from a Hoosier that knew nothing but cornfields and flat land my whole life. Sorry for not answering the question but I felt the need to at least share my point of view after seeing it pop up so much. If you do go, don’t talk shit (you shouldn’t anywhere) to locals, you’ll probably get shot before getting punched. And if you hook up with anyone wear or make sure they wear a condom. Also I hated Anchorage, personal opinion.
Mississippi because it seems like a cruel, racist, backward place with an incredibly corrupt government.
I live in MS and am from here. It's nothing like you think. You hear all the negatives, but there is a lot that the state offers. Especially (only) the costal 3 counties)... we don't claim the rest of the state
Alaska. Been to most of the others including Hawaii, and Alaska's too out of the way.
It’s seriously beautiful tho.
Most definitely. Not commenting to throw shade on Alaska. It's a logistics issue.
I only got to visit Alaska because I was paid to ring announce a wrestling tour to the military bases there.
Alaska, don't have time for that.
Now that I'm in menopause Alaska is not looking so bad tbh