Kentucky.... specifically Louisville...south or midwest? (Jeffersonville, Dixon: how much, restaurant, storage)

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by rgb123

Everyone I have ever met from Louisville sounds Southern...not midwestern in any way! In fact, I get in trouble for calling it LOU-IE-VILLE they all say LOUVULLE (or something like that, I can never get it right).

I just passed through this weekend....so I was on the lookout for the real transition. What suprises me is that I think the southern culture is moving north more than it is south. The waffle houses go all the way up to Indianapolis now!! That has always been an indicator to me. I have driven I-65 a few times, and I never remember seeing any waffle houses so far into Indiana.

I stopped on the north side of the Ohio River to walk in the park....Jeffersonville is it? Not sure but it looked like a cute little place to live with a great view of Louisville. But anyway....no, not what I would consider midwestern and the river certainly doesn't split the culture.

I would say there is more of a Southern influence all the way up to Indy....and most people I know from the upper mid-west will at least notice a large cutural difference when visiting anywhere south of Indy (or living there...as one of my friends lives in Crawfordsville, IN and he thinks it is quite southern). Sure its a blending of cultures there.....but truly Louisville is a southern city.

Since when have Waffle Houses been used as a way to define The South? I find those all over the United States!

[rgb123]

Originally Posted by ajf131

Since when have Waffle Houses been used as a way to define The South? I find those all over the United States!

no....they are definitley not all over the united states. I mean, specifically the yellow signs with the block letters.

Many chains are regional, such as, culvers were only in wisconsin (but are now in other states too) and cracker barrel originated in Tennessee (or was it arkansas) and only recently came north.

Waffle Houses are always in the south, almost religiously. I had never seen them so far into indiana until this weekend, but I don't take that route often.

[Katiana]

I remember waffle houses in Indiana and Illinois back in the early 70s.

[rgb123]

I have never seen one in Illinois. I have seen a huddle house but not a waffle house. Maybe they were here before I was born and shut down...but I've never seen them.

[rgb123]

lol you probably wont want to hear this afjfsince its my definition of the south, but I just looked it up and there are only 2 waffle houses in illinois....both in st. louis.

But anyway, here is an intersting (well, if you care about that sort of thing) history of the waffle houses...and explains the indiana thing maybe! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by rgb123

lol you probably wont want to hear this afj since its my definition of the south, but I just looked it up and there are only 2 waffle houses in illinois....both in st. louis.

Yep I just looked it up too. Columbus has 17 within its vicinity and Cleveland has 5 in its vicinity. Indianapolis has 9, St. Louis has 15, Kansas City has around the same. How have Chicago and Illinois managed to escape having Waffle Houses when the other Midwestern cities I just listed have not and Ohio has them as far north as Toledo and Cleveland. Well, in any case, I didn't know Waffle Houses were considered Southern attributes until I just researched it. If that's the case, it's becoming less so since they have already become well-established in Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, Kansas, and Pennsylvania. The Waffle Houses along with sweet tea and Cracker Barrel seem to be climbing further and further into the Midwest. maybe in thirty years we will find sweet tea in places in the Midwest other than just Cracker Barrel. In St. Louis and Springfield, IL that's the only place you can get it. Central Indiana (Cloverdale to specific, between Terre Haute and Indianapolis) has sweet tea from what I've seen already.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by rgb123

lol you probably wont want to hear this afjfsince its my definition of the south, but I just looked it up and there are only 2 waffle houses in illinois....both in st. louis.

But anyway, here is an intersting (well, if you care about that sort of thing) history of the waffle houses...and explains the indiana thing maybe! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House

If Waffle House is the definition of the South, than Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Kansas City are all Southern cities, and Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are part of the South (raises more than just an eyebrow)...did it ever occur to you that MAYBE Southern things are moving North? Seriously, the way I look at it, with these three states and Illinois included featuring Cracker Barrels further north than their capitals, it wouldn't surprise me if sweet tea eventually becomes served in all restaurants around here, even in Chicago! Indiana has more sweet tea than any Midwestern state I've ever seen, including Missouri, which features hardly any sweet tea except in Cracker Barrels, which have it no matter what state they are in.

[rgb123]

Its not my only definition of the south. And yes I think Columbus and Saint Louis have some overlap of Southern Culture. I dont see things as completley black and white, and I'm not a total product of the enviornment in which I grew up, but I do acknowledge cultural differences between places when they exist.....and its not a bad thing. And my assesment latley is this....the lines are blending much more. I think its too bad that a lot of these chains are expanding so much. Its such a fun novelty to drive south and stop at a waffle house.

I appreciate that we have different cultures in the US. But the lines are not always clear.....and that is ok.

Anyway. Louisville is a southern city. I'm sorry I brought up the waffle houses.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by rgb123

Its not my only definition of the south. And yes I think Columbus and Saint Louis have some overlap of Southern Culture. I dont see things as completley black and white, and I'm not a total product of the enviornment in which I grew up, but I do acknowledge cultural differences between places when they exist.....and its not a bad thing. And my assesment latley is this....the lines are blending much more. I think its too bad that a lot of these chains are expanding so much. Its such a fun novelty to drive south and stop at a waffle house.

I appreicate that we have different cultures in the US. But the lines are not always clear.....and that is ok.

Anyway. Louisville is a southern city. I'm sorry I brought up the waffle houses.

You don't have to apologize lol. It actually educated me to learn this. I thought of this as a debate, not a fight lol.

[Rawlings]

We've got plenty of Waffle Houses here in Colorado. I think it's more of a middle-American phenomenon than a southern thing, exactly.