On a roadtrip: How will you know when you're in the south? (houses, restaurants)

[workaholics]

So let's say you're on a roadtrip from Michigan to Florida, or maybe California to New York, or maybe even Massachusetts to Savannah. Based on only what you can see from the highway (restaurants, gas stations, place names, homes along the highway, etc) how do you know when you're in the cultural south?

[JoeTarheel]

Restaurants: you might generally see more Waffle Houses/Chick-fil-As/Stuckeys/Huddle Houses but none of those are limited to the South. There are lots of restaurants with locations only in the South, but not many that you would abruptly see when crossing the border into the South.

Gas stations: not aware of any major differences here.

Homes: I don't think there is an abrupt change in homes once you cross over into the South.

Place names: not sure what you mean.

The South has become such a diverse place that there is not the huge difference that you once saw driving in.

[workaholics]

Place names, like names of towns, cities, roads rivers. For instance, when you start seeing a lot of places with spanish sounding names you'll know you're in the Southwest. Are there certain name origins (native american, english, etc) that are common in the south?

[JoeTarheel]

There are a lot of Native American names, but that is common all over the U.S.

[Infamous92]

I need to hear an accent, I don't notice much visual differences between the South & the Mid-Atlantic until the palm trees start showing up.

I didn't realize I was in the "south" until the cashier at a gas station spoke to me, this was in Southern Virginia.

[NCN]

If you are on I-95, Fredericksburg, Virginia will start showing Civil War battlegrounds. I think that would be a clue. But on second thought, I am sure the North has these also, just different colored uniforms.

Do you have Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the Northern states? Cheerwine soft drinks would be another clue. They are red and they are good. I believe there is a Harris Teeter Grocery Store in D. C. I have been shopping at Harris Teeter for about 45 years or longer. Bojangles, Chick-Fil-A, Hardee's would be fast food places. I am sure there are more.

Then sweet tea and gravy biscuits, chicken fried steak, and both corn bread and biscuits served with the meals. We are getting more businesses from the North and they never give enough bread with their meals.

Does the North have plantation houses?

I am having a hard time answering this because I haven't been much past D. C. if at all.

Probably the biggest clue will be the difference in food. I made the mistake of asking for a sausage biscuit in a restaurant in Ohio. They didn't know what I was talking about. I looked at their menu, ordered a couple of biscuits and a couple of sausage patties, cut the bread open and put the meat in and told the waitress, "This is a sausage biscuit." LOL We put everything in biscuits down here.

This is a little more rare these days because the "guys" word has made its appearance already, but when someone says "Y'all," you are here.

[jtur88]

Cars coming towards you will have no plates on the front.

You'll start hearing the calls of Carolina Wrens and Carolina Chickadees.

[NCN]

As for the last names, if you go to the city-data part of this website and type in any county and scroll down to the bottom of the county page there will be a list of the most popular names in that county; both first names and last names on different charts.

I have heard you don't pass on the right on an interstate highway. If you start to move to the right it would be a good idea to make sure no one is about to go around you on the right side. If you see an empty space in a lane of traffic and you want to be there, it belongs to you.

[chris410]

A million signs for South of the border.

[memberX]

Originally Posted by jtur88

Cars coming towards you will have no plates on the front.

You'll start hearing the calls of Carolina Wrens and Carolina Chickadees.

A couple of exceptions: Pennsylvania doesn't have front plates. Virginia does.