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What about Texas? You could do Texas, Louisiana (though it's definitely got some French influence, it's such a hodge podge that I think you'd find it fascinating), and the Ozarks in Arkansas.
I think the general gist is that no matter which specific region you end up choosing, mid America and points west of it is where you should be looking. In my experience, the northeast is very Europhile, and this has a profound influence on the culture there (parts of southeast's upper middle class are similar, but more Tory and less Parisian intellectual in thrust).
As you go west, people become more self confident in their Americanness, and this is something that is equally true in places that are dominated by the cultural left, the cultural right or somewhere in between.
Any non-coastal city will be very American and non-European, except for ones like Chicago or Minneapolis.
Kansas City pulls both western and eastern influence. St. Louis is more influenced by the East, but still very uniquely Midwestern.
Denver is also an interesting one. West meets Midwest, with a very strong progressive slant. Like a little cousin of San Francisco that floated eastward. There are a lot of Hispanics there, but overall the influence does not feel very Hispanic. It's all about skiing and snowboarding out there.
Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Nashville, and Omaha are also all-American cities that come to mind...but you'd be bored out of your mind doing nothing there.
NOT Seattle, despite many posters mentioning that. Seattle has a very Europhilic (Scandinavian, specifically) influence. Like house music and hairy women kind of Europhile.
San Francisco Bay Area is a league of it's own, and I recommend you visit regardless. Just an interesting city that no other city in the world can emulate.
Honestly, a lot of "flyover states" are actually quite pleasant in a quiet sort of way.
Also, have you visited Appalachia yet? West Virginia, the Smokies or Blue Ridge Mountains?[/QUOTE}
I don't know whether the poster is looking for something that is unlike modern day England, but there are people in the North Carolina mountains that speak pure Shakespearean English. So if the idea is to get away from England that would not be the way. My daughter married a man from England and Western North Carolina was so isolated for years that we found the traditions of both families in this marriage were almost the same. The only difference is that we drive on the opposite side of the road and the bride and groom stand in opposite places.
I have never been there but my idea of what the poster is looking for would be in Idaho or Montana, or maybe Nebraska.
Most Northerners would cringe about this but we traveled to Smuggler's Notch in Vermont and I was so disappointed that we had traveled about 1000 miles and nothing was very different than where I was raised in the North Carolina mountains. The only thing we had problems doing was finding any good food. We are not into seafood since we were both raised in the mountains. We found the prices of their food a little outrageous. We never eat at McDonald's but we got so hungry we ate there. Our condo had a full sized kitchen which I seldom use but I did on this trip. I usually take soup and than bring it back home. I didn't have any left to take back home. We were so glad we had it.
If the poster wants to look for places that are mostly white, the city-data profiles of cities give that information.
NOT Seattle, despite many posters mentioning that. Seattle has a very Europhilic (Scandinavian, specifically) influence. Like house music and hairy women kind of Europhile.
You realize that is not really what Europe is like, right? In my experience, most of western Europe is much more conventional than the parts of the US that are freak friendly, places like the central cities of Seattle, Portland, Austin or Minneapolis as uniquely American as Oklahoma or Kansas, just different from them. The bulk of western Europe is more like Boston - communitarian but somewhat buttoned down.
Last edited by Drewcifer; 08-04-2015 at 10:35 PM..
Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Nashville, and Omaha are also all-American cities that come to mind...but you'd be bored out of your mind doing nothing there.
Any non-coastal city will be very American and non-European, except for ones like Chicago or Minneapolis.
Kansas City pulls both western and eastern influence. St. Louis is more influenced by the East, but still very uniquely Midwestern.
Denver is also an interesting one. West meets Midwest, with a very strong progressive slant. Like a little cousin of San Francisco that floated eastward. There are a lot of Hispanics there, but overall the influence does not feel very Hispanic. It's all about skiing and snowboarding out there.
Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Nashville, and Omaha are also all-American cities that come to mind...but you'd be bored out of your mind doing nothing there.
NOT Seattle, despite many posters mentioning that. Seattle has a very Europhilic (Scandinavian, specifically) influence. Like house music and hairy women kind of Europhile.
San Francisco Bay Area is a league of it's own, and I recommend you visit regardless. Just an interesting city that no other city in the world can emulate.
This is wrong on a lot of levels
Especially the seattle and scandinavian hairy women europhile??? nashville is a hell of alot more fun than most cities I have ever visited , basically still wondering about the hairy women scandinavian seattle europhile part the most
If you don't want hot and humid, don't travel to the lower midwest/upper south in the summertime!
I vote for a trip Oklahoma, because there is a strong Native American presence, stronger than the other states you mentioned, and that would be interesting for you. I loved living in Oklahoma. It is an interesting combination of southern/midwestern/western. If you choose OK I'll DM you some interesting places to visit that will give you a really diverse American experience!
I lived in Kansas too. Loved Lawrence, hated Wichita. Kansas has less diversity in culture/topography than Oklahoma, and would be a less interesting trip IMHO. Missouri is pretty in places and has a southern/midwestern culture, but there's also a severe statewide problem with meth addiction and crime. Meth is a problem in OK too, of course.
I'd choose New Orleans and a couple of other spots in Louisiana, a number of places in Texas, and the deserts.
New Orleans is one of the most European cities in the nation. There is a great deal of African influence, but it's largely found in neighborhoods most tourists aren't willing to visit.
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