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I am in Southern Kentucky (Bowling Green) so maybe I just feel more southern, but I have had grits and fried green tomatoes in Louisville many times. Is Kentucky as southern as Hattiesburg, Mississippi (I have family there) not really, but it is very similar in a lot of ways. I used to have to travel to Evansville, Indiana for business and it always amazed me that once you crossed that river the whole culture changed. Owensboro and Henderson...much like Bowling Green, cross into Indiana and bam you could definitely tell the difference.
Absolutely Dixiegirl thank you! There are even restaurants near me that *gasp!* you can get GREENS!
Speaking of corn pudding, my church had a pot luck last year and there were four different kinds of corn pudding brought. JCM, you have just went wrong places.
You have to look at more than the "line" these days. I mean, would you argue that Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware are generally southern states? Look at how those states tax their citizens, at their climates, newcomers, economies, proximity to Philadelphia and New York, and the majority of citizens that have settled in those places from farther north. Sure, extreme southern portions of VA may be "Southern" (i.e. Roanoke, Wise, Danville,) but even Richmond and the Hampton Roads regions are no longer known for their "friendly and hospitable Southern folks." Same with Florida, especially south of I-10 (south of Jacksonville, Tallahassee, etc.) Shoot, in 25-30 years time, with so many Boston, NYC and NJ transplants saturating North Carolina, I'll probably be arguing that N.C. is no longer a true Southern state.
Kentucky shares a longer combined border with the midwest than with the truer south. Guess where people are moving here from? Not Tennessee or Georgia. They're moving to our metropolitan areas from Chicago (in a surrounding state,) Indianapolis (in another s.s.,) Cincinnati and Cleveland (in another s.s.,) and Detroit (a straight shot down I-75.)
The farther north you go in Kentucky, the less often you see sweet tea, grits, country fried steak, fried okra, corn pudding...southern food specialties.
I would call any Ohio River county, plus any place above the Kentucky River on I-75 the midwest for all intents and purposes. I would never argue to a Texan, Mississippian or Georgian that Georgetown, Covington, Lexington, Elizabethtown, or Louisville are entirely Southern in feel, attitude and culture. Not an insult or compliment, just an observation and a sincere feeling. I would argue this b/c I've traveled the real South more than any other part of the country!
Below I-64 and above the Cumberland Parkway would be "Southern lite," the area where people still say "pop" instead of "coke" and Southern hospitality and mannerisms still aren't used quite as much as in the real south...but, confederate flags are flown heavily, southern accents are strong, and the folks take their time tellin' stories.
Below the Cumberland Pkwy. is the most Southern part of the state, literally and culturally.
Oh and for the record, I don't say pop or soda, I say and always have, coke and I am in Louisville.
the entire western third of kentucky is dotted by cypress and tupelo swamps, some no more than a few acres, some thousands of acres.... that picture is from a creek in the kentucky section of reelfoot lake, but i've documented cypress growing in butler and logan counties even...... and being a tributary of the green river, the barren river here in bowling green has a small number of cypress along its bank
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/b/bd/240px-Alligator_Snapping_Turtle2.jpg (broken link) you don't want to walk barefoot through too many creeks or swamps round here
the oaks of kentucky are all predominantly southern species, such as this cherrybark oak.... hiking i have seen many oaks near this size, and in the yards of some older houses here there are equals
http://www.forestry.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/5A90477A-52CC-46EE-9903-CB4404C72B01/0/cherrybarkoak.jpg (broken link)
the kentucky champion bald cypress
http://www.forestry.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/0DD604BF-66BE-4183-9E59-E35C53D0EAB2/0/baldcypress.JPG (broken link)
Is that you in the pics? Do you work in forestry?
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