Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know some blue county people here in CA who are afraid of our red counties. Seriously. Some parts of CA make Appalachia look liberal and cosmopolitan. My kind of people.
Now, keep in mind there are Red States I don't want to drive through that has NOTHING TO DO WITH POLITICS but because of one unsettling feature a lot of them have: THEY ARE TOO DAMN FLAT!
I drove through South Dakota once and ah my God! It was so flat and featureless...it was like one of those old video games that keep repeating the same background over and over again. After a while I kind of felt claustrophobic...I know, claustrophobic from too much space sounds crazy but man, it was nuts.
Western South Dakota has some areas that aren't exactly flat.
The answers here by liberals are ridiculous. Half the people in the red states are liberals. So what is the point? This red state blue state crap is stupid.
I agree in principle with the second half of your sentence. Americans are dividing themselves into opposing camps based on political ideology. They're calling names and demonizing the other side on talk radio and on forums like these. It's stupid, and it's also sad. In real life I have found that most people are pretty decent. It's only when they start posting on an anonymous forum that some folks forget how to be civil.
Is it scary to drive through states like Oklahoma or Mississippi?
I imagine road trips are a nightmare for liberals.
Nope, I've thoroughly enjoyed all of my travels throughout typically 'red' Southern states. Whether driving down to Alabama (from Maryland) for research fieldwork, or when working in the New Orleans area post-Katrina, I had the opportunity to meet some incredible people along the way.
I don't outright judge folks based upon political ideology or stance, think that's quite silly.
They don't pee once they leave the outskirts of Blythe, CA and head east. They just hold it until they can't stand it anymore. Which is, very often, at the aptly named Fast Break gas station in El Reno, OK.
I drove from Montreal, Canada to Key West and had a blast. It is pretty remarkable how quickly things turn into a side show south of Virginia, though. I jest, I jest... although culturally it's pretty significant. Honestly, from my french-speaking city to DC I felt 100% in a familiar place, everything was usual. The language divide doesn't hold a candle to the mason-dixon line divide. The most memorable aspect for me was the inter-twining of vile, toilet humour billboards (seemingly home-made) and ridiculous slogan-bearing church billboards... you know the ''Hope you got your suntan lotion, sinners... it gets hot in hell!'' types.
I was particularly floored by this one big sign for what must have been a pretty popular restaurant in the avon, nc area called Dirty Dicks... their billboard read ''I got my crabs from dirty dicks'' and featured this awful cartoon drawing of some guy clawing at his genital area. Anyways, great memories.
The people were very warm and friendly, but It was clear in most conversations that folks were dying to know where we were from (and what our origins were, and what the language we spoke amongst ourselves was) ... and if we were Christian of course. After a couple days in Cape Hatteras though my beautiful tan really started getting the best of me, not to mention the thick beard I had let grow out over the month-long road trip. Between NC and Northern Florida I definitely got more than a few ''look at that Ay-rab with the white girl'' stares. Amusing since I'm only half-Italian - the other half is french Canadian :-P Brown hair be damned!
But folks were nice, and I love the cultural difference. I mean I felt further removed from home (culturally) in the bible belt than I had in most of Western Europe. Canada and the North-East are even more closely related. (even the french part).
About the Montreal-Miami pilgrimage. We Canadians (particularly the South Florida-loving Quebecers) have learned, through word of mouth, to avoid the awful scourge that is the town of Rocky Mount. See, Rocky Mount is almost exactly half-way between Montreal and Miami. So we're likely to stop there if not warned... my experience at the Waffle House in Rocky Mount at 2am was most shocking. Seeing the cops dozing off, mouths gaping in the booth next to me while these thuggish pimps two booths over fondled their girls and loudly tried peddling them to anyone who entered the store, while their homeys killed time by gently lobbing taters at a half-sleeping, 500 pound, three-nostriled cashier - boy did I feel out of place. But happy to be there!
Funny, too, how quickly things revert to the North-East once you enter South Florida.
Also, three speeding violations pardoned by nice police officers!
''Sorry sir, we use Km in Canada''
*Looks at speedometer, raises eyebrow*
''You be safe now, and have a good day''
Seriously, Americans red and blue are pretty awesome people.
I have driven across the country three times now in my lifetime and it is a beautiful country we live in Red State or Blue State.....I don't know why anyone would be scared of Red States.
Now I have no interest in living in a Red State because I disagree with their politics, but I am not scared of Red States.
Heck, I use to live in Mississippi or M-I-crooked letter-crooked letter-I-crooked letter-crooked letter-I-humpback-humpback-I, the people who went to school in Mississippi would know what I am talking about there. Heck it would be nice to go back and see the gulf states again, though it isn't high on my list for places to visit next cause DC, Virginia, and Europe will probably trump the gulf states in me future travels.
I know some blue county people here in CA who are afraid of our red counties. Seriously. Some parts of CA make Appalachia look liberal and cosmopolitan. My kind of people.
If I stay in California - those are the areas to which I will move.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It was so flat and featureless...it was like one of those old video games that keep repeating the same background over and over again. After a while I kind of felt claustrophobic...I know, claustrophobic from too much space sounds crazy but man, it was nuts.
