a thread where we all had to find three good things about each state

it would be nice to have a thread where we all had to find three good things about each state

― max, Thursday, February 18, 2010 3:45 PM (40 minutes ago)

I like this idea.

Maybe, for each state, good things listed by an insider and some listed by an outsider.

Alabama:

my family is from there
Ruben Studdard is from there
lots of good food

(note: I have never been there)

Mississippi, insider's view:

1. great literary tradition - Faulkner, Welty, Williams, etc
2. great culinary tradition - incl. http://www.southernfoodways.com/
3. the Natchez Trace Parkway

Michigan:

Never more than a ridiculously short distance from open water
More sand/beach coastline than any other state except Florida
Ridic large percentage of Potawatomi/Indian place-names that freak everyone else out (ex: Kalamazoo)

washington, insider:

trees trees trees
sense of entrepenurial dynamism and economic opportunity (even still imo)
dank nugs

MA, insider:

gay marriage is legal
choral/classical music is astounding and plentiful
a bazillion excellent institutions of higher learning

Mississippi, an outsider's perspective (who voted it worst):
1. Probably the best and most influential blues and early rock tradition (Robert Johnson, Elvis, BB King, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters)
2. Gave us Root Beer, the greatest of soft drinks
3. Seriously, the Natchez Trace Parkway is great

Arkansas, former three-year insider

1. surprisingly diverse physical geography with many recreational opportunities both terrestrial (mountain biking, hiking, camping in the Ozarks/Ouachitas) and aquatic (rafting, floating, kayaking in the White River/southern swamps/Mississippi delta)
2. only U.S. state to naturally produce diamonds
3. typical Forbes list stuff like low cost of living, low crime rate, relatively low unemployment etc.

Rhode Island
-cuisine (stuffies, weiners, coffee milk, etc.)
-fort thunder/fort thunder's babies.
-buddy mo-fucking cianci.

Utah:

– The best diss for a citizen of any state is the mean nickname for Utahans, "carrot snappers"
– Easy as hell to find yr way around Salt Lake City due to great grid system for streets
– About 800 different kinds of crazy natural geographic beauty

^ kind of want to change #2 to "Carnival of Souls was filmed there"

Indiana, ex-insider:

1) the rolling hill country in the southern part of the state
2) automobile/aircraft engine historical development (esp. James A. Allison - though not born there, did most of his important development work there)
3) Hoagy Carmichael

I want to list breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches, when done right, but I doubt they were invented there.

Pennsylvania (resident of 18 years, occasional visitor, kind of a hater, but i'll stick up for PA once in a while)

- Cheesesteaks
- The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation, and the Rodin Museum (altogether, these three pretty much pwn the Metropolitan, imo)
- Some actually very pretty and pastoral landcapes.

i would also like to add to PA:

- Tastykakes
- All the weird esoteric historical stuff about the found of the US
- Great beer.

illinois:

1) chicago for basically everything (incredible museums, cuisine, music, sports, culture, skyline, etc)
2) historically speaking, the state is totally fascinating w/r/t politics and crime and the old-timey small towns are usually quite beautiful and charming
3) underrated pockets of interesting geology nestled towards the northwest part of the state

For Indiana, I need to add:

the amazing printed music collection housed in the Indianapolis central library. I didn't know about it until my last visit - an entire floor of sheet music, scores, songbooks, hymnals, symphony and orchestra programs, from the early 1800s to now. An embarassment of riches.

Oklahoma:

1.)Sooner cheerleaders
2.)Tornado youtubes
3.)There are bison there

Oregon:

1) the beautiful Oregon coast is all publically owned, from the water's edge up to the vegetation line.
2) no sales tax
3) local strawberries (pref. "Hood" variety) are the world's best, when they're in season

California, envious outsider:

1) foodie heaven
2) Sierra mountains and their many National Parks and wilderness areas
3) Big Sur

^ i would personally replace the sierras with pauly shore but whatever

new jersey (lived here just about all of my life):

1. we exist merely to amuse the rest of the country. see "jersey shore."
2. we exist merely to be the unflushed toilet bowl for our neighboring states. see also "jersey shore," city of philadelphia vs. new jersey, 437 U.S. 617 (1978).
3. we exist to confound the rest of the country when non-natives meet natives who do not conform to either 1 or 2 (which is, like, most of us).
4. the jersey devil, the devil's tree, and all of that wonderfully fucked-up shit from weird nj that sounds like something out of a william faulkner novel or david lynch movie.
5. our cool natives take more pride in being the birthplace of the feelies, the misfits and naughty by nature than in bruce springsteen.

The Jersey Devil was my #1 fear as a kid, thanks to an illustration in Mysteries of the Unexplained.

last but not least:

6. a fucked-up, byzantine and thoroughly corrupt political culture that puts Chicago and Louisiana to shame and that cause even Clay Davis to hold his nose in utter disgust.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNnAvTTaJjM

the house in this video is located in Union, NJ. and it's still there ... i just saw it the other day, in fact!

5. our cool natives take more pride in being the birthplace of the feelies, the misfits and naughty by nature than in bruce springsteen.

prefer the non-cool native POV

to each their own, i guess. you also didn't grow up in the NJ suburbs during the 80s (when Brucemania was inescapable).

unfortunately!

texas, from an inside man

-gorgeous western basin that rivals new mexico for big empty spiritual beauty but never gets appropriate props imo yall ever driven round marfa in the dawn light damn

-san antonio, which is a wonderfully complex town. on the surface its a tourist trap put in place to snatch the money of pasty people of the north with novelty sombreros, but because its a tourist trap town all the natives that aren't gangsters are this tight knit honest community of service industry types that will do you a solid with the understanding that you'd always do the same for them, and that you will if you ever get the chance.

-motherfucking tacos

Delaware from the inside:

1. Home of Tax Free Shopping
2. Beaches
3. It's easy to ride your bike there because it's very flat.

California, envious outsider:

1) foodie heaven

except for Stockton, CA ... which is actually foodie hell. and i'm not even a foodie.

3 more good things about new jersey

• seaside heights
• grease trucks
• summer corn

3 good things about new york (non-nyc edition)

• fall foliage
• buffalo wings
• niagra falls!

3 good things about maine

• lobster
• acadia nat'l park
• bluberries

(insider on nj, semi-insider on ny state and ME)

More good things about Delaware:

4. Two-ish hours from Baltimore, DC, and Philadelphia.
5. There are at least three distinct accents represented within the state despite it being small enough that you can drive from the top to the bottom in a few hours.
6. Joe Biden

3 more good things about rhode island

• dells lemonade
• mobile diner
• hp lovecraft

re the jersey devil: i just read that history channel postulated that the jersey devil might actually be a great horned owl. my first thought is that such a bird wouldn't be big enough (it can grow up to 2 1/2 ft. or so w/ a five foot wingspan), then i saw this video on Youtube and i noted that they can look pretty damn scary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0jVgldCwAk

Florida:

1. Mild winters
2. Gulf coast beaches
3. My company

I love the whole myth of the Jersey Devil and the wack jobs who think they've seen it. Lol Pineys.

NY:

1) Fire Island
http://ezhistory.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/ny_ocean_beach_beach.150161344_std.jpg
2) The Finger Lakes Region
http://hikingohioparks.com/images3/finger-lakes-map.jpg
3) Pizza/Bagels
http://www.vinnyspizzasonline.com/real%20pizza.jpghttp://www.costaricapages.com/panama/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/bagelassortment.jpg

idaho, outsider edition:

skiing skiing skiing
craters of the moon
good ppl come from there, some of my best friends etc

Idaho, insider edition:

• Innertubing down the Boise River in summer w/a 6-pack of beer and beaching like a drunken whale in the middle of a city park
• Albion, crazy small town in a beautiful Sound of Music-looking valley w/classic small town museum full of everything they could find older than 30 years old in a former teacher's college called Albion Normal (used to drive here every year for my birthday)
• Coming home w/ten rainbow trout you just caught in the Snake River & grilling them on a beautiful July evening

maryland (insider ed)

kind of has everything and is not that big, so you could drive from very southern southern maryland to the chesapeake bay to baltimore city to the fancy dc burbs (but why would you want to do that) to the appalachian mountains in like half a day
best state flag of all the flags
crabs + old bay seasoning <3

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41WACQDTJZL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

http://images28.fotki.com/v1028/photos/9/991469/4377045/WP01072527sd-vi.jpg?1191094799

by these mountains

http://www.forwolves.org/ralph/wpages/graphics/cityrocks16-1.jpg

thread needs AK and HI

Coming home w/ten rainbow trout you just caught in the Snake River & grilling them on a beautiful July evening

that IS awesome, actually!

best state flag of all the flags
best state flag of all the flags
best state flag of all the flags
4 real

more maryland

smith island
the wire
autumn glory wayyy out in westernmost county. generally, fall in the appalachian mountains when the leaves are changing and the weather is still nice, also it is football season - best thing ever

thread needs AK and HI

never been to Alaska, so secondhand stuff:

1. an aunt of mine once said "they've got mosquitoes up there big enough to fuck a turkey"
2. my parents brought back some fantastic salmon the last time they went
3. weird growing season, which somehow results in people growing several-hundred-pound vegetables

Your aunt is awesome.

WA, recent insider edition:

1) All kinds of beautiful terrain - mountains, ocean, deserts, crazy rolling hills, rain forest

2) Really good local food, wine, seafood, produce, coffee, and beer

3) Socially pretty liberal

MI, most of my life edition:

1) Booze laws the most awesome of anywhere I've lived, assuming you can wait til after noon on Sunday to buy drinks

2) Lake Superior + the UP

3) Basically 95% of my best memories happened here

Nevada, outsider:

1. Burning Man. I don't go, but can't see any other state that would allow it.
2. east half of Lake Tahoe in the winter
3. That nuclear bomb explosion license plate

Washington, insider:
1. Seattle (yeah yeah got that over with)
2. Ref 71 passing by actual voters
3. The fucking San Juans

I've lived in seven states for 2+ years each---as it was, most of the top 10 worst states on the last poll we did. I don't know if that makes me an insider to these places, or just a wanderer who's an outsider everywhere. In any case:

Kansas, insider I guess
1. The Flint Hills are pretty and spooky and in the right places, the big sky is overwhelming.
2. The clouds are more beautiful there than anywhere else I've lived.
3. The quality of local food---produce, grains, meat---is very high, though you have to cook them yourselves as there are few noteworthy restaurants. Though: Oklahoma Joe's! (in KC, KS)

and for Indiana, my vote for worst state, as insider (lived there for 6 years)
1. GO IRISH
2. Evansville-area bbq is good
3. The Indiana Dunes are nice.

More Delaware:

7. People from Delaware are intensely protective of their home state, even while acknowledging its shortcomings, which it is only okay for Delaware natives to do.
8. If you lived there, you'd be home right now.
9. Rappa Scrapple
10. Dog Fish Head beer

11. credit card companies

oh this is the 'good things' thread

Don't hate just because Delaware lawmakers were smart enough to make DE place to be for the financial services sector. It brought a lot of jobs to the area, and if DE didn't do it, somebody else would have. Shit, Greenwood, DE is basically a Discover Card payment processing center and a WaWa.

yeah I'm not sure the "they were smart enough to do it!!" excuse works for delaware anymore than goldman sachs

What am I making an excuse for?

maryland (insider ed)

kind of has everything and is not that big, so you could drive from very southern southern maryland to the chesapeake bay to baltimore city to the fancy dc burbs (but why would you want to do that) to the appalachian mountains in like half a day
best state flag of all the flags
crabs + old bay seasoning <3

daria-g, I was going to post these three (minus the crabs, because of vegetarianism). no kidding.

http://www.roadwayvanlines.com/IMAGES/maryland_logo.gif

Florida

1. Crazy swamps and unique wildlife
2. Cryogenically frozen Disney
3. Shaped like a dong

you're making an excuse for this: http://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/17/business/19810317BANK.html?ex=1103259600&en=c010543948675c8b&ei=5087

iatee this is the thread for saying three good things about the state

CT, insider:

1)Litchfield County is filled with too much natural beauty
2)New Haven Pizza
3)Gay Marriage passed and doesn't even seem controversial

4)Driving down the Merrit Parkway is always great -- winding road, gorgeous scenery, historic bridges built by the WPA

Wyoming:

• Yellowstone National Park
• Amazingly delicious tap water
• Great license plate

Wisconsin:

1) House on the Rock (this is really the only thing it needs)
2) I always have a good time in Madison
3) Milwaukee is cool too

Oh my god, House on the Rock is such a nightmare, although the infinity room justifies it, I guess.

New Mexico, insider:

• Only state I've been in where every small town is exciting and crazy and colorful
• Hatch green chile is maybe god's perfect food
• Has a bilingual state song, "Mi Lindo Nuevo Mexico"

I want to go to NM and eat, eat, eat -- I'm thinking about this September maybe.

I feel like House on the Rock is the ultimate proof of the greatness of the U.S. of A.

Alabama, outsider
1. Food: shrimp and grits along the Gulf coast, and that weird vinegary bbq sauce
2. The Air & Space Museum in Huntsville is neat.
3. Holy smokes @ the fireworks available there (esp. for a Georgia boy)

lol, YES to fireworks

Shrimp & grits sounds sooooo good

New Mexico, outsider:
1.) fucking beautiful
2.) "red or green"
3.) my best friends live there

xp to iatee: That's a good article. Most of what I've read about DE corporate/banking law looks at it historically from a "and now this is the way it is and always will be and it is good, amen" kind of perspective, leaving out a lot of the shady ways that DE state gov. pushed the law through. I'm actually neither a financial sector nor a corporate apologist, believe it or not, but I was 9 when that law was passed and have been to law school where DE finance and incorporation laws are just taken for granted as an institution. It's edifying to read about the process as it happened in a contemporaneous article.

If I agree to substitute "opportunistic" for "smart" in my previous statement will you quit shit-talking my admittedly flawed yet beloved home state on the state-love thread?

Minnesota, insider:
1) Lake Superior
2) MPLS
3) "hi dere!"

this thread is making me love the USA more and more

Ohio, insider:

1. Only state flag that is a pennant, so suck it, Maryland.
http://www.anthemflag.com/images/prodpics/Ohio_big.JPG
2. Iron Chef Michael Symon owns four restaurants in the Cleveland area, all of which are amazing.
3. The Lake Erie Islands are an awesome place to spend a weekend in the summer.

n/a is OTM abt House on the Rock being what makes America great.

Also xp to iatee: I'm totally going to make that article a regular handout to my business law students.

vermont:

spring

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3393/3644211182_bd2b8ca1a4.jpg

fall

http://www.bga.org/meetings/2000/fall10.jpg

winter

http://thesingerspot.com/photography/landscapes/Surprise%20Snow,%20Hartland,%20Vermont.jpg

summer is great too. also, great pot! and beer!

also, craft booze from vermont is really getting going in a big way. sunshine vodka and others.

though living in mass i gotta give props to the local gin. yum!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3233/2815948074_86b72e0e2a.jpg

Vermont uber alles, imo. tho actually NH is even better if you want less hippies and more cranks. stricter about the herb, tho, which could be an ish

vermont is probably my favorite state out of the states i've never been to

re: this mysterious HOUSE ON A ROCK - it is the first i've heard of it as a wisconsin newbie and i have just made plans to go drive there tomorrow morning and get me a tour. also on tomorrow's south-central wisconsin tourism agenda is the mustard museum near madison.

the amazingness of lobster in Maine really can't be stressed enough

^^^overrated imo. there's so much more to love about maine! ~expand yr mind~

I really don't see how walking into a random shack restaurant and paying $15 for a 1.75 lobster could possibly be overrated.

whoopie pie > lobstah

butttttttt i love me a lobster roll

Oooo please report back re: your House on the Rock and Mustard Museum experience.

Also, a #4 for Ohio: Great Lakes Brewing Company. Any ILXors who pass through Cleveland gotta go there.

vermont and new hampshire are both awesome, though i haven't visited either state in over two decades. i think that spending entire months up there when i was a little kid and a teenager makes up for that, though.

I went to Maine and realized I don't really like lobster, but the other seafood availability more than suffices. Didn't like the heat, tho -- surprised our northernmost state got SO HOT. (NB: I was on the southern coast of it.)

it's not always hot, i've been there some years and it's been cool and rainy in august

also, isn't pretty much all of northwest ME essentially a state park (Katahdin Park, or something)? it's some of the most awesome wilderness on the east coast. and Acadia National Park is amazingly beautiful.

also Minnesota is the northernmost of the 48

being responsible for "hot dish" is ... an accomplishment. good or bad, i leave it to y'all.

nah, i think most of NW ME is nat'l forest ie logged as fuck

knew a dude in college from somewhere in ME that was just a post code like BR549 or something.

as recently as 5 years ago, you could address stuff to my parents with "Route #2" and their ZIP code and it would get to them (lol mail carriers knowing who/where the black family is)

aw silly me i was all excited that your parents had a really awesome post office

(until i read the end of the post)

crab >>>> lobster in general, but I really do want to go to Maine and eat a few lobster rolls

crab >>>> lobster in general

I felt this way until I moved to New England.

high quality shellfish kill both imo

PA, insider edition:

1 - yeungling
2 - herrs
3 - you've got a friend there

making me choose between lobste and scallops/clams/oysters would be v.v.v cruel

scallops in a heartbeat

One scallop for every heartbeat.

choosing scallops is not a challops

Arizona, ex-insider:

Aside from the obvious natural grandeur
1) the scent of citrus blossoms in the air in January and February
2) saguaro cacti blooms
3) the sight and smell of rain coming from miles away, across the desert

I refuse to choose crab over lobster for any reason other that crab's local to me. Finally had a lobster roll not that long ago and I was seriously underwhelmed. I like most seafood unadorned anyway and I can think of several things I'd rather do with lobster meat.

3) the sight and smell of rain coming from miles away, across the desert

^^^ Truly amazing.

Crawfish>>>>>>>>>>Oysters>>>>Crab>Lobster

yeah desert rain storms are the best

I always feel so disappointed by lobtsters cause you buy like a 2 lb lobster and it's Hueg and then you bring it home and steam it and the tail turns out to be lol small. it's like finding out the girl you're dating keeps socks in her bra.

I kind of can't think of lobster less adorned than lobster in a correctly-made lobster roll, unless you are talking purely about steamed/boiled lobster w/o butter.

Iowa, Grotto of the Redemption

lobsters are also pretty good at not putting out because they have spines and sharp things EVERYWHERE.

xp: I mean, it's lobster maybe o a leaf of lettuce in a hot dog bun with maybe a tiny bit of mayo. Adding more than that is doing it wrong IMO.

really just can't into lobster. had it for the first time in MAINE and was like this doesn't taste like anything unless i put butter on it

scallops, though, swoooooon

oops, I started another foodfite thread

geography war thread -> foodfight thread -> ???

NM, outsider:

1) best lightning!
2) extinct lava flows, aka "blood of the monster" around Gallup
3) sopapillas

British pizza?

yeah, b4 this foodfight escalates we should probably just all agree that America is full of wonderful food and we want to eat all of it.

unless you are talking purely about steamed/boiled lobster w/o butter.

I loathe butter w/ seafood and the only mayo I can really picture with anything but canned tuna is the aioli on the toasts that come with bouillabaisse and even then I always feel like I should get them far from the broth lest it taints it.

lobster is terrible and fukken disgusting. lol @ listing new haven pizza for ct

considering that the Twin Cities is like ground zero for oodles of imported Alaskan King crab, I totally understand why lobster would taste underwhelming at first. I ended up totally loving, though, and heartily recommend that anyone who likes crustaceans keep trying it because I guarantee one day your tastebuds will get it.

I am much more likely to order oysters than lobster tho, I readily admit that.

The last time I had lobster at home, I used some of the left-over meat in a butter lettuce salad with an avocado(not too much)/lemon based dressing and some mandarins.

Lobster is very subtle but subtle isn't the same as bland.

considering that the Twin Cities is like ground zero for oodles of imported Alaskan King crab

this is new and exciting information, tbh

http://lh5.ggpht.com/nolacuisine/R_mLfYfOaBI/AAAAAAAABDk/Q8CgTJewCIE/s400/dragos-charbroiled-oysters.jpg

MWhite, didn't you just say you loathed butter with seafood

gbx: I am going to come right out and admit I am talking about me at Red Lobster with that statement

MWhite, didn't you just say you loathed butter with seafood

Yes...

What's the price range, generally, for fresh lobster in season in Massachussetts?

oh hahaha I misread "butter lettuce" as "butter and lettuce"

restaurant price range is $20-$50 pr lb depending on size and fanciness of the restaurant; some awesome neighborhood places will sell twin 1.5 lb lobsters for like $15 - $20. I've never bought it in supermarkets but I think it averages between $15 - $20/lb?

In ME, there are a bazillion fancy restaurants that charge you an arm and a leg for lobster, but there are also a ton of shacks that charge you $15/lb.

So $15-20 for 2 lobsters? That's still more expensive than our crab but not by much.

I was just looking up the translation for 'langouste' in English and it's both 'crayfish' and 'spiny lobster', the latter I've never had in the US.

Crab is cheaper across the board IIRC

I don't mind lobster bisque and fancy lobster ravioli and whatnot in restaurants but, considering I prefer just eating lobster with salad and maybe corn and some white wine, I don't see why I would ever do that in a restaurant.

I remember passing through Maine as a kid and we stopped at some little shack with a deck looking out to the Atlantic and ate ridiculously cheap lobster served in little paper plates and everybody was all casual, sipping their beer and chatting whereas for me at home lobster was the really expensive thing on the menu that you weren't really allowed to roder.

all the fresh lobster and fish and clams and stuff was lost on me living on marthas vineyard. i'm just not a big seafood guy. i like shrimp though. church in vineyard haven would have lobster roll nights and supposedly that was the best place to go.

i love maine. i gotta take a road trip to maine this year. i hate going anywhere, but i need to go there.

i LOVE living 20 minutes from vermont. so nice. and, likewise, 20 minutes from new hampshire.

i can't say enough good stuff about where we moved to. i love it here. i'm staying forever.

I never ate any of that stuff as a kid (in the Sierra's, except for trout, of course) and wasn't really turned onto it until I was in my early 20's and knew people in Normandy and Brittany.

Maine was one of the most gorgeous places I ever saw.

yeah I'd move back to vt/nh in a hot minute

my new home in the valley:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3008/2995145636_cf38f9bdd5.jpg?v=0

Damn!

i come from a new england clan and i'm totally an easterner for good or ill, BUT, you know, i got lots of love for the places out west that i've been. i've kinda loved all the places i've seen. portland, oregon. seattle. where maria's mom lives outside eugene. where maria grew up in the bitterroot valley in montana. just so massive and old and kinda overwhelming in montana. yeesh. still want to explore california before i die. or before it sinks. whichever comes first.

omg scott I am not sure I believe that place actually exists!

which valley is it? CT river valley?

central MA, which is absolutely gorgeous and would be under consideration as someplace I would move to if my upbringing had not completely soured me on living in a rural or suburban environment ever again (pro-top: if you live in the woods and your kid does a million activities, get him/her a car)

^^^ACTIVITY BUS imo

I would move to if my upbringing had not completely soured me on living in a rural or suburban environment ever again

^^^^^OTM. That's what vacations are for. And why rural people hate city people who come to their beautiful rural location for vacation.

^^^ACTIVITY BUS imo

yeah ACTIVITY BUS is fine for shit that ends at 4, not so fine for shit that starts at 7 or for shit that you'd have to drive into the Cities to do, like audition for the Children's Theater (which okay, the years in which I was interested in doing this predate the years during which Icould drive a car by a lot but my parents should have picked up on the hint when even at age 8 the things I liked doing the most were all in Minneapolis and St Paul)

You had an ACTIVITY BUS? We had bicycles.

yeah, i lived 12 miles away from school, think HI DERE lived further even

about the same, I think?

loved (:-/) that 11 miles from school equaled ONE HOUR normal bus ride, ONE POINT FIVE hours ACTIVITY BUS ride

nah we were about 10 miles out i think?

fucking activity bus RULED

10 miles out of town, yeah, but I think 12 miles from the high school is about right...?

the activity bus ruled except for the year it was driven by the psycho bitch who later ran over that seven-year-old

ok so MN:

1) activity bus ruled
2) bagazillion live music venues/galleries/museums/theaters
3) prob in direct competition w/portland for KING OF BREAKFAST FOODS

xpost: ok yeah that did not rule

MN sucks a little more, cos Heidi's and the Blackbird burned down yesterday!!

heidi's was a little out of my league but blackbird was totally awesome. so sad.

another reason MN is awesome:

http://images.publicradio.org/content/2008/08/29/20080829_paul_bunyan_babe_33.jpg

more things about oklahoma from a former insider
1. manners and politeness still exist and runs rampant! people (even ones you don't know) always look you in the eye, smile and greet you
2. national cowboy and western heritage museum - remington! rodeos! james earler fraser! barbed wire collection!
3. low cost of living

oh man i heard about that heidi's fire. way above my paygrade, obv, but i went there with a and dad for "thanksgiving" and it was O_O

I don't know either of these places but it sucks when awesome spots get destroyed

oh shit that means someone i know is out of a job, too :(

addendum for out state MN:

1) so many trees everywhere
2) insane awesome iron range boom architecture in podunk little ghost towns (have u dudes seen the hibbing high school? marble staircases! that rococo theater!)
3) old school commie finns in the north counterbalance git er done rednecks in the south of the state

xpost i have no idea what heidis and blackbird are. on the plus side, we lost a patina, so there will be 5% fewer hipster knicknacks clogging our landfills

3) old school commie finns in the north counterbalance git er done rednecks in the south of the state

always forget about these dudes, tbh. the finns, i mean.

heidi's was ritzy and chef-driven, "sustainable" probably, and the chef just won some huge award. blackbird was next door, a little more toned-down and cheaper, but still really good and creative; it didn't take reservations as a rule, so it probably got some turn-away traffic from heidi's (they were next door to each other). a whole row of storefronts burned down.

http://www.ironrange.org/_site_components/images/user/enlarged/attractionshistorichibbing-high0.jpg

THIS IS IN A HIGH SCHOOL

O_O

is that where bob dylan was born

4) dylan was born in MN

wait shit is that stillwater????

did we go to like a knowledge bowl tournament there or somethong? because I've been in that theater and I have no fucking idea when or why I would have been in the theater of Hibbing High School

A grand staircase leads to the medieval castle-like framework of the historic school, built in the early 1920's for almost $4 million.

Unique hand-molded ceilings in the foyer welcome visitors and accent the breathtaking auditorium designed after the Capitol Theatre in New York City. Cut-glass chandeliers of crystal, imported from Belgium, light the 1800-velvet seat grand auditorium. The cost of each chandelier in 1920 was $15,000 and today they are insured for $250,000 each. The auditorium boasts a magnificent Barton pipe organ, one of only two that still exist in the United States. Containing over 1900 pipes, the organ can play any orchestra instrument except the violin.

xpost no gbx, i was typing faster than my brain works, thats in hibbing

xpost dan i think so yes

ah, the days of a booming industry + strong labor/public service gov't

we shall build a place of learning for the youth that will rival any of the gilded houses of europe!

soot-faced finns: huuuray!

more hibbing HS, this is from the trophy display entrance:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3327/3638804478_2a5b791c71.jpg

I don't think I've ever been as envious of a facility as I was of Hibbing High School

I was like "you guys got to school in a palace and I got to school in a Motel Six ;_;" but then I remembered "oh yeah, we have more money in our district and have a tv station and a pool on school grounds ^_^"

Wowowow that high school! I was in awe of schools on more than one floor, that was the stuff of dreams, for me. My HS was built in the '50s, so it didn't have anything fun. We didn't even have an auditorium AT ALL anymore, bc it had been filled in to be flat and used as a lunchroom.

Michigan, redux:

Tiny little lumber towns have theatres, too!

http://cinematreasures.org/images/photos/383.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1224/821213090_70e8255770.jpg?v=0

http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle/news_impact/2009/03/large_cage_fight1.jpg

ok one last one and then i'll stop:

http://www.hhsreunion.com/1959/images/hhs.gif

xp I could not explain for a million dollars why there's a cage match happening in the Frauenthal.

hahahahaha that theater+ cage match is so great

I think the more important question is "why WOULDN'T a cage match happen in the Frauenthal"

It's been a long time since it was okay to spit your chaw on the floor, for one thing.

MD, from 18 year insider:

1. Best Flag. Period.
2. The amazing city of Baltimore, and all of its inconsistencies and contradictions.
3. Church Point at sunrise.

gonna admit my first reaction was "wow that is an AMAZING set"

xp to the Minnesotans: OK, I only lived 5 miles from my high school. But that school was still at least 70 miles from anywhere.

It's been a long time since it was okay to spit your chaw on the floor, for one thing.

Naturally! One should always use a spitoon!

CA, from a 4 year insider:

1. Our bear will kick the shit out of anyone else's. Except for Alaska's, but he's too busy dealing with the above-mentioned mosquitoes.
2. Dispensaries.
3. Our beer is pretty amazing.

4. The Green Brothers and their arts and crafts masterpieces.

laurel our HS was so big and nice that the pool was on the fourth floor

PS I hate you.

Colorado, outsider:

- Frigging epic mountains
- A squirrel stole my pancake in Denver when I was 4 & this is my earliest memory
- Easy to draw

1. Our bear will kick the shit out of anyone else's. Except for Alaska's, but he's too busy dealing with the above-mentioned mosquitoes.

I thought the Alaskan bears were too busy blowing up the world with their space planes...?

Have we talked yet about the Alaska Nanooks opening reel for their hockey team?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8THGqrjUDGI&feature=player_embedded

btw as an outsider, that video is my #1 reason why Alaska is a national treasure

ps laurel we did not have a fourth floor, much to many 9th graders' dismay

I still haven't been inside the new (lol, "new") high school!

dude it is a trip

I saw the floor plans! My mom was still on the school board when the proposal went through and basically I kept looking at it going o_O

think it has actual "pods"

or "zones" or some bullshit

That Nanook thing is awesome!

PPS Oh I geddit.

We have a new HS now, it has two floors. I've never been in it, but it can only be a step up from the old one. Ho ho ho

rufus's school is having a special event in town and i know there is at least one ilxor who would have a good time:

http://www.centerschool.net/images-news/ContraPostcard022810.png

I love it when buildings like high schools are awesome

cleveland refurbished John Hay highschool, here is the cafeteria

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/47/137293930_ca6b50e00a.jpg

Contra dance for REALS??

and the lobby I think

http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/projects/assets/med/projectID14_23.jpg

Or should I say FOR REELS oh god someone stop me

lol

Ha ha

colorado:

01. mountains
02. beer
03. weed*

*not specific to the region, tho many high-quality varieties are easily & cheaply attainable & police in many areas of the state tend to just look the other way as a general rule.

CA, from a 4 year insider:

1. Our bear will kick the shit out of anyone else's. Except for Alaska's, but he's too busy dealing with the above-mentioned mosquitoes.
2. Dispensaries.
3. Our beer is pretty amazing.

― Clerk all KNOWIN (B.L.A.M.), Friday, February 19, 2010 9:12 PM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark

dude i gotta say, ive been disappointed w cali-beer. some of the local stuff is v good (and i love hoppy beers, so im well-situated), but like, every CA beer store ive been to is surprisingly more expensive and way less stocked w interesting stuff than east-coast beer stores. even putting aside the low-level of dogfish head distro here, and the absence of bell's beer, im just kinda ehh when i go into a supposedly sweet store in SF. compare this to like bullshit corner stores in NY, DC, college park MD, or durham, and im like WHAT IS THE DEAL??? i mean, i maybe should start liking wine.

but okay, here's my posi- contribution

CA (resident for a year as of next wed):
- the quality and variety of nature in CA is astounding, even keeping in mind how big the state is
- some really excellent food (subsections: produce; mexican food; ethnic enclave food in LA; seafood; in-n-out burger)
- fuckin creedence
- oh wait w33d LOL

MD (24-year resident):
- OTM dar1a and BLAM on the flag
- broad-leaf deciduous trees
- berger cookies, crab chips, natty boh, smith island cake, racial/ethnic diversity

oh also the orioles and the terps

Get thee to a Bev Mo. Re: the lack of distribution of Dogfish and Bells - We're all pissed off about it. Believe me.

This makes for another addition to MD:

Ronnie's, in Rock Spring. One of, if not the best liquor stores EVER.

gone

oh shit psych it's still there but i think ronnie sold it

UM BUT OH FUCK GOOGLE STREETVIEW SUGGESTS THAT THE SNOWBALL STAND IS GONE

North Carolina, by a recovering insider.

1. BBQ, preferably eastern style
2. College basketball
3. Lots of nature and crap in the western part of the state. If you like that sort of thing.

I don't know I would consider college basketball to be a good thing about NC...people were just a little too obsessed with that shit

I was one of them. It's fun!

it can be fun, sure! I guess I was in the belly of the beast w/r/t basketball obsessiveness and sometimes it got to be a little much.

4)Driving down the Merrit Parkway is always great -- winding road, gorgeous scenery, historic bridges built by the WPA

This is one of my favorite roads to drive esp in the Spring/Summer. It's so pretty and the curves make the drive esp fun.

yeah the merrit parkway is great - I had been taking I-95 for so long! ;_;

Yep, I know! I pretty much always take the Merrit if I'm driving to through CT now. It may not be the quickest route but it's the most enjoyable.

yeah! I love the scenic lookouts. and iirc if you're coming in from new york you get to cross the tappan zee bridge, which is the bestest bridge

The Tappan Zee is great - the view is amazing. I usually cut back to 95 sooner so I can take the not nearly as nice but still p good Throg's Neck over to LI.

re my earlier NJ-lovin' post mentioning The Devil's Tree ... it has its own Wikipedia page and shit

an aside: i just love the Internet. back in the day, sitting around in central jersey shooting the shit we NEVER would have imagined that a local myth that no-one outside of a few counties in the middle of New Jersey had any reason to know would in a decade or so become something that some punter in, i dunno, Malawi or Kyrgizstan w/ Internet access and some knowledge of English, could learn about as some crazy American myth.

XD

Victoria, Australia (long-time res):

The Great Ocean Road
The Melbourne University campus (same league as Oxford?)
The autumn in Melbourne is mellow and relaxed, and a celebration of surviving the dreaded Melbourne summer
Boxing day Test, Oz Open Tennis, AFL
The Age

Queensland (occasional tourist):

Sunshine Coast (craps over the overhyped Gold Coast from a massive height)
Bundaberg Rum
Toowoombah (long unfairly maligned as a hopeless redneck town, but clean, friendly and welcoming of strangers, with great surrounding scenery)
Tropical fruit
'Banjo Paterson Australia' in a way southern States can never hope to be

montana, outsider:

glacier np
the high line by road and rail
hanging out in missoula

oh shit psych it's still there but i think ronnie sold it

― 69, Friday, 19 February 2010 22:26 (5 days ago) Permalink

UM BUT OH FUCK GOOGLE STREETVIEW SUGGESTS THAT THE SNOWBALL STAND IS GONE

― 69, Friday, 19 February 2010 22:27 (5 days ago)

I can totally taste an egg custard snowball with marshmallow RIGHT NOW.

And total bummer if Ronnie sold it. Place is amazing for their booze slection.

MI, insider

isle royale
10 cent refund
the mighty mac