I lived in the south for six years and forgot how unique it is as a distinctive area of our nation. Just recently we drove back down south not having been there for some time. As we drove along I knew I was entering the south when I saw this:
You know you are entering The South when.
- Thread starter Captain Pre-Capsize
- Start date
for me it was always Sonic drive in. Never had them in the north until recently. but every trip down there it was a PB cup Sonic Blast!
I worked in the South (Arkansas) for 14 months in the oilfield and and Waffle House's were the greatest restaurant in existence there. Also, the sign for me that I was deep in in it was that Walmart was the only store in town...
You know you are really there when you start seeing the south of the border signs for "Pedro's"
Waffle House is kinda South... perhaps more the lack of them in the old Union.
I've stopped at one or two in Arizona and Colorado.
My memories of my two road trips through Texas from El Paso to Austin....
Roll into a little town, and every one of them...
Church... Sonic... Church... 76...Church... Dollar General... Church... City Hall... Church... Gun shop...Church... Chevron...Church... Feed & Tack... Church.
I've stopped at one or two in Arizona and Colorado.
My memories of my two road trips through Texas from El Paso to Austin....
Roll into a little town, and every one of them...
Church... Sonic... Church... 76...Church... Dollar General... Church... City Hall... Church... Gun shop...Church... Chevron...Church... Feed & Tack... Church.
Last edited:
WhatAburger restaurants start popping up on the radar. Hardee's restaurants become Carl's Jr. Dairy Queen is known as the Texas stop sign.
Some of the signs I look forward to seeing on our way from NJ to Louisville every year:
"Last Exit In New Jersey"
Welcome signs to PA, WV, OH & KY
Bob Evans Restaurant (mmmm, biscuits & gravy)
Krogers (grocery)
"Last Exit In New Jersey"
Welcome signs to PA, WV, OH & KY
Bob Evans Restaurant (mmmm, biscuits & gravy)
Krogers (grocery)
spot on.for a time my father was a Pastor in East Tennessee. When I went to visit the folks I thought it was interesting how everyone called him "Preacher". "how ya doin Preacher". even folks that didn't go to the church.
Last edited:
Piggly Wiggly, Winn-Dixie, WhatAburger, Pedro's not in Kansas (to my knowledge) while I lived there nor when I visited; Sonic and Dairy Queen have been in Kansas for 50-60 years.
The menu at what ever restaurant you enter has chicken-fried steak as one of the main dishes.
You know you are really there when you start seeing the south of the border signs for "Pedro's"
20 Mins from where I live
I know every state has more than one, but if you have more than one every mile then you know you are in the south.
Sweet Tea
Hardee's in the south.
I'm with Rich...
Every time we go to visit my wife's cousins/aunt & uncle...
Church, church, gun store, church, gun store, gun store, church, gas station that doesn't sell alcohol, gas station that does sell alcohol, church, gun store. Literally all within miles on the same road.
I'm from St. Louis and I don't really consider it the "South". We have Waffle House and Sonic, etc. etc. so those aren't out of place for me.
Piggly Wiggly is southern, as is Publix. CVS used to be, but now we have those too. Walmart is definitely not southern to me. BP stations all used to be southern too but now they seem to be everywhere.
Belk is southern. Calhoun's, at least in Tennessee. Driving by random huge crosses on the road. Driving by random huge Confederate flags on the road. Driving by random huge crosses with huge Confederate flags on the road.
Everyone saying sir/m'am. For some reason this really bugs me. The word "please" also seems to often get replaced by these (Yes, m'am. Could you hand me that sir?) and for some reason that irks me.
Everyone is really nice but sometimes it just seems like an act. Religion and politics seem to come up too often in conversation and I'm deathly afraid to expose myself as a moderate with left leaning tendencies, or even worse - Catholic. You guys need more pro sports teams down there to talk about or something.
Every time we go to visit my wife's cousins/aunt & uncle...
Church, church, gun store, church, gun store, gun store, church, gas station that doesn't sell alcohol, gas station that does sell alcohol, church, gun store. Literally all within miles on the same road.
I'm from St. Louis and I don't really consider it the "South". We have Waffle House and Sonic, etc. etc. so those aren't out of place for me.
Piggly Wiggly is southern, as is Publix. CVS used to be, but now we have those too. Walmart is definitely not southern to me. BP stations all used to be southern too but now they seem to be everywhere.
Belk is southern. Calhoun's, at least in Tennessee. Driving by random huge crosses on the road. Driving by random huge Confederate flags on the road. Driving by random huge crosses with huge Confederate flags on the road.
Everyone saying sir/m'am. For some reason this really bugs me. The word "please" also seems to often get replaced by these (Yes, m'am. Could you hand me that sir?) and for some reason that irks me.
Everyone is really nice but sometimes it just seems like an act. Religion and politics seem to come up too often in conversation and I'm deathly afraid to expose myself as a moderate with left leaning tendencies, or even worse - Catholic. You guys need more pro sports teams down there to talk about or something.
Last edited:
As a born-and-raised Southerner, I'll have to admit this sounds pretty spot-on, at least as a generalization. I consider myself about as moderate as moderate can get, but to my friends that I grew up with in rural middle Georgia, I'm the token "flaming liberal". So we pretty much talk sports and stay away from politics.
Sweet Tea and BBQ
Similar threads
