I hesitate to write this, but as someone who lived in Texas for more than a dozen years (and in several other states around the US), Texas does indeed feel like a different country.
And I'm not trying to make a joke about this.
I moved there in my late 20s, and now, after more than a dozen years away, I can safely say there is no place in the US that feels as much to me like a foreign land than Texas.
It's got good and bad things, of course, but it suited me and my wife well. It's got tremendous food and tremendous music. The variety of landscapes is simply not matched in any other state, and we found - over and over again - many friendly folks, people who were kind and welcoming in a variety of ways.
I never meshed well with the predominant political thrust of the state, and I was unnerved several times by the casual gun-carrying populace.
But I loved it deeply and enjoy going back when I can.
And now for a rarely-in-our-circles-heard critique: You're not being literaly enough.
j/k - I was only in Texas once on the way to NM. I took a picture of the buried Cadillacs, but they're a zillion miles from the highway so they don't look half as cool as in the jacket for the River. The food was good and the sky was two zillion miles high and driving with the windows open felt like flying. But other than that, I have no real experience with TX.
A recent tagline for a tourism advertising campaign was, "Texas: It's like a whole other country."
Fun facts- It was a whole other country for a while. So was Hawai'i. A practical joke Hawai'ians like to pull on tourists is to offer to convert their U.S. currency into Hawai'ian currency.
@Sawyer The worst practical joke is that they told me I'd get a lay when I get off the plane. I was more than a little confused and disappointed. What was I supposed to do with this plastic flower necklace?
@Wombat: I LOVE THAT PICTURE. Your reference made my day, possibly my week.
As someone who recently spent several hours on the phone with a parent whose little flake was in Egypt, the notion of traveling Americans makes me a bit twitchy.
It not just Texas that folks edit out of the country New Mexico magazine has run a monthly feature for decades with stories of people, businesses, and governments who actively assert that Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos are not in the USA.
@Isis: A friend from New Mexico likes to tell the story of being pulled over for speeding in a midwestern state, presenting license and registration, and being told that "I'm going to have to impound your car. You can't drive on a foreign license in this country."
Well not quite the same as the literal history of Texas and Hawai'i as formerly sovereign nations, but I once was told in a southern Illinois tavern that Samuel Adams Boston Lager was an IMPORTED beer.
I hesitate to write this, but as someone who lived in Texas for more than a dozen years (and in several other states around the US), Texas does indeed feel like a different country.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm not trying to make a joke about this.
I moved there in my late 20s, and now, after more than a dozen years away, I can safely say there is no place in the US that feels as much to me like a foreign land than Texas.
It's got good and bad things, of course, but it suited me and my wife well. It's got tremendous food and tremendous music. The variety of landscapes is simply not matched in any other state, and we found - over and over again - many friendly folks, people who were kind and welcoming in a variety of ways.
I never meshed well with the predominant political thrust of the state, and I was unnerved several times by the casual gun-carrying populace.
But I loved it deeply and enjoy going back when I can.
And now for a rarely-in-our-circles-heard critique: You're not being literaly enough.
ReplyDeletej/k - I was only in Texas once on the way to NM. I took a picture of the buried Cadillacs, but they're a zillion miles from the highway so they don't look half as cool as in the jacket for the River. The food was good and the sky was two zillion miles high and driving with the windows open felt like flying. But other than that, I have no real experience with TX.
It's a great place. Everyone in the other 49 states should appreciate Texas for letting us join their country.
ReplyDeleteA recent tagline for a tourism advertising campaign was, "Texas: It's like a whole other country."
ReplyDeleteFun facts- It was a whole other country for a while. So was Hawai'i. A practical joke Hawai'ians like to pull on tourists is to offer to convert their U.S. currency into Hawai'ian currency.
@Cal: Utah gets my vote for state most like a foreign country. But I'll give Texas second place.
ReplyDelete@Sawyer
ReplyDeleteThe worst practical joke is that they told me I'd get a lay when I get off the plane. I was more than a little confused and disappointed. What was I supposed to do with this plastic flower necklace?
@Wombat: I LOVE THAT PICTURE. Your reference made my day, possibly my week.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who recently spent several hours on the phone with a parent whose little flake was in Egypt, the notion of traveling Americans makes me a bit twitchy.
It not just Texas that folks edit out of the country New Mexico magazine has run a monthly feature for decades with stories of people, businesses, and governments who actively assert that Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos are not in the USA.
ReplyDelete@Isis: A friend from New Mexico likes to tell the story of being pulled over for speeding in a midwestern state, presenting license and registration, and being told that "I'm going to have to impound your car. You can't drive on a foreign license in this country."
ReplyDeleteWell not quite the same as the literal history of Texas and Hawai'i as formerly sovereign nations, but I once was told in a southern Illinois tavern that Samuel Adams Boston Lager was an IMPORTED beer.
ReplyDelete