Tell us about the states

[Adebisi]

More fun facts about Louisiana:

Are there French-speaking people in Louisiana? Have you met any?

 

[Phlegmak]

Are there French-speaking people in Louisiana? Have you met any?

Yes.

I've never known any Cajuns personally. I've met a few, when I was a tourist in their cities/swamps/whatever.

I remember around 20 years ago, I was in the city of New Iberia. In a restaurant, some French tourists were there. The waitress couldn't talk to any of them since they had no common language. The waitress said to a local old man, "Can you talk to them please?" (He was also at the restaurant as a customer.) So he walks up to the tourists and explains the menu in French and the French tourists make their order.

As far as I can tell, Cajuns are a dying breed. Just like other ethnic groups with their own language within a much larger culture, their language and way of life are disappearing. Maybe in 200 years, no one will speak Cajun French anymore.

 

[bd41094]

Indiana: if you look really hard it kind of looks like a sock or boot. The only things we are known for is the Indy 500 basketball and corn. In my experience Indiana is a very conservative state in the sense that it never changes. The largest political issue for our state in recent memory was the republicans finally getting daylight savings time passed after about 30 years.

In a shorter sense...

Indiana = Racing, Basketball, and corn.

 

[JohnRM]

PENNSYLVANIA; meaning "Penn's Woods"
Pennsylvania is one of the most populated states of the Union, with just over 12 million residents. It was the second to ratify the Constitution. Pennsylvania was the site of the first oil well in the United States. It is also one of the largest coal-producing states.

Pennsylvania also imports more liquor than the rest of the united States and any other country on the planet due to its arcane anti-liquor production laws.

York, Pennsylvania was the first capital of the United States.

The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were both written in Pennsylvania.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was the site of the so-called turning point of the Civil War and the bloodiest battle in American history.

The Christmas Tree capital of the World resides in Indiana County, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania was the first state of the Union for the following...

Hospital, Library, Zoo, Newspaper, Nation's Capitol, all motion-picture theater, television broadcast, radio broadcast, educational public-television station, paper mill, druggist, locomotive for railroad use, high-speed multi-lane highway - the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Banana Split, electronic computer built, commercial use of computer, cable television, educational public television station, government low-interest, long term business financing program

Pennsylvania currently the leading among U.S. States in the following...

Rural Population, number of licensed hunters, State Game Lands, covered bridges, potato chip production, pretzel bakeries, licensed bakeries, meat packing plants, mushroom production, sausage production, scrapple production

In 1909 the first baseball stadium was built in Pittsburgh.

Hershey, Pennsylvania is considered the Chocolate Capital of the United States.

Betsy Ross made the first American flag in Philadelphia.

The Rockville Bridge in Harrisburg is the longest stone arch bridge in the world.

Kennett Square is known as the Mushroom Capital of the World.

The town of Franklin became a center for worldwide oil production following Colonel Edwin Drake's discovery of oil in nearby Titusville.

Fairmount Park in Philadelphia is the largest city park with over 8,000 acres.


That's all that I have time for, right now.

 

[Phlegmak]

It also has a small population of Amish people. I went there a few months ago, and damn, they have some good sweets.

 

[Chairman Meow]

Spoiler :

I am from Maryland, and have lived here the entirely of my nineteen years of existence.

Maryland is a great mix between North and South. It was a border state during the Civil War; we had slaves, but stayed in the Union, because Lincoln had the Maryland General Assembly placed under house arrest so they couldn't vote to secede, and put federal troops in out capital: Annapolis.

Maryland has a great cultural history and many historical places. There are the Civil War battlefields at Sharpsburg, where the famous Battle of Antiedam Creek was fought, the bloodiest day in American History (even more than 6 June, 1944), and the Prisoner of War camp at Point Lookout. The British landed here in the War of 1812, and fought several battles here, including the famous Seige of Fort McHenry, outside of Baltimore, where our national anthem was written.

Maryland has a great mix of terrain and climate, from the pine forests and Blue Ridge Mountains of the west to the rolling foothills of the Piedmont Plateau, to the costal plains of the Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland (where I live). The geography and economy of the state are centered around the Chesapeake Bay, which provides many good eats, including our famous Blue Crabs. If you come to Maryland, the one thing you abolutely MUST have is a true blue Maryland Crabcake; there simply is no parallel.

As I said, we are very culturally mixed; the areas around Baltimore and Washington D.C. are very Democratic and Nothern in culture, while the southern, eastern, and western parts are very rural and Southern. We are also the richest state in the nation IIRC; it comes mostly from the fact that everything important "in Washington" is actually in Maryland.

It's a beautiful state, when I get a chance, I'll take some pictures for you guys of at least the immediate area.

Bah, all of Maryland east of Hancock is a dump that should be avoided.

It also has a small population of Amish people. I went there a few months ago, and damn, they have some good sweets.

Lancaster, PA is considered to be the center of Amish culture. There are also Amish people throughout other parts of Pennsylvania. There's a group of Amish people that live in Somerset County. When I'm driving between home and school, I often get stuck behind their horse carriage on the roads.

 

[Phlegmak]

Lancaster, PA is considered to be the center of Amish culture. There are also Amish people throughout other parts of Pennsylvania. There's a group of Amish people that live in Somerset County. When I'm driving between home and school, I often get stuck behind their horse carriage on the roads.

I think my only complaint about the Amish, is that, wherever they live, it smells like horse crap. That's the way it smells in Intercourse and Bird-In-Hand.

There is supposed to be a larger group of Amish in other places in the US such as Ohio.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

We have Amish and Menonite communites in my part of Maryland as well. I always enjoy them, they're very honest, kind people, they make excellent furniture (and baked goods!), and its very cool to see them out there in the fields, riding behind these four enormous horses as they plow their fields. If there were ever someone I could count on, he was an Amish man (or woman).

 

[Left]

There not really Amish but in Alaska we have Old Believers.

They left Russia when there was a schism in the Orthodox church. They still live very traditionally, dress in Russian cloths from the 1700s and speak Russian as a first language.

 

[LuckyAC]

I always enjoy them, they're very honest, kind people, they make excellent furniture

For some reason, I pictured you sitting on top of an Amish person.

 

[cthom]

PENNSYLVANIA; meaning "Penn's Woods"
Pennsylvania is one of the most populated states of the Union, with just over 12 million residents.

my mother had a very good pen-friend from lancaster who used to send me comics & postcards (this is 30+ years ago!). i've always had a soft spot for the place because of that. imagine my horror when the town appears at the end of the film 'boys from brazil'!

 

[Elponitnatsnoc]

Massachusetts: We're really liberal and really proud of our history. Boston, which I live 15 minutes away from, has a large Italian and Irish population. The Bostonian accent is not as common as one would think, and yes, it is really annoying.

Eastern Massachusetts is urban and extremely dense. Central-Western is rural and somewhat mountainous in the Berkshires.

Random: The Basketball Hall of Fame is in Springfield, our "3rd" city. Worcester is the second (and it's pronounced Wuhster, not Warchester!)

Hmm... also we're all diehard Red Sox fans and somewhat Patriot (American football) fans. Nobody cares about our basketball team (the Celtics, who used to be a dynasty but are terrible now), and the Bruins (who nobody ever cared/cares about), the hockey team.

Random Fact- The adjective for a citizen of Massachusetts is "Bay Stater", not Massachusettian or anything.

So in summary:
-Very urban
-Boston is a terrific city
-Sports are huge
-We are probably the most liberal state
-We are a fairly rich state
-We probably have the most extensive history of all the states (although New York and Virginia may argue with that)

 

[Phlegmak]

We all know California, Florida, Texas and all that, but a lot of the states are just names on a map. So Americans, please tell us a little about the different states. What is Kenducky like for an example? What's the deal with Utah? Keep it relatively short, and please refrain from inside jokes and oneliners that no one but Americans understand anyway.

Well, you wanted to know about the states. What do you think now? Have you read everything and do you find anything interesting or useless?

 

[sonorakitch]

Fairmount Park in Philadelphia is the largest city park with over 8,000 acres.

I am compelled to correct you on this one assertion. In fact, my Phoenix's South Mountain Park is the largest city park in the United States, at more than double the size of Fairmount Park.

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_449.html

But you do have the Liberty Bell. Why didn't we get that!

~Chris

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Utah: I don't think there are many CFCers from there; of the most famous LDS posters, even, only stegyre calls it home. From what I gather, non-Mormon Utahns don't like Mormon Utahns all that much generally.

New York: like IL/Chicago, there is a world of difference between its most famous city and the rest of the state. When I tell people I am from New York they assume I mean New York City. I have never even been there.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

For some reason, I pictured you sitting on top of an Amish person.

That might be a good sig quote (hint hint).

 

[Rossiya]

This thread is genuinely interesting. It's not often in England you hear about the states from the people who live there, or nearby.

 

[downtown]

There is supposed to be a larger group of Amish in other places in the US such as Ohio.

Thats true. In fact, theres a decently sized one not too far North of where I live (you see buggy crossing signs all over the highways up there). We used an Amish construction crew to work on our roof a few years ago. They do great work, but it was a pain to find somebody to give them a ride (Amish can apparently ride in somebody else's car)

 

[Whomp]

Since Cegman and Tank Guy haven't posted in this thread I will give my impression of the southern part of Wisconsin. Chicagoans have a closer relationship with Wisconsin than they do to southern Illinois. Much to our northern friends dismay I'm sure.

It's where Chicagoans go for outdoor activities. Wisconsin has x-country and downhill skiing, snowmobiling and ice fishing in the winter and boating, hunting, fishing and golfing in the summer.

Wisconsin is also bordered by Lake Michigan & Superior and the Mississippi River amongst their many lakes and rivers. The state is well know for its manufacturing. Companies like Johnson Controls, Osh Kosh Truck, Rockwell Automation, Harley Davidson and Briggs & Stratton are major employers in the state. Tourism, financial services, farming (milk and cheese) and paper(Georgia Pacific and Kimberley Clark) are also major components of the economy.

Milwaukee is the state's biggest city and has changed quite a bit over the years as it used to be America's major brewer (Pabst and Miller) and leather tanner. It's no wonder that state has a very large part of the population that is of German ancestry, making Wisconsin one of the most German-American states in the United States. They also drink more beer and brandy than any other state.

Milwaukee is home to one of the greatest musical festivals, Summerfest. They have fifteen different stages going all day and night for two weeks with food (bratwurst of course) and drink (lots of Miller no Budweiser!) .

Madison is the second largest city with a exceptional university and is recognized as one of the best cities to live in the US. It also leads the liberal leaning tendencies for the state.

Green Bay, aka Titletown for their 12 NFL championships, is a town of about 100,000 people and is the third largest city in the state. It is also home to the state's pride and joy the only publicly owned NFL team, the Green Bay Packers. Quite amazing that the whole state has adopted a team in a city smaller than a Chicago suburb.

 

[TheBladeRoden]

Since Cegman and Tank Guy haven't posted in this thread I will give my impression of the southern part of Wisconsin.

I feel so ignored