Grew up in Indiana then lived in Chicago for a decade. Plotted our escape from Chi-Raq for probably 9 out of those 10 years.

No regret at all in our move South, ended up in Austin, TX and are loving life. However, our Southern friend's have exposed us to a few things that are quite different than where I'm from:

- BBQ means smoking meats to perfection, not slapping some sauce on chicken a grill and eating hot dogs.

- The phrase "bless your/their heart" is not followed by anything nice to say about someone.

- The stars at night really are big and bright.

- I DO really drive like an asshole!

- Abraham Lincoln probably was a tyrant.

- Why use olive oil when you can keep a jar of bacon grease in the fridge?

- As a summertime tent camper, I now can see myself getting an RV.

Any other sons and daughters of the North here move South and have their own observations.

Welcome, we won't hold it against you. Imagine all the cool things you could learn if you didn't move to one of the few blue counties in Texas!

^^^ First thing I thought. Now that I think about it...probably best to ease onto it.

Welcome, you can expect about 35 more people to piss in your cheerios here with comments about what a liberal shit hole Austin is, enjoy

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:
Welcome, you can expect about 35 more people to piss in your cheerios here with comments about what a liberal shit hole Austin is, enjoy

Haha probably. Luckily I live just outside the city limits.

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:
Welcome, you can expect about 35 more people to piss in your cheerios here with comments about what a liberal shit hole Austin is, enjoy

I'll bet those 35 have never lived in a real liberal shithole like Minneapolis.

I've always enjoyed my trips to TX though Houston is on my list of cities not to live in. Dallas/Ft Worth and San Antonio have always been enjoyable. All of the people I e met, both through work and socially have been delightful and very down to earth.

When I moved from Illinois to Texas, I found the folks smiled and said please and thank you while they stuck the knife in.

quote:

Originally posted by Wino:
- The phrase "bless your/their heart" is not followed by anything nice to say about someone.

First, welcome! Second, that phrase has many nuances. It can indeed be used to express genuine sympathy without any accompanying insult. You just might have to be Southern to discern the difference.

I hope you enjoy your new home.

I just got back from a weekend in Austin. Great food, terrible traffic even on a Sunday. The people there are still serious about keeping it wierd.

I too, have relocated to the friendly South.

Living in the Orlando area, but I spent four years working in the "real South," in the Birmingham AL area.

I really enjoyed the warmth of the people there, even though it took me a few months to be able to understand them. New language, not at all like Brooklyn-speak.

My co-workers at BellSouth told me, as an incoming Yankee, that there were three things you would never hear somebody say in Alabama:

• "This tea is too sweet."
  
  
• "There's too much primer on that pickup truck."
  
  
• "Nope. You can't fix that with duct tape."

Moved from Detroit to middle TN....

Damn it's hot in the summer, but fall and spring are just beautiful and winter, well, after Detroit this just ain't winter. And that makes me very happy.

People in TN cannot merge onto a highway for shit!

Other than that I love it here. People actually are nicer, and way more chatty than Michiganders... Taxes are way cheaper, houses are cheaper. There were better gun clubs in Michigan, I haven't found any private clubs here, but I don't miss permits to purchase and registration, although after I left I understand you don't have to come back for that anymore.

You can actually get your money's worth out of a pool here too

I went north instead of south and learned:
1- Decent, polite people still exist.
2- They put the traffic lights on flash after midnight.
3- No one has broken into my car. Almost 9 years now!
4- The summer is beautiful. Short but beautiful.
5- Sisu!
6- Away from town, no traffic. Traveled the length of M69 Saturday. Encountered one other vehicle going in my direction.
7- Aurora Borealis.
8- An actual winter, as opposed to the rainy, gloomy, icy mess of my former residence.
9- Lake Superior.
10- It is not paradise. but close enough for me.

quote:

10- It is not paradise. but close enough for me.

I thought Paradise was about 5 miles south of Whitefish Point? I'm fairly certain I had a cheeseburger there last summer.

I grew up in Detroit, Michigan and was commissioned 2Lt and entered the Air Force in 1960. After bumping around the world for 20 years, I retired and settled in Dallas, Texas in 1980. The Texans not only tolerated me, but they were very friendly and helpful in easing me away from lingering "Northern" habits and views. I've been here 36 years now and love my adopted state.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:
Welcome, you can expect about 35 more people to piss in your cheerios here with comments about what a liberal shit hole Austin is, enjoy

My friends in Austin are awfully pissed at the foreigners invading. Traffic is a nightmare, property and taxes skyrocketed. One couple doesn't know how much longer hey are going to make it. Getting pushed out due to taxes. Population has absolutely exploded. Many are very pissed off.

All the big cities in TX are liberalized. Some just more than others. Just fact. Texas' days are numbered. Only a matter of when, not if, it'll turn blue. I've been contemplating eventually moving out of this shithole to some free states in the north.

Texas is one place I don't think I'd be able to live. Having to tell people to go screw their hat after they tell me I'm cooking wrong would weary me so.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
10- It is not paradise. but close enough for me.

+1 dere eh?

Yah, holy wah!
And Paradise is out east. And Pine Stump Junction, too!

I spent 27 years in Upstate New York and the last 40 years in the south. My observations:
Northerners talk to fast and drive terrible.
All directions include the word yonder(up yonder, down yonder, over yonder)
NASCAR rules
The pace is a bit slower and one of the first things you get asked is "do you have a church yet"?
Sir, maam and ya'll are staples.
The gal cashiers all call you "sugar" or "honey"