I was so excited to see this thread! I go to West Virginia University but lived in Maryland my whole life until I came here. Anyone who doesn't consider Maryland the south, I have two words for you: Carroll County. It's where I'm from, and it takes about 2 seconds of being there to realize it's southern!

Doesn't all the new development in Carroll County just break your heart? I live in AA County myself, but have lots of friends in Carroll County and it seems every time I go out there there's a new McMansion development sprung out of a field. :(

Well, we only lived in Ba-mer, Merlun for about a year but I don't think it's much like a Southern City per se. However, the Maryland country-side is absolutely beautiful and could very easily be considered part of the South.

Fortunately we never needed the PO-lese or an AMb-lance while we lived there.

The Hard Canny Toms sayz the canny cancel pace pained bon ambalances. Ah sawn ambalance good dan Rosters Tan Raid a bat a huunert molls an air, nit was porn dan rain.

I live in Northern VA and work in Southern MD. I wouldn't typify either as being southern, because they're so close to DC... but I would say there are pockets in both places with a southern flair.

I grew up in Florida, and I think you could easily say the same for the Sunshine State. There are parts that are decidely northern, as the majority of its residents (South Florida) are northeastern transplants, while the north part of the state and bits of Central Florida are very southern... including an overabundance of sweet tea, opportunities for offroading (mudding) and "Howdy y'all"s...

It's all about perspective.

LOL.

Very true, adpiucf.

I grew up in the same town as adpiucf and it is definitely full of Northern transplants! There are a few cities and towns in South Florida that could still be considered Southern (Davie is one) but, for the most part, SoFla is not "Southern".

As you travel up the state, you find more and more Southern towns. There are parts of Central Florida that are very Southern and the residents of these cities would be offended if you said you didn't think they were Southern. Leesburg, Lakeland, Ocala, Geneva, Mount Dora, and parts of Gainesville are among many areas that are very Southern. There are many, many people in Orlando and Tampa that have a long Southern family history. My roommate's family has been in Florida since before the Civil War. You rarely find such long Southern family histories with people in South Florida!

Then, of course, there's North Florida which I find to be a lot like Southern Georgia. Palatka, Lake City, Pensacola, Jasper, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee could fit right in with Southern Georgia and nobody would ever say Southern Georgia is not the South!

I've only been to Maryland once and I was still in elementary school at the time so I can't make a definite choice as to if Maryland is "Southern". Personally, I've never grouped it with Alabama or South Carolina but, like others have mentioned, there's parts of the state that are Southern...just like Florida.

I think every Southern state is the same way. Any big city will bring in a lot of transplants which will take away the original culture of the area. About 50 years ago, South Florida would still have been considered Southern but with the growth of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach it has become a "Northern" area. Atlanta and Raleigh do not even seem all that Southern to me. Yes, there's sweet tea but I find that the majority of people that live there do not have accents and don't seem all that "Southern" to me.

It all depends on where you live in the State. Smaller towns have more Southern characteristics than big cities such as Atlanta, Raleigh, Richmond, or even Baltimore.

So, I guess the answer to if Maryland is Southern is both yes and no depending on where you live.

Yeah I'm from Westminster and it definitely is getting built up. My parents moved there 25 years ago when it was barely anything, and it's now building new stuff left and right. But I still maintain it's country- there was an article in the paper last year about the first escalator in carroll county!

I currently live in Baltimore County but I have also lived in Baltimore City. Maryland is not necessarily Southern but definitely COUNTRY!

If that were all it took to be "Southern" (wearing a hoop skirt that is) I'd be southern and I was born and raised in California. But I wore hoop skirts alot more than probably most people born and raised in the south as I was a rainbow girl and grand officer. =)

One of my favorite life vignettes was watching a mother and her young son in Manassas (right outside of DC). She was introducing her son to the store clerk, and in a rather thick drawl said, "Say hey to Miz Louanne, Roy Lee," to which he stuck out his 3-year old hand and said, "Hey, Miz Louanne."

I promise you, I'm not making up the names, either. But it does go to show that, as said again and again, there are pockets in some states that had a decidedly more southern style to everyday living than others.

I have never told anyone that I am from the South--not even that I'm from Virginia. Fairfax is 'northern Virginia'--we have heavy traffic and very little in the way of chewing tobacco. We also have the "east silicon valley"

Manassas is southern? I dated a guy from there and he didnt seem southern at all. Maybe it was just the part of Manassas he was from. I've never been there.

Parts of it might be southern in culture, but I dont consider it southern geographically.

I live 2 hours from our southern border of the US. If I have to drive 20 hours to the northeast to get to Maryland, its not southern.

I've lived in MD for 14 years. I agree that some parts of it (Charles, Calvert counties) are very southern. Any place sout hof Richmond is Southern to me, but I went to school in North Carolina so my idea of Southern culture is different now. My boyfriend is from South Carolina and he considers Md to be very Northern in terms of culture. My idea is that if I have to ASK for sweet tea, its not southern. lol..