I'm a little surprised by the number of red dots out in the west, but mostly that one up in North Dakota. I guess it's south of Canada. :D

Presumably Southern expats after the Dust Bowl combined with low population density. Or at least, out west that's true.

After all the "Bakersfield sound" of Country music developed from expat Okies, Arkies, Texans and others. (broad definition of Southern, there)

I was three and on the wrong side of the palm of her hand before I realized my mama wasn't named after a paper cup!

About grits. I love them, but have long realized that they're not worth the calories. I remain secure in my Southern heritage. But those cheesy grits casseroles - really, really hard to turn down!

And the Dixie map? Many, many expats are alive and well in places they hate!

Hell, there's parts of Eastern Ohio that I consider "South." Anything that is considered in Ohio's Appalachian foothills is "south" to me. It's a lifestyle versus geographic location. It's always a matter of perspective!

That's the kind of tea I make :D. My husband yells at me, says his teeth hurt. I may be from northern Ohio, and he's from southern Ohio, but I make the better sweet tea.

My gramma was born in Little Rock and raised in Alabama, and my grampa is the oldest of 16 born and raised dirt poor in southwest Mississippi. Going to their house is like walking into the "South." :D I didn't learn my love for pan fried cornbread, fried okra (has to be done JUST RIGHT, if the okra is slimey I won't eat it), ham n' beans, grits with honey and butter, biscuits with real sorghum molasses, homemade fruit pie with homemade crust (made from real lard!) and just about any kind of wild game stewed with veggies and gravey of mysterious origins (I don't recommend the opossum, but squirrel and rabbit are good). It is because of these same grandparents that I grow and can my own vegetables, among doing a lot of other things a normal 30 year old mom from the "north" wouldn't do. I'm putting up beans and banana peppers this weekend. I kick myself for not paying attention when gramma taught me how to crochet when I was a teen. She made the best blankets. I'm going to have to re-teach myself. It's a dying art form. Her hands are too arthritic to do it anymore.

Damn. Now I'm going to have to go to Northern Ohio to get me some Southern Food, because I'm starving!

Oh, if they're made right, they're totally worth the calories. :D

And reading IrishLake's post has made me hungry for some Brunswick Stew.

The southwest corner of Utah has been called Dixie for 150 years -- the Mormon pioneers made up that name because of the mild climate there, compared to snowy northern Utah. This name is all-but-official, so everything in that area has "Dixie" in the name. The local public university is even called Dixie State College.
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Angelina4u live

Very much agree. My high school caf was open all day and I would come in early in the morning (a big deal for teenage me) just to get the cheese grits. It's the ultimate comfort food for me.

So you gonna drive up the Dixie Highway going through northwestern Ohio to get there? :)

lol, NO, because that means I'd have to stop in Lima, which I'll pass on. :)

We have a Dixie highway in Michigan. We also use Dixie cups. We aren't west of much but we're in the midwest?

Then you have Florida which is one of our southern most states but many don't consider part of "The South".

Labels=silly.

Or fun. People talk about being from the north, west coast, east coast, etc. all of the time. The convo doesn't have to be reduced to silly labels (the "label" concept denotes that it is either negative or confining) just because we're talking about "the south."

OP: This is probably not the tack you expected in this thread but you sure are learning a lot about what to expect! ;) Best wishes!

In fact, in Cincinnati, people of Appalachian origin are considered a protected class for hiring purposes ... I've told my husband we should move there (or move back there, in my case.)

This reminds me of the part in The Dukes of Hazzard where the cop calls Bo & Luke hilbillies and he says something like "we prefer Native Appalachian".

Duck and squirrel gumbo. (Sometimes my dad likes mixing genres)


Although he would throw okra in there and I use to never eat it because don't like okra that isn't fried.