Something Nice
Americans have no problem telling you what they hate about another state. But ask them to name the best thing about it and suddenly the answers get a lot more interesting. Do you agree?
Alabama: College Football Saturdays
You don’t have to care about college football to understand that Alabama takes it to another level. On fall Saturdays, entire towns seem to stop functioning normally, stadiums fill with more people than some cities, and Alabama-Auburn arguments can apparently last for generations. Outsiders may think it’s excessive. They also kind of love it.
Matthew Tosh, Wikimedia Commons
Alaska: Denali And The Alaska Range
You can find mountains all over America. You cannot find Denali anywhere else. North America’s tallest peak rises above a landscape so enormous that even the photos don’t really explain it. This is the Alaska people picture when they start saying things like, “Maybe we should finally go.”
Denali National Park and Preserve, Wikimedia Commons
Arizona: The Grand Canyon At Sunset
Yes, everyone already knows the Grand Canyon. The thing outsiders rave about is actually standing there when the light starts changing. The walls turn orange, red, and purple, the shadows get enormous, and suddenly every photograph you’ve ever seen of the place looks slightly disappointing.
Dietmar Rabich, Wikimedia Commons
Arkansas: Floating The Buffalo National River
This is the Arkansas experience outsiders tend to discover and immediately tell everyone else about. Clear water, huge limestone bluffs, swimming holes, wooded banks, and long stretches where it feels like civilization disappeared. Arkansas probably wishes people would keep underestimating this one.
OakleyOriginals, Wikimedia Commons
California: Driving Highway 1 Through Big Sur
California has beaches, redwoods, wine country, deserts, and Yosemite. But if outsiders had to pick one thing that screams California, it may be this drive. Ocean cliffs on one side, mountains on the other, bridges hanging over canyons…it almost feels unnecessarily pretty.
Colorado: Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Colorado has plenty of mountain views, so let’s give it something no other state can really copy. Red Rocks is a concert venue built right into giant sandstone formations, with Denver in the distance and a setting that can make almost any show feel bigger than it is. Even people who don’t care about concerts want to see it once.
Sarbjit Bahga, Wikimedia Commons
Connecticut: New Haven-Style Pizza
Connecticut doesn’t always get much attention nationally. Mention pizza and suddenly it wants the microphone. Thin, charred New Haven-style apizza has become one of the state’s biggest bragging rights, and outsiders who arrive skeptical have an annoying habit of leaving with very strong opinions about which shop is best.
Rhododendrites, Wikimedia Commons
Delaware: Tax-Free Shopping
Delaware’s best-known perk may not involve mountains, beaches, or historic landmarks at all. The state has no general sales tax, which means visitors can walk into a store, look at the price tag, and actually pay something remarkably close to that number. Residents of nearby states notice.
Florida: Driving The Overseas Highway
Forget theme parks for a minute. One of Florida’s best tricks is driving across a string of islands with bright blue water on both sides. The Overseas Highway through the Keys is one of those drives where the road itself becomes the attraction. Key West is almost the bonus.
United States Department of Transportation, Wikimedia Commons
Georgia: The Masters At Augusta National
Georgia has plenty of beautiful places, but few things are as instantly associated with the state as the Masters. Augusta National’s bright green fairways, azaleas, white jumpsuits, and almost absurdly polished atmosphere have turned one golf tournament into a full-on American spring tradition.
pocketwiley, Wikimedia Commons
Hawaii: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Lots of states have beaches. Hawaii has landscapes where the Earth is still actively building itself. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park gives visitors lava fields, giant craters, volcanic terrain, and the very strange realization that the island beneath you is still changing.
Idaho: Shoshone Falls
Idaho’s national image is still mostly potatoes, which makes Shoshone Falls a particularly fun surprise. The huge waterfall drops into the Snake River Canyon and has earned the nickname “Niagara of the West.” Most outsiders see it and immediately ask the same question: Why did nobody tell us Idaho had this?
Karthikc123, Wikimedia Commons
Illinois: Wrigley Field
Yes, this is another baseball park on the list. But just like Fenway, Wrigley is worthy of it. The ivy-covered walls, the hand-operated scoreboard, the rooftops across the street, and more than a century of Cubs history make it one of those places even non-baseball fans recognize immediately.
Indiana: The Indianapolis 500
You don’t have to follow racing to know what the Indy 500 is. That’s the point. The speed, the crowd, the traditions, the noise, and the sheer scale have made it one of those American events people recognize even if they couldn’t name a single driver in the field.
Iowa: The Iowa State Fair
A butter cow. Giant vegetables. Livestock competitions. Fried foods that probably should require a waiver. The Iowa State Fair is exactly the kind of gloriously over-the-top Americana outsiders hope still exists somewhere. Iowa has been kind enough to preserve it.
C. A. Tucker, Wikimedia Commons
Kansas: Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
Kansas gets mocked for being flat until people actually see the Flint Hills. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve protects one of the last major pieces of a landscape that once covered huge stretches of North America. Rolling grass, bison, enormous skies…suddenly “nothing there” doesn’t sound quite right.
Chris Light, Wikimedia Commons
Kentucky: The Bourbon Trail
Kentucky bourbon isn’t just something you drink. The state turned it into a road trip. Historic distilleries, aging warehouses, rolling countryside, tastings, and enough whiskey history to fill a weekend make the Bourbon Trail one of those trips outsiders associate almost entirely with Kentucky.
Louisiana: New Orleans
This is city answer number one, and there was really no way around it. Food, live music, architecture, Mardi Gras, streetcars, second lines, old neighborhoods, and a personality nobody has successfully copied. Whatever else you think about Louisiana, New Orleans feels like nowhere else in America.
Maine: Lobster Shacks On The Coast
Not lobster in a restaurant. Not lobster on a cruise ship. The Maine version involves a weathered shack near the water, picnic tables, boats in the harbor, and something that was probably swimming that morning. Outsiders seem to agree the setting is at least half the meal.
Maryland: A Proper Chesapeake Crab Feast
Maryland’s best-known food isn’t really something you politely order and eat. It’s an event. Blue crabs hit the paper-covered table, Old Bay gets everywhere, mallets start swinging, and dinner somehow lasts three hours. People from Maryland consider this perfectly normal.
Massachusetts: Fenway Park
Some stadiums are just places to watch a game. Fenway feels like part ballpark, part museum, and part time machine. The Green Monster, Pesky’s Pole, cramped old seats, and more than a century of baseball history make it one of those places even people who don’t care about the Red Sox want to see once.
Gatorfan252525, Wikimedia Commons
Michigan: Mackinac Island
No cars, horse-drawn carriages, bicycles everywhere, Victorian hotels, fudge shops, and Lake Huron surrounding the whole thing. Mackinac Island feels like Michigan decided to preserve one tiny corner of the state in another era. Outsiders tend to visit once and immediately understand why Michiganders keep going back.
Viplav Valluri, Wikimedia Commons
Minnesota: The Land Of 10,000 Lakes
Okay, technically Minnesota’s best “thing” is about 10,000 things. Actually, it’s even more than that. Lakes are so baked into Minnesota life that summer weekends seem to automatically involve a dock, a boat, a cabin, or somebody saying they’re “heading up north.” Outsiders may tease the nickname, but they’re usually pretty jealous of the lifestyle.
Unknown authorUnknown author, Wikimedia Commons
Mississippi: The Mississippi Delta Blues Trail
The Delta’s contribution to American music is hard to overstate. Blues landmarks, juke-joint history, old recording stories, and musicians whose influence spread around the world give Mississippi something outsiders genuinely respect: a musical legacy that changed what America sounded like.
Missouri: Burnt Ends
Missouri could make a case for the Ozarks or the Gateway Arch, but outsiders tend to get especially excited about Kansas City-style barbecue. And burnt ends may be the strongest argument. Smoky, bark-covered pieces of brisket that became a delicacy out of what was once considered scraps? Well played.
Whoisjohngalt, Wikimedia Commons
Montana: Going-To-The-Sun Road
Glacier National Park is spectacular, but Going-to-the-Sun Road is the part visitors keep talking about afterward. The road clings to mountainsides, crosses the Continental Divide, and serves up waterfalls, cliffs, valleys, and views that make renting a convertible suddenly seem like a very good idea.
Nebraska: The Sandhill Crane Migration
This is the Nebraska fact that surprises almost everybody. Each spring, enormous numbers of sandhill cranes gather along the Platte River, turning a stretch of prairie into one of North America’s great wildlife spectacles. Turns out bird watching can get surprisingly dramatic.
USFWS Mountain-Prairie, Wikimedia Commons
Nevada: Las Vegas
City answer number two. Nevada has gorgeous desert scenery, but outsiders overwhelmingly associate it with the place where somebody can eat breakfast at 3 a.m., watch an Elvis impersonator get married at noon, and somehow end the day $600 poorer. Las Vegas is ridiculous. That’s the appeal.
Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, Wikimedia Commons
New Hampshire: The Kancamagus Highway In Fall
New England foliage gets hyped every year, but this is where the hype starts making sense. The Kancamagus Highway winds through the White Mountains beneath hillsides exploding with red, orange, and yellow. The only downside is every other person had the exact same idea.
King of Hearts, Wikimedia Commons
New Jersey: Boardwalk Nights At The Shore
The Jersey Shore isn’t just the beach. It’s what happens after the beach. Boardwalk fries, arcade games, rides, ice cream, neon, mini golf, and that salty summer-night air give New Jersey one of those experiences people instantly recognize even if they’ve never lived anywhere near it.
Hypnotica Studios Infinite from Toms River, New Jersey, USA, Wikimedia Commons
New Mexico: White Sands At Sunset
White Sands looks almost fake the first time you see it. Huge dunes of brilliant white gypsum stretch across the desert, and as the sun drops everything turns pink, gold, and purple. It’s one of those landscapes that makes outsiders rethink whatever picture they had of New Mexico.
dconvertini, Wikimedia Commons
New York: New York City
City answer number three. And yes, upstate New Yorkers may now begin typing angry comments. But Broadway, Central Park, museums, pizza, bagels, skyscrapers, neighborhoods, and that unmistakable street energy make New York City one of the few places in America that almost becomes its own category.
North Carolina: The Biltmore Estate
North Carolina has mountains, beaches, and plenty of scenic drives, but Biltmore is much harder to confuse with somewhere else. America’s largest privately owned home comes with 250 rooms, sprawling grounds, gardens, and the kind of Gilded Age excess that makes modern luxury homes look slightly undercommitted.
24dupontchevy, Wikimedia Commons
North Dakota: Theodore Roosevelt National Park
North Dakota gets overlooked so often that Theodore Roosevelt National Park almost feels like a secret somebody forgot to keep. Badlands, bison, free-roaming horses, colorful rock formations, and enormous views make this the place that gets the biggest “I had no idea North Dakota looked like this” reaction.
Ohio: Cedar Point’s Roller Coasters
Ohio gets plenty of jokes from the other 49 states, but coaster fans stop laughing when Cedar Point comes up. The park sits right on Lake Erie and packs in some seriously famous rides. If your idea of fun involves voluntarily dropping hundreds of feet at highway speed, Ohio has you covered.
Patik at English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons
Oklahoma: The Longest Drivable Stretch Of Route 66
Lots of states get a piece of Route 66. Oklahoma gets more of the drivable version than any of them. More than 400 miles of old diners, neon signs, giant roadside oddities, retro motels, and gloriously unnecessary attractions make it one of the best places to do the Mother Road properly.
David Winkler, Wikimedia Commons
Oregon: Haystack Rock At Cannon Beach
The Oregon Coast has plenty of dramatic scenery, but Haystack Rock may be the image outsiders recognize fastest. The enormous sea stack rises right out of Cannon Beach with waves crashing around it and forested headlands nearby. On one of Oregon’s moodier days, it somehow looks even better.
Joe Valentine (see here), Wikimedia Commons
Pennsylvania: The Amish Farm Country Around Lancaster
Pennsylvania has major cities, mountains, and a ridiculous amount of history. But the Lancaster countryside offers something outsiders don’t see many other places: horse-drawn buggies, working farms, covered bridges, roadside markets, and landscapes that occasionally feel like somebody turned the clock backward.
Rhode Island: The Newport Mansions
Rhode Island’s Gilded Age mansions are basically what happens when extremely rich people decide subtlety is overrated. The Breakers and its neighbors sit above the Atlantic looking enormous, ornate, and wonderfully excessive. The Cliff Walk lets everyone else admire them without needing a railroad fortune.
UpstateNYer, Wikimedia Commons
South Carolina: A Lowcountry Oyster Roast
South Carolina does plenty of seafood well, but a Lowcountry oyster roast feels especially tied to the place. Steaming oysters dumped onto long tables, crackers, hot sauce, cold drinks, and everyone standing around shucking their own dinner…it’s messy, social, and considerably more fun than using a fork.
Jud McCranie, Wikimedia Commons
South Dakota: Driving Needles Highway
Mount Rushmore gets the fame, but Needles Highway is the part many visitors end up talking about afterward. The road twists through the Black Hills past narrow tunnels, granite spires, and rock formations that seem way too close to the side mirrors. It’s spectacular and mildly stressful. Great combination.
Tennessee: Watching A Show At The Grand Ole Opry
Tennessee has music everywhere, but the Grand Ole Opry gives outsiders something wonderfully specific. The stage has hosted generations of country performers, and even visitors who aren’t huge country fans tend to appreciate the tradition, the history, and the fact that the whole thing is still going.
Texas: Central Texas Brisket
Texas barbecue is broad. Brisket is the specific thing outsiders obsess over. Properly smoked, pepper-crusted, ridiculously tender brisket served on butcher paper has become enough of an attraction that people willingly wait in line for hours to eat it. Texas considers this completely reasonable behavior.
Thank You (22 Millions+) views, Wikimedia Commons
Utah: Sunrise At Bryce Canyon
Utah’s Mighty Five parks are all spectacular, but Bryce Canyon at sunrise is a different animal. Thousands of hoodoos start glowing orange and pink as the light reaches them, and suddenly everybody is remarkably forgiving about being dragged out of bed before 6 a.m.
Wolfgang Staudt, Wikimedia Commons
Vermont: Fresh Maple Creemees
Fall foliage gets all the Vermont publicity, but outsiders who discover maple creemees often come home talking about those instead. Soft-serve ice cream flavored with maple has become a Vermont road-trip ritual. Somehow the state found a way to make maple syrup even harder to resist.
Whoisjohngalt, Wikimedia Commons
Virginia: Colonial Williamsburg
Plenty of states have historic buildings. Colonial Williamsburg went considerably further and preserved an entire historic district where costumed interpreters, workshops, taverns, homes, and streets bring the 18th century back to life. Yes, you know there’s a parking lot somewhere. Somehow it still works.
Larry Pieniazek, Wikimedia Commons
Washington: The Hoh Rain Forest
Washington has mountains and coastline, but the Hoh Rain Forest feels almost prehistoric. Moss hangs from enormous trees, ferns cover the ground, and everything looks impossibly green. Outsiders walk in expecting “forest” and discover something that feels more like another world.
Reddit user PKThundr7, Wikimedia Commons
West Virginia: The New River Gorge Bridge
West Virginia gets one of the best bridge-and-landscape combinations in America. The New River Gorge Bridge stretches high above a forested canyon and has become one of the state’s defining images. On Bridge Day, people actually jump off it. With parachutes. Important detail.
Wisconsin: Fresh Cheese Curds
Wisconsin could easily win with supper clubs, but fresh cheese curds may be even more Wisconsin. The good ones squeak when you bite them, which sounds completely made up until you experience it. Fried curds are great too, obviously. Wisconsin was never going to leave the cheese untouched.
Jonathunder, Wikimedia Commons
Wyoming: Watching Old Faithful Erupt
Yellowstone has bison, wolves, canyons, waterfalls, hot springs, and enough geothermal weirdness for several states. But standing around with a crowd waiting for Old Faithful to erupt is still one of those classic American travel experiences. And yes, everybody films it even though we all know exactly what’s coming.
Dietmar Rabich, Wikimedia Commons
Fine, Every State Gets One
Some states will undoubtedly insist we picked the wrong thing entirely—which, naturally, is where the comments section comes in. So, go ahead…
You Might Also Like:
The Places In America That Feel “Almost Canadian," According To Canadians
Americans Should Know That These “Normal” Things They Do In 49 States Are Illegal In 1 State
