First Entry in Retrospect

The first thing I noticed about this city was it's tree-lined streets.  Everywhere.  The area's growth has exploded in the last 10 years, so everything looks brand spanking new.  I'm personally a bit disappointed by that.  I had thought, if anything, moving to the south would introduce me to a very different culture, steeped in it's own traditions and way of life.

What I've found so far, is not that different from being in a suburb of Minneapolis.  Same restaurants, same mega-stores, same gas stations.

With some, pretty interesting exceptions...

1.  Chic-Fil-A, which I mistakingly called Chica-Fil (which co-workers still giggle about).  By God they have the best Carmel/Coffee milkshakes you've ever tasted.  And the chicken?  Umm... yes.

2.  MEGA CHURCHES.  You could see these things from space.  Seriously.  I'm dangerously curious about these structures and those who worship in them... May be checking one out in the next few months.  There's sure to be some culture to observe there!!

3.  There is no Minnesota Nice here.  People are genuinely nice, and genuinely crabby.  They open doors, they smile, or they scowl at you - you don't guess where you rate.  You're pretty sure you know by their expression or expletive.  Most of the time, strangers are cool, though.  Very cool.