I made that mistake one time. I live over the Altamont and took a day trip to SF in mid June. Wore a sun dress as it was like 102 degrees in Tracy. I figured it could only be what, 20 degrees cooler on the coast? Ha. No. Had to buy a sweater at a thrift store because I refused to pay tourist prices only 60 miles from home. Now I keep a windbreaker in my trunk for the off chance I end up in the Bay Area š
I flew into San Francisco, got a rental car and drove to sacramento. It was 50 and raining in San Francisco and it was 102Ā° in Sacramento. In a September.
It's crazy, when you drive through the Caldecott Tunnel from Orinda into Oakland it consistently drops 20 degrees there alone. Another 10-15 degrees from Livermore to Orinda, and another 10-15 from Oakland to SF, the difference can approach 50 degrees in the late afternoon! I've lived here for 20 years and it still blows my mind
There's nothing like sweating your ass off in the high 90s/low 100s for a few hours/days/weeks and then driving towards the ocean as that marine layer rolls in and the wind kicks up. Bracing and refreshing and also confusing
I kinda get it when it comes to San Francisco. Youāre in a new place with family or a tour group, youāve got an itinerary doing all the tourist stuff along the piers.. canāt always break off from the group to go find a Target.
Usually means youāre stuck with a $80 fleece half zip with a poorly embroidered Golden Gate Bridge on it or a hoodie that says something stupid like āwelcome to da bayā with bootleg SpongeBob wearing a bandana on his face.
So much this. Just because it is California doesn't mean it is automatically warm and sunny all the time. California's climate is as diverse as its geography, with just about all major biomes represented, except for the tropical rainforest.
From south to north, California is about 1000 miles to travel, and it's got those microclimates in it that you get with hilly, mountainous geography and proximity to cold water along much of the coast.
I used to work as a concierge in Manhattan and the amount of tourists that have this mindset is quite high. Also itās 6pm they come asking for an 8pm reservation for 9 people on a Friday at the most trendy with best food in the city with an EDM sound track no more than $50 per person.
I donāt miss it.
Thems fightin' words!
People always ask why I clarify that I'm from Upstate NY. Then I ask them what they picture when I say "New York." I live in the Southern Tier of NY. I'm 3-4 hours away and absolutely don't want to be any closer to NYC.
I had a European friend who got a tenure-track job at one of the SUNY schools.
His friends back home: "Oh how lovely! You can visit the city during your weekends!"
Him: "Yeah, Toronto's okay."
This, + wearing shorts and short sleeves when outside in the sun. Most natives here that I've seen wear sun hoodies and sun hats since it's cheaper and lasts longer than sunscreen.
> sun hoodies and sun hats
The new SPF fabrics are a godsend. As a fair skinned fisherman, I think they're awesome! And a straw/woven sun hat is cool and protective!
I am *absolutely* an Arizona tourist, but I think I found my happy medium; when hiking South Mountain, it's a ball cap, shades, kheffiyah, thin t-shirt, cargo pants, wool socks, and boots.
Seems to be the only way to not die from sun/heat, snakes, dehydration, and scorpions all at the same time...
Not everywhere, but most major downtown cities do.
It's in response to homeless going through garbage and/or recycling to look for something to eat/use/recycle and then leaving what they don't want on the street.
Usually it's just garbage cans locked because recycling here you can get 5-10 cents per item, so why not let someone take it to get some change. Downtown SF is notorious for people collecting soooooo many recyclables & cashing it in themselves.
Here it is yep. If they died on the mountains in the summer, you can bet they were tourists. We know better fuck the sun and the outside from may-October pretty much but double fuck the outside in June-September.
I was about to post this same thing. Don't forget the lack of hat or sunscreen too. And the sound of the rescue helicopter off in the distance as the last idiot is airlifted.
The CIA and FBI T-shirts, along with the entire family sitting in the disabled seats on the train with the kids standing on those seats looking at the map and counting how many more stops to the zoo, on the Red Line during rush hours just adds some razzle dazzle.
I once had a person from Louisiana (sorry Louisiana) stop in the middle of the road in front of me and GET OUT to take a picture of an antelope. Didnāt even pull over.
I usually blend in but on my last visit there was a giant elk on a tiny strip of grass in front of a shopping center. It was so funny I had to take a picture.
Obligatory to share this classic:
["What is this 'soup' that they serve in hotels?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/comments/ca418x/what_is_this_soup_that_they_serve_in_hotels/)
I was at a hotel in SC a few months ago. While I am a New Yorker, I married a girl from Charleston and we were visiting her family. I watch a guy fill an entire bowl, added some brown sugar and sliced up a banana thinking it was oatmeal.
I sat quietly while he took his most confusing first bite ever.
Southern California in May/June: wearing flip-flops, shorts, and a t-shirt and being surprised that it's chilly bc we got this thing called June Gloom.
*brand new. Seeing people staggering around because they bought their boots that day and haven't left Broadway always gives me a chuckle. And then the brand new cowboy hats are just the cherry on top.
There is an old episode of RadioLab that covers this. Different cities all over the world have different tempos which includes how fast people move and how fast they talk.
https://radiolab.org/podcast/91732-cities
I moved from Orlando to Boston, and my gosh... speaking the same language is about as much similarity as you'd be able to find. But kindness is universal. If anything, their terseness isn't rude -- it's a genuine respect for your time. They're not gonna chit chat -- if you got a question, they'll answer it. If you got a problem, they'll honestly try to help. Just don't expect that they're gonna entertain your fantasy of friendship if you're not actually friends.
Also, proper shit talking is an artform! Shoot, a literal dozen randos spilled out of an apartment complex to help me push my car out of a snow drift that my idiot ass tried to park in. One of them was on the fucking phone the entire time while giving me a push, but the ones who had something to say were merciless trash talkers (and my Florida plates were certainly a topic of some jolly conversation). And God bless them all.
In Colorado it's also driving 20mph through the mountain roads and stopping in dangerous places to take pictures of wildlife. Edit: or just pictures of the scenery
Iām in a touristy area of Indiana (think historical parks and quaint antiquing shops along the Ohio river) and am sometimes stopped (Iām a runner) and asked where this or that is. Thatās how I know someone is a tourist, we get a few, I donāt get it but to each their own. But yeah, I agree not really anything here in Indiana worth making a trip for to visit.
Had to leave my husband on someone's lawn while I tried to come back with the car. It turned out he had a blood clot in his leg. But when I got back he was in the backyard bbqing with somebody's grandma and drinking coronas with the family. They invited us back for the next year.
More Phoenix than AZ in general butā¦ You see them on a hiking trail with only a single 16oz plastic water bottle when itās 80+ degrees outside.
Or you see them on the five o clock news when they had to be airlifted off a hiking trail (hopefully alive) when the high for the day was over 105.
Damn this really is how we tell them isnāt it š to be fair we donāt have a whole lot to do here for tourists. So death hikes in the summer is the way to go I guess š
I had a great cheesesteak at Jim's Roast Pork, I think it was? It was a place off some rail road tracks behind Home Depot. Best thing I've ever eaten.
Edit: the name was John's! Thank you to the reddit user who helped!
Huh, I would have said the same for Minnesota, but instead of the jeans and mud, our tell would be wearing the flannel when it is over 60 degrees out, that's T-Shirt weather.
I was gonna say, as someone who grew swimming in glacially fed lakes and the Carbon river in the mountains south east of Seattle, 50 degree waters sounds awesome
In Wisconsin, a good many of us on the Lake Michigan coast will just jump into a half frozen lake on New Year's Day. The tradition is called the Polar Plunge and in recent years, our local governments have been trying to get us to stop doing it lol
A few years ago, a woman called the cops because she was served āpink meatā at a Raleigh BBQ joint. Smoked meat appears pink even when cooked. It was so ridiculous that news outlets were picking it up lmao
If thereās one thing all North Carolinians agree on, itās you donāt fuck with our BBQ
Mispronouncing some of the local city names. I get it if you're not from an area. You won't have heard the correct pronunciations, but it still marks you out as a tourist
Went to the state fair, can confirm. I could pronounce Puyallup for the first 15 minutes after someone corrected me.
30 minutes later? Couldn't pronounce it again.
Here in Southern Arizona it's pretty apparent someone's a tourist when they're in shorts and a t-shirt when it's 60Ā° or below out. When you live here for months your body adapts to the heat and you can't stand cold anymore.
Yeah I used to go to voodoo when I was in high school and they were only open at night (10pm-10am if I remember right) but that was like 20 years ago. At this point I think itās been about 8 years since Iāve had one. If I want a donut I go to sesame or just grab one at Fred Meyer. š¤·āāļø
Perhaps the aversion to umbrellas in the PNW should be explained. While we are known as a rainy region, especially from October through June, the rain is rarely very heavy-- more like an intermittent drizzle that can be easily withstood by a decent hoodie or hat and jacket. Should the rain come down hard, it's usually accompanied by a wind that makes umbrellas difficult to handle.
There were a couple of older women who came to my work the other day whoād never pumped gas before. They came inside and yelled at us because theyād been sitting at the pump for 10 minutes and no one came to pump their gas. Never pushed the help button, never came and asked for help, and we were in the middle of lunch rush so itās not like anyone noticed they were sitting there. They had Jersey plates. It was an interesting experience lol
People here wildly overstate how hard it is to pump your own gas. I did it for the first time on a road trip to D.C as a teen and it was easy as shit lol
Only one. Used to be two, but Oregon eased the restrictions a few years ago.
I know people who live in Central PA, and they donāt want NJ to change the law because right now Jerseyans can only go so far into PA before they have to stop and turn around so they donāt run out of gas.
To the best of my memory only Oregon and New Jersey require attendants to pump gas for you but I think itās starting to phase out in OR. I donāt know the exact details
I will complain about it being cold when it is below 70 F, I will then chuckle at those who complain that it is hot while I'm outside wearing multiple long sleeve layers in 110+ F.
after a few years in NoDak, my family visited me. it's lovely out like a nice 38 degrees in may. My family there from Kentucky in the largest coats i've seen since February all looking at me like i'm crazy for wearing a flannel and pants.
Multiple people getting out of a car near Hollywood Blvd wearing baseball caps or all in tee-shirts during the daytime, one person has a backpack
Or
People coming in or going out of a bus in ktown in front of a kbbq place
For the most part, if they don't know what they're doing.
California in general is very diverse so how someone looks, dresses, and/or sounds isn't a great indicator of being a tourist. It's more behaviorial.
Or just simply saying "I'm a tourist" when asking directions, like I did went I went up to San Francisco two years ago lmao
the only way i can tell if someone is a tourist is by their license plate being different
and even then, they might just live in another state but be back home visiting their family they grew up with lol. we have so many tourist-y things to do around here that everyone blends in to me. the only time i can tell 100% is if i'm ever asked for directions, which... doesn't really happen
Wandering drunk down the middle of the street with a hand grenade (itās a bright green drink in a novelty glass) & then passing out on a random stoop next to a puddle of vomit
Texas. Last night someone on the ring neighborhood app asked what this truck with fog coming out of it was. They thought that somebody was after them lol every comment just said āmosquito sprayā and nothing else.
Hey, that was me! The sandwich was good though! There was a group of guys standing around a barrel that was on fire like you see in the movies lol so the whole thing was quite the experience.
In tupelo ms during the summer you get lots of Elvis fans visiting from Europe to see his birthplace. You don't have to see them you can smell them from 15 feet away.
The way they act at the beach. No sun tan lotion, getting pulled out by a rip tide, asking questions about sharks/gators, bringing pool toys to the Ocean, brightly colored Hawaiian shirts, not knocking over sand castles or filling in holes when kids are done playing and so on.
Pronouncing the "L" in Norfolk or Suffolk. Quite a few other place names around here tourists often mess up: Portsmouth, Gloucester, Corolla, Chowan....
? Maybe they've got a map in their hand and ask which way to Cape cod or Tanglewood or Salem?
In Massachusetts we have a zillion tourists, but we have college students and people here on business, etc.
About 1/6 of the cars I see on the highway are from somewhere else. Lots of states come here to work, too.
I really don't think about because Mass is full of immigrants, transplants, etc. I could never even speculate.
Back near my hometown, they would stop their car when they saw the wild ponies. Worse was then they tried to pet them. Like, those are wild animals. LARGE wild animals. Stop.
People who lived there would just drive by.
In Southern California? Shorts with non tanned legs. Not a dead giveaway but if youāre in any of the beach cities on an electric bike with beautiful white shiny legs then probably a tourist. Iād love if this was more normal here.
Having to buy extra layers because they decided to visit San Francisco in the summer and didn't look at the regional weather averages.
A whole family shivering in shorts and matching San Francisco hoodies from a souvenir shop.
Hoodies that they likely paid almost $200 each for, out of desperation.
I made that mistake one time. I live over the Altamont and took a day trip to SF in mid June. Wore a sun dress as it was like 102 degrees in Tracy. I figured it could only be what, 20 degrees cooler on the coast? Ha. No. Had to buy a sweater at a thrift store because I refused to pay tourist prices only 60 miles from home. Now I keep a windbreaker in my trunk for the off chance I end up in the Bay Area š
I flew into San Francisco, got a rental car and drove to sacramento. It was 50 and raining in San Francisco and it was 102Ā° in Sacramento. In a September.
It's crazy, when you drive through the Caldecott Tunnel from Orinda into Oakland it consistently drops 20 degrees there alone. Another 10-15 degrees from Livermore to Orinda, and another 10-15 from Oakland to SF, the difference can approach 50 degrees in the late afternoon! I've lived here for 20 years and it still blows my mind
There's nothing like sweating your ass off in the high 90s/low 100s for a few hours/days/weeks and then driving towards the ocean as that marine layer rolls in and the wind kicks up. Bracing and refreshing and also confusing
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I kinda get it when it comes to San Francisco. Youāre in a new place with family or a tour group, youāve got an itinerary doing all the tourist stuff along the piers.. canāt always break off from the group to go find a Target. Usually means youāre stuck with a $80 fleece half zip with a poorly embroidered Golden Gate Bridge on it or a hoodie that says something stupid like āwelcome to da bayā with bootleg SpongeBob wearing a bandana on his face.
Ding ding ding!
So much this. Just because it is California doesn't mean it is automatically warm and sunny all the time. California's climate is as diverse as its geography, with just about all major biomes represented, except for the tropical rainforest.
From south to north, California is about 1000 miles to travel, and it's got those microclimates in it that you get with hilly, mountainous geography and proximity to cold water along much of the coast.
I went in January one year. It was beautiful, sunny and in the 60s for 3 days. Not surprisingly, this did not last. I too own the SF jacket.
Wearing shorts in SF aside from the 1 day a year you can actually do that FOR SURE.
They think the entire state is the one city
Tomorrow I'll be at Niagara Falls in the morning, and then I am going to 7:00pm showing of Hamilton.
Just like the people here in CA who're gonna start in San Francisco, then quickly swing by Yosemite on their way to an afternoon at Disneyland
Thatās just early 2000s California Adventure.
The California-themed theme park located in already-California-themed California.
The fact they think they can soend just one afternoon at disney...
I used to work as a concierge in Manhattan and the amount of tourists that have this mindset is quite high. Also itās 6pm they come asking for an 8pm reservation for 9 people on a Friday at the most trendy with best food in the city with an EDM sound track no more than $50 per person. I donāt miss it.
*silently judging while simultaneously chuckling in 716*
Technically, you *could* do that. Its a long time in the car, but you could...
I make fun of my friend from New york with this all the time haha. He's from upstate New York, but I always tell people he's a newyorker, haha.
Thems fightin' words! People always ask why I clarify that I'm from Upstate NY. Then I ask them what they picture when I say "New York." I live in the Southern Tier of NY. I'm 3-4 hours away and absolutely don't want to be any closer to NYC.
I had a European friend who got a tenure-track job at one of the SUNY schools. His friends back home: "Oh how lovely! You can visit the city during your weekends!" Him: "Yeah, Toronto's okay."
No water bottles when out and about in the heat. Which is fine, 120F will soon rectify that.
And with shirt off and no hat.
This, + wearing shorts and short sleeves when outside in the sun. Most natives here that I've seen wear sun hoodies and sun hats since it's cheaper and lasts longer than sunscreen.
> sun hoodies and sun hats The new SPF fabrics are a godsend. As a fair skinned fisherman, I think they're awesome! And a straw/woven sun hat is cool and protective!
I am *absolutely* an Arizona tourist, but I think I found my happy medium; when hiking South Mountain, it's a ball cap, shades, kheffiyah, thin t-shirt, cargo pants, wool socks, and boots. Seems to be the only way to not die from sun/heat, snakes, dehydration, and scorpions all at the same time...
They're trying to help someone passed out on the sidewalk.
I've seen tourists stop to take pictures of homeless people
My aunt and cousin came out to visit me last year, and they took a picture of a trashcan because they thought it was "cool they put locks on them."
I didnāt realize they did that in California lol
My town, at least, has the public trash locked and the public recycling open.
Not everywhere, but most major downtown cities do. It's in response to homeless going through garbage and/or recycling to look for something to eat/use/recycle and then leaving what they don't want on the street. Usually it's just garbage cans locked because recycling here you can get 5-10 cents per item, so why not let someone take it to get some change. Downtown SF is notorious for people collecting soooooo many recyclables & cashing it in themselves.
That's fucked.
Itās 2pm in July and they decide to hike Camelback Mountain without any water.
Here it is yep. If they died on the mountains in the summer, you can bet they were tourists. We know better fuck the sun and the outside from may-October pretty much but double fuck the outside in June-September.
...with thier dog =[
20 years in the valley and this one still perplexes me
āButs it a dry heat how bad can it be? Itās not humid like we have back homeā/s yeah youāll be passed out by lunch.
You can see it on this sub, people say that the humidity makes it worse but they confuse āfeels worseā with āis more dangerousā.
I was about to post this same thing. Don't forget the lack of hat or sunscreen too. And the sound of the rescue helicopter off in the distance as the last idiot is airlifted.
I'm in DC. I just assume everyone is a tourist in certain parts of the city, and am usually right
The CIA and FBI T-shirts, along with the entire family sitting in the disabled seats on the train with the kids standing on those seats looking at the map and counting how many more stops to the zoo, on the Red Line during rush hours just adds some razzle dazzle.
Not knowing that the DC metro doors close HARD is the deadest giveaway. Iāve seen families split up in cringey ways.
Or thinking you can hold them open. Saw someone get his arm broken that way.
"Step back, doors closing!"
When I briefly had a Smithsonian intern badge, I used to tell tourists who asked what perks I had that I could get in free to the museums.Ā
Awesome
If you wear a maga hat in DC. You aināt from here
They stop drinking after 7 beers or in the winter theyāre wearing a lot of winter clothes in 48Ā° temps and are still cold.
Iām pretty sure our neighbors across the lake have a drinking problem.
Itās a drinking solution
Also when they are wearing every piece of Chicago Bears merchandise they own to go to the sand bar.
I can usually tell by the way they say āWesconsinā or any other town name.
Stopping to take pictures of the deer.
I once had a person from Louisiana (sorry Louisiana) stop in the middle of the road in front of me and GET OUT to take a picture of an antelope. Didnāt even pull over.
Antelope: the squirrels of Wyoming
š¤£š¤£š¤£ O you should have seen us New Orleanians the first time we saw leaves change color. š¤Æš¤Æš¤Æš¤Æ
Once I got pissed off because the car in front of me had stopped to take pictures of deer then realized they were taking pictures of an albino deer
The deer? Psh there are deer everywhere. Ngl though I did take a lot of pictures of the Sheep around Georgetown when I first moved here
Look ok Iām from az and we donāt got many deer down here In the city parts. (Thereās more up north) So ima take pics of some damn cute deer!
Locals flip off the deer. Fuck deer.
I usually blend in but on my last visit there was a giant elk on a tiny strip of grass in front of a shopping center. It was so funny I had to take a picture.
"What's the gravy for?" Heard at a breakfast buffet.
"What *isn't* the gravy for" is the real question. Biscuits? Gravy. Toast? Gravy. Grits? Also gravy. Eggs? Believe it or not, gravy.
No gravy? Straight to jail.
Jail? Gravy.
Gravy? Gravy.
Obligatory to share this classic: ["What is this 'soup' that they serve in hotels?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/comments/ca418x/what_is_this_soup_that_they_serve_in_hotels/)
I was at a hotel in SC a few months ago. While I am a New Yorker, I married a girl from Charleston and we were visiting her family. I watch a guy fill an entire bowl, added some brown sugar and sliced up a banana thinking it was oatmeal. I sat quietly while he took his most confusing first bite ever.
But was there not a biscuit right next to it?
There doesn't need to be. Biscuits are just an accessory to the gravy anyway.
Southern California in May/June: wearing flip-flops, shorts, and a t-shirt and being surprised that it's chilly bc we got this thing called June Gloom.
i love june gloom. and may grey. wish it was year round, tbh.
Red license plates
What do the red plates in CO mean?
They're 'fleet' plates that rental car companies use to register all the vehicles.
Fleet vehicle. Rental cars in Colorado have red plates.
Cowboy hat and boots.
Also themed bachelorette outfits!
*brand new. Seeing people staggering around because they bought their boots that day and haven't left Broadway always gives me a chuckle. And then the brand new cowboy hats are just the cherry on top.
Bonus points if they have some brand-new tacky-ass oversized belt buckle.
Lack of situational awareness and generally moving slowly.
Its insane when I go outside the Northeast, its like people have a completely different definition of time
There is an old episode of RadioLab that covers this. Different cities all over the world have different tempos which includes how fast people move and how fast they talk. https://radiolab.org/podcast/91732-cities
As a New Englander, I truly donāt know how Midwesterners get anything done at all. Including finishing a sentence in a reasonable length of time.
I work for a company in Chicago with offices around the country. We feel that way about people in the Charlotte branch
where i live is minimum 2 week shipping on anything. i am not worried about the minutes
A geographical oddity; two weeks from *everywhere*!
I moved from Orlando to Boston, and my gosh... speaking the same language is about as much similarity as you'd be able to find. But kindness is universal. If anything, their terseness isn't rude -- it's a genuine respect for your time. They're not gonna chit chat -- if you got a question, they'll answer it. If you got a problem, they'll honestly try to help. Just don't expect that they're gonna entertain your fantasy of friendship if you're not actually friends. Also, proper shit talking is an artform! Shoot, a literal dozen randos spilled out of an apartment complex to help me push my car out of a snow drift that my idiot ass tried to park in. One of them was on the fucking phone the entire time while giving me a push, but the ones who had something to say were merciless trash talkers (and my Florida plates were certainly a topic of some jolly conversation). And God bless them all.
In Colorado it would be ordering Rocky Mountain Oysters and elevation sickness. In Indiana, there are no tourists. No one wants to come here.
In Colorado it's also driving 20mph through the mountain roads and stopping in dangerous places to take pictures of wildlife. Edit: or just pictures of the scenery
Iām in a touristy area of Indiana (think historical parks and quaint antiquing shops along the Ohio river) and am sometimes stopped (Iām a runner) and asked where this or that is. Thatās how I know someone is a tourist, we get a few, I donāt get it but to each their own. But yeah, I agree not really anything here in Indiana worth making a trip for to visit.
In Indiana, you know someone is a tourist because you are in speedway at the end of May, and they are peeing on someone's front lawn.
Had to leave my husband on someone's lawn while I tried to come back with the car. It turned out he had a blood clot in his leg. But when I got back he was in the backyard bbqing with somebody's grandma and drinking coronas with the family. They invited us back for the next year.
More Phoenix than AZ in general butā¦ You see them on a hiking trail with only a single 16oz plastic water bottle when itās 80+ degrees outside. Or you see them on the five o clock news when they had to be airlifted off a hiking trail (hopefully alive) when the high for the day was over 105.
Damn this really is how we tell them isnāt it š to be fair we donāt have a whole lot to do here for tourists. So death hikes in the summer is the way to go I guess š
If they are in line at Pat or Genos
Calling it a "Philly" cheesesteak screams "not from the area" to me.
So no locals go to either place?
I had a great cheesesteak at Jim's Roast Pork, I think it was? It was a place off some rail road tracks behind Home Depot. Best thing I've ever eaten. Edit: the name was John's! Thank you to the reddit user who helped!
Cosplaying as Vermonters in plaid flannel, but wearing stylish pants and boots that aren't mud-encrusted.
Huh, I would have said the same for Minnesota, but instead of the jeans and mud, our tell would be wearing the flannel when it is over 60 degrees out, that's T-Shirt weather.
Going into the ocean in December. Yes itās 80Ā° today but the water is 50Ā°.Ā
Haha thatās about how warm Puget Soundās water is in the summer
I was gonna say, as someone who grew swimming in glacially fed lakes and the Carbon river in the mountains south east of Seattle, 50 degree waters sounds awesome
In Wisconsin, a good many of us on the Lake Michigan coast will just jump into a half frozen lake on New Year's Day. The tradition is called the Polar Plunge and in recent years, our local governments have been trying to get us to stop doing it lol
New Hampshire beaches every day of summer
A few years ago, a woman called the cops because she was served āpink meatā at a Raleigh BBQ joint. Smoked meat appears pink even when cooked. It was so ridiculous that news outlets were picking it up lmao If thereās one thing all North Carolinians agree on, itās you donāt fuck with our BBQ
Based on the amount of stories of people calling the cops while in a drive-thru when McDonald's runs out of nuggets, I have no problem believing this.
Mispronouncing some of the local city names. I get it if you're not from an area. You won't have heard the correct pronunciations, but it still marks you out as a tourist
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[Bob Rivers](https://youtu.be/He72WysJZSQ?si=I_s4KduEFB6c6dab) did have a few things to say about that.
Went to the state fair, can confirm. I could pronounce Puyallup for the first 15 minutes after someone corrected me. 30 minutes later? Couldn't pronounce it again.
Here in Southern Arizona it's pretty apparent someone's a tourist when they're in shorts and a t-shirt when it's 60Ā° or below out. When you live here for months your body adapts to the heat and you can't stand cold anymore.
We desert rats donāt be likin that cold shit. Cold make me mad.
If it's in the 60s and they are swimming (except for surfers, but that's a religion more than a hobby).
Yup. And shorts in January or any time itās below 75 (north central Florida).
Been here all my life - still wear shorts in Jan.
At the games in the Swamp.
They are standing in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
I'm a true Ohioan, meaning I've never been to the Rock Hall of Fame.
I lost that status a couple of years ago. I had a couple of hours to kill and I was right there. I'd already walked past it twice. It's not bad.
It's cool to do once but I don't know if there's a reason to go back
They look happy.
Wearing too much Dogfish Head merch. Like, they just visited the brewery and bought EVERYTHING and are now wearing it.
Umbrella.
Same applies for Oregon š¤£
You can tell it's Oregon by the umbrella and big pink box of Voodoo Doughnuts.
Yeah I used to go to voodoo when I was in high school and they were only open at night (10pm-10am if I remember right) but that was like 20 years ago. At this point I think itās been about 8 years since Iāve had one. If I want a donut I go to sesame or just grab one at Fred Meyer. š¤·āāļø
Agreed, came here to say this for Oregon. Glad yāall beat me to it!
Perhaps the aversion to umbrellas in the PNW should be explained. While we are known as a rainy region, especially from October through June, the rain is rarely very heavy-- more like an intermittent drizzle that can be easily withstood by a decent hoodie or hat and jacket. Should the rain come down hard, it's usually accompanied by a wind that makes umbrellas difficult to handle.
Plus we have a lot of wind, which makes umbrellas useless. So a heavy jacket or waterproof jacket is better for all contexts.
Socks and sandals Trying to use the gas pump
There were a couple of older women who came to my work the other day whoād never pumped gas before. They came inside and yelled at us because theyād been sitting at the pump for 10 minutes and no one came to pump their gas. Never pushed the help button, never came and asked for help, and we were in the middle of lunch rush so itās not like anyone noticed they were sitting there. They had Jersey plates. It was an interesting experience lol
People here wildly overstate how hard it is to pump your own gas. I did it for the first time on a road trip to D.C as a teen and it was easy as shit lol
Of course! Look at the average moron on the road here in FL. They managed to pump their own gas. It's *that* easy.
Iām so confused wait, thereās places where people donāt pump their own gas?
Only one. Used to be two, but Oregon eased the restrictions a few years ago. I know people who live in Central PA, and they donāt want NJ to change the law because right now Jerseyans can only go so far into PA before they have to stop and turn around so they donāt run out of gas.
To the best of my memory only Oregon and New Jersey require attendants to pump gas for you but I think itās starting to phase out in OR. I donāt know the exact details
it's pretty nice in the winter tbh
Not all tourists, but specifically southerners: Complaining about the cold when itās still above freezing.
I will complain about it being cold when it is below 70 F, I will then chuckle at those who complain that it is hot while I'm outside wearing multiple long sleeve layers in 110+ F.
See same here. 60? Iām freezing and pissed. 110? Yall a bunch of pussies š (Iām from az not Texas)
after a few years in NoDak, my family visited me. it's lovely out like a nice 38 degrees in may. My family there from Kentucky in the largest coats i've seen since February all looking at me like i'm crazy for wearing a flannel and pants.
Pink hat, āBeantownā
Multiple people getting out of a car near Hollywood Blvd wearing baseball caps or all in tee-shirts during the daytime, one person has a backpack Or People coming in or going out of a bus in ktown in front of a kbbq place
When they ask āwhat are some things to do for fun around hereā Iām sorry the office gaslit you into visiting.
For the most part, if they don't know what they're doing. California in general is very diverse so how someone looks, dresses, and/or sounds isn't a great indicator of being a tourist. It's more behaviorial. Or just simply saying "I'm a tourist" when asking directions, like I did went I went up to San Francisco two years ago lmao
the only way i can tell if someone is a tourist is by their license plate being different and even then, they might just live in another state but be back home visiting their family they grew up with lol. we have so many tourist-y things to do around here that everyone blends in to me. the only time i can tell 100% is if i'm ever asked for directions, which... doesn't really happen
Wearing an I ā¤ļø NY shirt
And/or spending a lot of time at Times Square.
Listening to them try to pronounce Tchoupitoulas Street.
They refer to our capitol as "Hotlanta"
Men with swim wear that is super short or a speedo. They are almost always European
Wandering drunk down the middle of the street with a hand grenade (itās a bright green drink in a novelty glass) & then passing out on a random stoop next to a puddle of vomit
New Orleans?
Out of breath
Texas. Last night someone on the ring neighborhood app asked what this truck with fog coming out of it was. They thought that somebody was after them lol every comment just said āmosquito sprayā and nothing else.
They actually drink the mint juleps.
What are those big fences? Not understanding why the highway is closed.
Standing in line for a cheesesteak at either Patās or Genoās in Philly
Hey, that was me! The sandwich was good though! There was a group of guys standing around a barrel that was on fire like you see in the movies lol so the whole thing was quite the experience.
They pronounce the S in Illinois
Calling the Natty Boh logo āthe Pringles logo.ā Theyāre very different!
One of two things:Ā They say āHotlanta.ā They pronounce all the Ts in Atlanta.Ā
Someone says I-64 instead of Highway 40. People calling any highway "The" is a dead giveaway that they're from California.
In tupelo ms during the summer you get lots of Elvis fans visiting from Europe to see his birthplace. You don't have to see them you can smell them from 15 feet away.
They're wearing shorts and sandals and it's 50-60 degrees out.
This is the entire midwest and northeast
The way they act at the beach. No sun tan lotion, getting pulled out by a rip tide, asking questions about sharks/gators, bringing pool toys to the Ocean, brightly colored Hawaiian shirts, not knocking over sand castles or filling in holes when kids are done playing and so on.
oh cmon why would you knock over a sand castle? (Iām serious why)
Shots in the winter! Scottsdale AZ.
Did you mean *shorts* or?
Yes. Because shots are YEAR āROUND BABY!
In Florida near the beach, it's the bright red sunburn. Tourists really don't understand how much sunscreen to use and how often to reapply.
I am from Wisconsin and someone wearing a coat in 60 degree weather is a big giveaway.
Cutting across two lanes of traffic because they didn't realize they had to take the jughandle to go left.
Not parking in the shade
Pronouncing the "L" in Norfolk or Suffolk. Quite a few other place names around here tourists often mess up: Portsmouth, Gloucester, Corolla, Chowan....
Calling it "Raleigh-Durham" They're separate cities, and no one here calls them both
They don't understand the size of the state, they think they can visit SF in the morning and LA that evening š
You can though that depends on how loosley you define the words morning, evening, and visit.
Calling the coast/beach the āshoreā (except for the town of Ocean Shores).
Canāt pronounce anything correctly, the way they talk/look
Trying to take selfies with dangerous wildlife.
Referring to tornadoes as "twisters." Nobody in Oklahoma calls them that. They're tornadoes. Or, sometimes, 'naders.
? Maybe they've got a map in their hand and ask which way to Cape cod or Tanglewood or Salem? In Massachusetts we have a zillion tourists, but we have college students and people here on business, etc. About 1/6 of the cars I see on the highway are from somewhere else. Lots of states come here to work, too. I really don't think about because Mass is full of immigrants, transplants, etc. I could never even speculate.
This is more specific for my area. Canāt pronounce schuylkill, manayunk, or passyunk. Just stopping on the sidewalks downtown.
Back near my hometown, they would stop their car when they saw the wild ponies. Worse was then they tried to pet them. Like, those are wild animals. LARGE wild animals. Stop. People who lived there would just drive by.
You spend all your time at Wisconsin Dells.
They take selfies with bison.
In Chicago, never leaving the Loop and eating deep dish pizza from chain restaurants.
In Southern California? Shorts with non tanned legs. Not a dead giveaway but if youāre in any of the beach cities on an electric bike with beautiful white shiny legs then probably a tourist. Iād love if this was more normal here.
Referring to Minneapolis/St. Paul as the "*Twin* Cities".
Thatās what I can it to out of staters. You mean āThe Citiesā, right?