Hold hands while crossing the street Options

[mipadi]

I'm from central Pennsylvania. In PA, we don't stop to let people cross the street. I've stood out in the pouring rain without an umbrella while cars zipped by. Letting pedestrians cross the street is just not something we do in PA.

I recently moved to Williamsburg, VA. So far, I don't like the South. It's too damn hot. It was 61 degrees when I went to work at 8:30 this morning. Back home in PA, it might reach a high of 61 today. And that's how it supposed to be. Also, the leaves aren't really changing color yet in Williamsburg. They're still green. Fall is supposed to be pretty, and it's not pretty here. But I digress.

One of the weirdest things about Williamsburg is that people actually stop and let you cross the street. I don't know if its a Southern thing, a Virginia thing, or a Williamsburg thing, but that's how people roll here. For instance, when I went to get lunch, I was standing on the curb -- in between blocks, no less -- and cars just stopped and let me cross.

This always throws me off. Normally I end up standing on the curb, and keep letting cars go; and then some local just starts walking out into traffic, and everyone driving their little cars just stop. And then I follow and look like a schmuck because I was standing on the curb for a minute or two when I could've just walked out into the street and crossed right away.

Sometimes, though, people just stop, even when I don't make an attempt to walk in front of them, and basically force me to cross. It's weird. I'm not sure I like it.

Also, at the local grocery store, the baggers actually take my groceries out to my car for me -- and refuse tips, too! It's weird. I don't like that. I can take my own groceries out, myself, but they won't let me. Maybe that's a Southern thing, too.

The South is weird.

[fameONE]

Texas has to be one of the nicest places I've ever lived. There's not a bad thing I can say about my time in San Antonio.

[sixfive]

Texas has to be one of the nicest places I've ever lived. There's not a bad thing I can say about my time in San Antonio.

Cept it's impossible to get a hotel if you don't have a reservation. We went to Fiesta Texas over the summer and decided that we'd rather spend the night instead of driving back at night. We spent the amount of time searching for a hotel as it would have taken us to get back to Houston. Shoulda gone back instead. I almost ended up at UTSA. Twice.

[fameONE]

Cept it's impossible to get a hotel if you don't have a reservation. We went to Fiesta Texas over the summer and decided that we'd rather spend the night instead of driving back at night. We spent the amount of time searching for a hotel as it would have taken us to get back to Houston. Shoulda gone back instead. I almost ended up at UTSA. Twice.

The tourism industry of the city has grown beyond expectation. City council is trying to play catch up on that one. When I was home on pre-deployment leave, my father brought that up in one of the city hall meetings. Hotels are being built, but they aren't in the most convenient of locations, and the premier hotels downtown are getting more expensive thanks to pricey renovations. The city continues to grow at a very impressive rate.

I'm also a big fan of Austin... just not Austin traffic.