Litetally all of my deplorable in laws are planning to retire or move to the panhandle of Florida. They vacation there at least once a year, sometimes 2-3 times a year. We went once with them and I have to admit I don’t get it. They oohhed and ahhed about the beaches (which were nice white sand beaches) and the semi-clear water. That part was fine I guess. The problem was everything else. They don’t realize there are beaches that nice or better literally all over the world that don’t suffer the same ailments as that area. There was zero good food or culture, the bars suck and the entire place is full of deplorables. This was in Panama City Beach which I award no stars.
I’ve also been to Tampa a couple of times to visit my niece and that seemed better.
Ive just made peace with most people in America thinking a dream retirement is a view of the ocean and the early bird special at Chili’s. It is so banal and sad. Like they support politicians that do the most heinous things imaginable to protect completely fabricated threats to their ability to eat at Outback.
For a while my parents owned a condo along 30A (west of Panama City Beach), where they went a few times a year and rented out the rest of the time, and that was definitely a little bit classier area with some nice restaurants and such…I remember it fondly enough that even years after they sold it, I took the wife and kids down there a few times. It’s not terrible, and PCB is schlocky but fun in small doses as a side trip.
And as with most of the panhandle, if you go even 5 miles north of the beach, you’re basically in Alabama in spirit if not physically.
People want predictability. I’ve made my peace with the idea that a lot of people are dumb and can’t handle life that is too interesting and makes then have to anticipate new things. Deplorableness is a defense mechanism against anxiety.
As someone that lived in PCB for 5 years after college, I’m just nodding my head along with everything you’re saying. The beaches/water are beautiful! And being on the Gulf side the water is much more calm but it can still get wild, see Hurricane Michael. Local food was weird because you can choose to make good food or you can choose to cater to tourists, and the latter group will bring in much more money. There are a couple places I would go eat if I went back, but they are concentrated further west in 30A or in Panama City (not beach).
Maybe that is what they want. That’s their choice. Part of the reason they live seemingly miserable lives (they are always complaining about everything) is that they insist on living very small insular lives though. It makes me sad to see them spend all of their precious time and vacation budget doing the same unenriching schlock all the time.
I know that if they did actually venture into the world, or heaven forbid a scary US city (my SIL/BIL refuse to DRIVE THROUGH Memphis because it is too scary in their opinion and so drive two hours out of the way when they drive to PCB) it would have a profound and positive affect on them. Part of me wonders if they know that and that is part of the reason they are scared to actually do it.
What the actual fuck? I can’t even imagine what it must be like to be that sheltered. Even if Memphis was as dangerous as they think it is wouldn’t they just be on the highway the entire time? That’s seriously sad.
Some people just like complaining about everything. If they were poker players, limit omaha/8 would be the game for them.
Being forced to encounter the world won’t necessarily have a positive effect on them. Some people react to increased cognitive dissonance by doubling down on the lies they believe and increasing aggression towards any challenges.
That or they are just racists and it is an excuse to tell a boogeyman story. If you knew them you would realize that is right up their alley. Like you say though it’s certainly possible that it happened.
Is Memphis actually nice though? I was excited to stop there when I moved out here but it did seem pretty run down and we couldn’t figure out where to go. It was the middle of the day and downtown was empty. Some guy led us to Rendezvous, which everyone talks about visiting there so I assume it’s a tourist trap, although the food was fine if not pretty good. Not saying I wouldn’t visit there but just that it might not be the best choice to teach someone about how cities are actually great.
We lived in Shreveport for a year which is a dump of a city with a pretty high crime rate and I can’t recall feeling endangered a single time there. I lived in DC for a few years and would sometimes be intimidated by my walk home to Adams Morgan, mostly because my buddy told me a story about how he got mugged near my place well before I lived there.
Going out of their way to drive around Memphis is such a weird thing that regular racists don’t bother to do that it feels like a traumatic experience had to cause such extreme behavior. Their accuracy in describing what happened may be deficient, but there’s no particular reason to disbelieve that they had some sort of car trouble in Memphis that forced them to encounter black people.
My wife and I went to a concert there for NYE in 2018 and had a good time. In the 3 days were were there we had some good food and good nights out. The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel is fantastic and worth the trip alone. People were more friendly than most US cities imo. We felt safe.
I think it legitimately does have a decent amount of crime and poverty but the only thing that makes that different from Wichita which they have no problem spending time in is the difference in the percentage of minorities between the two cities. The crime rates aren’t that different.
Oh I’m sure this is it. I feel like as a kid I was raised to fear black people and neighborhoods and it’s a tough thing to shake. My parents seem less actively racist than a lot but they harbor a lot of stereotypes and don’t seem to have gotten more understanding with age.
I have stumbled on some very unfortunate data for your SIL/BIL regarding the demographics of small towns and cities all throughout Mississippi and Alabama on the way to PCB.
