South USA - The Don'ts of Visiting the South

may their fellow travelers mark here with Walter's world and today we are here in Savannah Georgia and today we're gonna cover a few are the don'ts of this in the south of the US and specifically the southeast you know the deep south the Georgia Alabama Louisiana South Carolina this kind of stuff because there's some things you should know that are different than the traditional don'ts of the u.s. they're specific in general there's some you want to focus on just for here in the south and the first don't I have for you is don't forget your manners look mangas are a huge thing in the south whether you're a little kid or you're an old man you need to have your manners when you're here you do use your pleases and thank-yous and yes ma'am and yes sir and things like that then it's not optional that is how you speak when you're here and you always show people respect especially people that are older than you okay so you will be holding the door for people and things like that and I'll tell you don't you ever let an old southern woman or an old southern man or anyone that seems older than you stand up you always give up your chair to the older ladies or the older gentlemen when you are there because it is a sign of respect that's how it works here in the South because manners are a huge thing when you are here and another thing is is don't forget to smile when you are here you'll see how happy and friendly the people are and one of the parts that is just this happy-go-lucky nature that you have here in the south so don't forget to smile because you will have a good time and with that is don't be surprised if people randomly start up conversations with you where you are here in the south going grocery shopping if you pass by somebody maybe twice in two different aisles don't be surprised you strike up a conversation out of the blue on the next aisle it is a completely normal thing here because the southerners are super friendly I know we were at a restaurant here in town a couple days ago my credit card fell through the crack and the floor that goes like a debt kind of thing that they had built up they pried up the floor to get my card on on the dude I can call and cancel the card it's okay like now that we got this taken care of the people in the south are super friendly so don't freak out about it it's not fake they are really that friendly and that helpful so don't be scared to ask for help when you come here that's another don't I have for you because you're going to see towns like Savannah Charleston there's so much history here you're not sure what should I be looking at here I mean you have this picture what should I look at well you've got the common change right they're like oh there's a historic building you've got the fountains and you've got the Capitol building you have these things you're like wow it is kind of a cool thing to check out but you want to know more and the southerners do have a lot of pride in their hometowns in their home states and stuff like that that they will share that with you so don't be afraid to ask hey we're the best biscuits in town we're gonna get the best you know the strongest drinks in town they will be friendly and they will help you out what are the things it's when you do talk to the southerners you might notice it's sometimes there's an accent and what I will say is don't think that that accent makes them stupid okay choose a goose someone has an accent does it doesn't make them like not know something or be less intelligent or whatever and you have this stereotype that TV and radio and movies really kind of promote as oh if you got an accent you must be some kind of hillbilly do not think that the southerners are hillbillies don't think their accent makes them stupid it's not the case you can have some great conversations when people when you are here and they'll know more than you actually think they do and so I want to give you the heads up on that and another don't I have with you is when you are here and you do bring your kids don't be surprised if your kids are acting up if the locals will tell your kid hey straighten up hey get it together you will see that here people do scold other people's kids when you're here in the south and I know if you're in the north or you're in California West Coast or something like that and someone tells your kid hey watch it kids like don't tell my kid what to do I've had people do that to us before and I'm like oh I'm sorry your kid just kicked me am I supposed to let your kid you know hit me or something here that stuff doesn't fly your kids acted I'm not just be prepared to have people call you out on that because remember number one manners okay and that goes from young to old so make sure lil Johnny or a little Suzy know that hey you say yes man yes sir please and thank you and you don't make a mess all right so just a heads up on that one now when they do call out your kids for the behavior they're not judging you and judging your parental skills and stuff like that what they kind of do here in the south is it's the old mantra it takes a village to raise a child and so the whole village is helping out raising the child okay so don't be offended by it because you know what it is hot when you're here and that's my next done is don't melt when you come to the South look July and August oppressive heat and pretty much the entire deep south and lots of places oppressive humidity like you walk out oh my god you do have that when you are here so if you're gonna come there's a reason why so many people winter in the south because it's got nice weather in the winter so come down here from October till April and you're not gonna have the insane heat you're gonna have nice weather and less humidity but don't expect to not die the heat and humidity if you do come in July and August sabi eyes with that it can be pretty bad okay and I guess one of the other don'ts I'll have for you is if you're really hot you want to get a drink and you go in they might ask you hey yeah what kind of coke do you want you're like what so my thing is don't think that coke just means coke here a lot of times what you'll see is they'll say hey what kind of coke you want they mean what kind of soda would you like what kind of pop or soda pop or or drink it's just the word they use for soda is coke okay so don't freak out I don't drink coke yeah I know we have lots of different cokes right dr. pepper or whatever you do have that when you are here now the last few years I've definitely seen a drop-off of a number of places where they do use Coke as the de-facto word for soda or soda pop so you're not you might not see too often acacia will so I just want to give you that heads-up and the thing is if you're gonna meet up with southerners to have a drink whether it's a Coke or or a beer or whatever is you got to realize this don't expect the southerners to be on time it's definitely a much more laissez-faire attitude with time here in the south and as Johnson will tell you look with this kind of humidity how's my hair gonna dry you know these cat ladies it takes a little bit more time where jaws will tell me hey I've got to get my face on look the thing is is time is very relevant here so if you're setting up a time hey let's meet at 8 o'clock they might not be there till 8:30 or something like that or later and don't worry if they right she's like oh we're on our way and that means like I'm getting in the shower okay so the more time you spend here you realize that yeah on time not always a thing to expect here now going back to that drinking kind of thing another thing you need to know is when you what do you give tea here don't think your tea is gonna be unsweetened okay in the South you drink sweet tea period end of story unsweetened tea belongs in one place down a drain all right so you're gonna get tea it's gonna be sweet tea all right and it's really good and don't think that sweet tea is tea plus sugar no no no for all my friends when you go to a restaurant in the north and you ask for sweet tea they still have sugar packets with the tea here like now that's not the same thing all right so so don't expect unsweetened tea when you're here what I think is if you're looking at food honestly if you're gonna be coming to the south don't bring tight clothes or at least bring a belt with a couple extra loops on it cuz you're gonna eat so much when you're here cuz there's so much good food from the fried chicken the biscuits the grits oh my god the barbecue there's so much fantastic food that yes you will get quite big when you aren't here I mean I'll show you a picture of before I started to come to the South and this is what I look like now okay so heads up with that so don't forget a bit more room in your clothing when you are here now my next stones kind of focus on some misconceptions of southern food no they don't fry everything what they do fry a lot but honestly my biggest don't would be that look don't think that barbecue goes on the grill the grilling things you grill on your barbecue at home is hot dogs and burgers and steaks barbecue here the south is smoked meat whether it is of course a but a Boston but oh my god pulled pork is fantastic or you're having brisket or whatever you have the smoked meat that's been on there for hours and hours that makes it all succulent and juicy and it's so good and that's why when you're in the South you're eating barbecue all over the place because the thing is if you're thinking that barbecue is just grilled meat think about it if you put a steak or any kind of meat on your grill straight on the flames for seven hours you know what you'd have charcoal okay it's not the same thing so don't think barbecue is on the grill it's in a smoker just suck in all those flavors so definitely get barbecue and you are here I'm not gonna lie to you another do not have for you actually deal with those barbecue thing is don't be surprised if the barbecue sauce you have varies from state to state so here in George we have sweet barbecue sauce right but do you go to South Carolina it's like a barbecue based barbecue sauce if you go to North Carolina it's a vinegar-based barbecue sauce if you go to Memphis well Memphis they use a dry rub on their ribs and so you have all these different kinds of barbecue can have I mean I was in Alabama and oh my god I had some fantastic ribs when I was there and here today I'm doing the pulled pork and and I mean you just have all these different variations so don't think oh I'm doing a southern tour we had barbecue in North Carolina I don't need to have it again you should because it will be different each place you go and one thing that kind of goes along with of regional differences in the barbecue is also don't think that all the South is the same I mean if you're going to Atlanta it's a very different experience than coming here to Savannah or go to Charleston which is very different than going to New Orleans or Natchez in Mississippi or or going to Memphis versus Nashville or Knoxville going to the Outer Banks and and these kind of things you have a lot of different kind of regional differences in the south whether it's geography whether it's people whether its food and cuisine and stuff like that and yes different types of barbecue that are out there so don't think it's all the same don't think well I went to Atlanta I saw the south no you saw part of the south so go and explore more of it another don't I have a few has to deal with that beautiful Spanish moss you see behind me see it just kind of dripping down there oh it is so cool and you want to go and grab something to hold it like oh should I wear it as a shawl look my don't for you is so you're in the coastal part of the south and you see Spanish moss don't touch it there's the buggies in there there's little checkers in there that will bite you invite you invite you in you get all itchy and stuff like that so don't try to make your own I'm gonna be Mark Walters picture and stuff it in your shirts you get a big belly like me don't do that okay cuz that stuff man you'll be like I can't make it stop and that's more I mean most people would know to do that not to do that but I have seen a lot of kids they'll go and start playing with it and their parents don't realize it so I want to make sure you know don't play with the Spanish moss now a fashion don't I have for you and I know I am not the person to listen about fashion and that's okay is if you're a tourist don't worry if you feel underdressed look here in the south you can I mean the fashion all fashion is acceptable here you'll see people wearing flip-flops g-strings and you'll see people where there are southern gentlemen best and their seersucker suits you'll see that and the thing is though if you're going to go if you go to it for example you go to a football game in Georgia guess what you'll see people in heels we were at the grocery store at Publix and people are doing their grocery shopping in heels it's not an uncommon thing so don't but don't feel that you have to dress up that nice I mean don't get me wrong people will be appreciative of it but you don't have to dress up that nice when you are here so another don't in the south is don't mess with the mayonnaise and the South II got two great mayonnaise the best is Duke's this is what you always want to get blue-plate also very much an acceptable kind of thing not Miracle Whip no never that but Duke's blue plate you'll be good to go and you'll get it on all kinds of stuff now another southern food I want to give you a dome for our grits okay and my thing is don't think grits are just for breakfast because when you see grits they look like a cream of wheat or or an oatmeal or a porridge kind of thing but the thing is they do look like that but they're actually made out of hominy if you're not sure what hominy is it's like a corn derivative so you do have that but the thing is you look at you think oh this is gonna be like a porch it's only for breakfast oh no no no no no no grits are good any time of the day you could have normal plain grits or cheese grits which is always good my personal favorite if you're looking for something like a lunch or a dinner thing shrimp and grits oh my god it is so good so don't think grits are just for breakfast it may look like it but it's so isn't and going along with that don't think biscuits are the same here as well because biscuits in the south there's a different kind of flour they use so make sure if you get a chance to grab some biscuits whenever you can because oh my god they are so good seriously don't pass up the food in the south I've said it before I'll say it again it is so good for the fried chicken too the pecan pie - oh my god anything you have here is awesome and the thing is if you go into cities like Savannah you'll have southern traditional Southern cuisine you know collars and stuff like that but you also have newer kind of fusion kind of southern food so you have all kinds of great mixes no another thing you should know is when you come to this South I know when people come from around the world to come visit the US we have a very popular sport here in the US we call football or you might call American football and here are the South it's like a religion people love SEC football they had their Georgia Bulldog shirts on another Alabama the Crimson tie the other or LSU or whatever they really love their football in the south okay and so if you're gonna make this thing oh it's boring soccer is better a basketball is better just don't just don't I'm telling you right now it is not worth the headache of the discussion because they love their football here they're super passionate about it and don't pass up the chance to go to a football game on a Saturday in the fall because it'll be a great experience not just for the game but don't miss out on tailgating the party before the game when you're grilling out in your you're drinking beer with your buddies and stuff like that it's a whole experience and you'll see that well why is it from the Saturday it's from three to six that City was empty oh because the Georgia Bulldogs are playing and so everybody in town was watching the game you do have that when you are here and I guess another doing I'll give you is when you're preparing for that tailgate and you're going to the grocery store the grocery will you get your stuff you know that little thing you fill up with all the groceries that thing you push around don't call it a cart here it's called a buggy all right it's a buggy you push around and my last don't for you is don't skip out on visiting the South you will fall in love with it with amazing architecture amazing people tons of beautiful towns to visit you go to Natchez Mississippi on the Mississippi River and seen all the homes there are or visiting New Orleans and seeing the history there and the Creole culture maybe your head up to Oxford Mississippi where Ole Miss is or your head and surround the Bama are you come in here and just Savannah Georgia or go to Charleston or hit me Atlanta the mega metropolis of the south going up to Asheville for amazing beer hitting the Outer Banks there's so much great things to enjoy in the south and you really want to go and explore and that's what I tell people don't try to see the whole us pick a region and focus on that and the South is a great region to see because you can drive around lots of places the roads are good because there's no freezing and thawing so the highway stay even which is awesome and you really really love it because the people they care about their cities they care about their towns they have a very much pride in those places so you want to share that with the tourists like you like me so you will fall in love with places like that we really appreciate all of your support whether it's an following or it's in like a nurse and subscribing it means the world to us and we do hope you sign up because we do put out travel videos every Wednesday and Saturday if I have time I put out a few more during the week from all over this great world we have so I will say goodbye from here in Savannah Georgia and have a great time y'all you will don't worry bye from Savannah

Channel: Wolters World

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Keywords: travel, europe, mark wolters, wolters world, travel advice, tourist attractions, travel vlogger, honest travel, fat travel guy

Id: i1M24MPEp2Y

Length: 15min 55sec (955 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 16 2020