[UF_john]

Inverness and north of Ocala is the "OLD DEEP SOUTH" Dixie Country. South of Ocala is the beginning of the Northern sprawl which is full of transcients and different accents. They still have a majority Deep Southern accent in Northern Florida and the Panhandle.

[ARC]

Central Florida on downward doesn't seem like a Southern state to me. Perhaps its because so many people from up north are down here. That is neither good or bad - it is just fact.

Now the few natives of Orlando I've met, (people who were born here and grew up here, and who are about 40-50 years old) DO seem like your typical Southerner (accent, hospitability, openess to others - i.e. "friendliness," etc.) Just my opinion.

Originally Posted by tallrick

y'all come back, ya hear? that's something you don't hear or see anymore in south Florida. I remember when even Winn Dixie had that over their exits, but no one does that anymore. I guess that all the northeasterners and immigrants from Latin America changed that idea. Where does the "southern hospitality" cut off to become the "new urbanism"?

[Dennis P]

Originally Posted by ARC

Central Florida on downward doesn't seem like a Southern state to me. Perhaps its because so many people from up north are down here. That is neither good or bad - it is just fact.

Now the few natives of Orlando I've met, (people who were born here and grew up here, and who are about 40-50 years old) DO seem like your typical Southerner (accent, hospitability, openess to others - i.e. "friendliness," etc.) Just my opinion.

I wholeheartedly agree with you regarding how Florida from about Orlando and going south doesn't seem very Southern. I also agree with Orlando natives I've known in that age bracket (the same one I'm in, by the way ), who have the Southern speech and manners, though that's dying rapidly with the younger generation.

OK, now I want to have grits for breakfast and later in the day, drink sweet tea!

[lonelychicagoan]

Originally Posted by tallrick

y'all come back, ya hear? that's something you don't hear or see anymore in south Florida. I remember when even Winn Dixie had that over their exits, but no one does that anymore. I guess that all the northeasterners and immigrants from Latin America changed that idea. Where does the "southern hospitality" cut off to become the "new urbanism"?

of course florida is part of the south!!! it IS one of the 50 states that make up the united states of america. from my experiences, there is no cut off point; southern hospitality continues all the way down to key west, though it is not very good in places like northwest miami-dade county.

[SouthernSpirit73]

To be totally honest with y'all, anybody who don't think Florida is part of the South needs a good history lesson and some good hands on travel! I'm from Florida and currently live in Panama City which is in Bay County in the panhandle. Florida has 67 counties in all and I have been to at least 60 of them if not the entire 67! Let me be frank with all of you out there concerning Florida's Southernness and Dixiefied culture. There is no absolute cutoff point in Florida to separate the Southern cultured North Florida from the pseudo-called Northern cultured South Florida! Florida, from statehood in 1845, and even before, until the present, has been geographically identical. The state lines then are the same as today. Florida was and is one single state with Tallahassee being it's continuous capitol since 1845! True, we've had a lot of immigration into my state, especially since the 1960s from Yankees and other foreigners, but that fact doesn't change what Florida was and is. It may add to and take away certain elements in certain areas, but Florida was, is, and always will be part of Dixie just as much as any other Southern state. Talk of splitting Florida into 2 states is totally and unapologetically uncalled for! Texas, like Florida, has had much immigration from up North and internationally, but Texas is still a Southern state! Even though Texas and Florida both became a state the same year and share pretty much the same history and traditionally have the same Southern dialect, people expect all Texans to talk Southern while they expect just the opposite from Floridians even though Texas, like Florida, has grown largely from Northerners and foreigners. Half of Georgia's population is in the Atlanta area metroplex. And the vast majority of that population are non-Southerners from up North and foreigners, but you never hear people saying, "Well, South Georgia is Southern, while North Georgia is Northern!" I've never heard such nonsense. All of North Georgia cannot be based on Atlanta, and likewise all of South Florida cannot be based on Miami! I guarantee you that you can visit Florida's small towns and rural counties anywhere in Florida, North, Central, or South, and you will experience the Southern culture and dialect! Go just outside Orlando, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Ft. Myers, Tampa, well, you get the picture, and you will be firmly and proudly be in typical Dixieland! Even those cities I just mentioned still have a degree of Southernness, well, maybe not Miami anymore, but she used to back in Al Capone's visiting days! There is not one single county out of Florida's 67 that doesn't have certain areas that are Southern in culture and accent to some degree. Even Monroe County which includes all the Keys still has a Southern dialect to varying degrees depending on where you're at! What people don't realize is that all Southern states today are becoming less and less homogenized and more watered down in Southern culture as time goes forward. There was a time not too many decades ago when Florida was just as uniformly Southern all over the state as Mississippi or Arkansas is today! However, Florida still has plenty to go around for y'all who are looking for it! Out of Florida's 17 million people, I'd say roughly around half of them are Southern, whether rooted in Florida or transplants from other Dixie states. Most of Florida's traditional Southern population of 6 to 7 million people is scattered and spread out over the entire state, whereas the great majority of the 7 to 8 million Northerners and foreigners are concentrated in a few large urban sprawl areas of around 7 counties. You people who spout off such nonsense as, "The panhandle is really South Alabama, and Northeast Florida is really South Georgia," need to just keep your mouths shut for fear of your ignorance and stupidity rubbing off on others! If the Florida panhandle is really South Alabama, then why not say, "South Alabama is really part of the panhandle," or that "South Georgia is really part of Northeast Florida?" For that matter, why not go so far as to say that each section of each Southern state is really part of one of their neighboring Southern states? That's sheer and utter stupidity and total faulty logic! What angers me the most is fellow Southerners from other Southern states sometimes reject Florida as being part of the South. There's really no excuse for that kind of ridiculous idiocy! There's plenty of places in this whole state I could take people like that too where if they openly said that, they would have a brawl on their hands. Florida's political affinities are virtually identical to those of neighboring Southern states. Florida's history parallels that of the rest of the South. Florida was a fullfledged Confederate state. Not that I'm for this, but Florida's Civil Rights movements and KKK activity were just as severe if not somewhat worse than that of Alabama's. Florida's state flag is intended to symbolize the Confederate Navy Jack flag. What about all the movies with obvious and intended Southern overtones such as: The "original" Longest Yard, Smokey and the Bandit, Parts 2 and 3, Chattahoochie, Just Cause, Rosewood, The Devil's Advocate, and I'm sure there's more? What about all the Country/Southern Rockers that came from Florida such as: Slim Whitman, Mel Tillis, John Anderson, Billy Dean, Clint Daniels, Aaron Tippin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers, 38 Special, Molly Hatchet, The Outlaws, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers? As a matter of fact, Southern rock was born in Florida! Although I ain't a fan of Rap and Hiphop, it's been stated too that Southern Rap/Hiphop and that whole Dirty South mentality started in Florida too! Florida is the only Southern state out of the technically 17 Southern states that has a county named Dixie County! Florida became the model Southern state for chain gangs and eventually had no prisoners in prisons whatsoever because all Florida inmates were put on chain gangs. Other Southern states came close to this as well, but never totally! Not that I aggree with it, but the practice of stuffing the ballot boxes to keep Blacks from voting was started in Florida! During Martin Luther King's trips around the South giving speeches, when he came to St. Augustine, FL. he had to cancel out due to the riots there being even more sever than in Selma, AL! Politically, Florida was part of the Solid South from the 1920s through the 1970s when the Dixiecrat party was in full swing. Now, like the rest of the South, Florida is again part of the Solid South, but this time, Republican! Florida may advertise Mickey Mouse and the beautiful serene beaches of tranquility and tourism tourism tourism, but that just covers up the other. It doesn't eliminate or erase it! It's a sad fact that the younger generations all over the South are slowly losing the Southern dialects due to immigration, TV, and other institutions bent on destroying our unique cultures! Florida and the rest of the South needs to wake up! However, as I've travelled throughout Florida, I've seen an abundance of Confederate flags waving in the breeze, plates on cars and trucks, bumper stickers, T-shirts, caps, you name it, I've seen it! I have them on my truck! The USCV even has a huge one flying high on a pole somewhere on the Florida Turnpike! So, before anymore of you wish to rob, denounce, or reject Florida and her position amongst her sister Southern states, do some homework and research first! This is such an elementary subject it's really odd that so many people find this to be a point to even discuss! Y'all take care, ya hear! Much Abliged!

[ellie]

I would have read the above if there weren't so many words all jammed in together. At a glance it looked interesting. Needs paragraphs or spaces for my poor tired eyes.

[backtofla]

i'd say orlando and south is not dixie-like, with the exceptions of a few places (okeechobee, lakeland, sebring, lake placid, avon park, loxahatchee, parts of royal palm bch., amongst others...)

[doggiebus]

I didn't read all of the long post above, too long (my attention span isn't that long sorry). I do agree that outside of the major metropolitan areas you will find some "southern folk" but over all the traditional idea of southernness (found in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, etc.) doesn't exist from Tampa Orlando Daytona South (with the exception of towns around the lake).

[Sunshine State]

well, lets see, there Mississippi mud, Alabama stump jumpers, Georgia peaches and Florida crackers, lol... cities, towns, and landmarks dont make up the south entirely, sometimes its whats buried in an old cemetery (as in St. Augustine, south of me, north of Daytona) ....or, whats hidden in an old lighthouse or schoolyard or song.... "I was born a rebel" sings Tom Petty from Gainesville, and "Sweet Melissa" by Daytona born Duane Allman of the Alllman Bros Band....southern traditions are everywhere in Florida, you just have to seek them off the main roads, but one word of caution, "Cracker Barrel" restaurants, tho they line the interstates fooling all the tourists with their "original recipes", lol, are mostly straight out of a box, judge the old south on its barbecue, ice tea, and good food as well...many ways to sum it up.... if ya live here a while, ya learn where to seek it out!...Cheers!

[Sunshine State]

Duane was actually born in Nashville, forgive me, he went to school in Daytona I believe, gigged alot here in Jacksonville before becoming famous....