What are your perceptions of each state?

[pianogirl04]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I ADORE New Orleans. I grew up in essentially Lafayette and New Orleans and then attended law school at Loyola. They are both nice cities. But, I love NOLA the most. It is in my top three favorite places in the world. But - to each their own

How did you like Loyola? My major's sorta up in the air right now and one option I'm entertaining is music therapy -- I would do four years locally and then go to Loyola. I haven't done a ton of research but I've seen that they have music industry/audio engineering classes too. I can handle NOLA in a group, but it's not somewhere I want to get lost in... or try to find a place to park in...

[Jessica Leigh]

Originally Posted by amber

The kind i like (American Spirits) are $5 a pack. How much in Jersey?

OMG i paid $9.50 for a f*cking pack of cigarettes in atlantic city!!!!!! this drunk guy walked up to me and asked if he could bum a cigarette (you know, social/drinking smokers who bum off of you in public places) and i looked at him and said "dude, i spent $9.50 for this pack" and he goes "oh and you're a smoker? you smoke them?" and i said "yes i SMOKE them" and he walked away sheepishly... i think he was gonna try to hit on me and bumming a cigarette was his way of breaking the ice... but hell no.... when i spend almost 50 cents for each cigarette i'm not gonna give them away to strangers who are occasional smokers!

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by takenbythesky

I stayed in the French Quarter a couple years ago for a week. It's fantastic. I haven't read anything by Anne Rice, but John Kennedy Toole nailed the French Quarter in Confederacy of Dunces. And...The graveyards were just about my favorite part of that trip. There's a really cool wax museum...The people there are more hospitable and friendly than those here in the Bay Area. Oh, and the food....Don't even get me started on the food...

Hope you get back to New Orleans soon!

-Justin

A Confed. of Dunces is probably my fav. book ever!!!!!!!!!!!! I laughed out
loud so many times while reading it in public, people stared at me!!!

I am glad you enjoyed it and my hometown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by pianogirl04

How did you like Loyola? My major's sorta up in the air right now and one option I'm entertaining is music therapy -- I would do four years locally and then go to Loyola. I haven't done a ton of research but I've seen that they have music industry/audio engineering classes too. I can handle NOLA in a group, but it's not somewhere I want to get lost in... or try to find a place to park in...

I liked Loyola. I was on the Broadway Campus which is where the Law School is. But, a ton of my friends went to under grad there. They all liked it. The music building is to die for. I used to go and practice piano there. I shoulda practiced some more

[GardenStateGirlie]

Originally Posted by Jessica Leigh

OMG i paid $9.50 for a f*cking pack of cigarettes in atlantic city!!!!!! this drunk guy walked up to me and asked if he could bum a cigarette (you know, social/drinking smokers who bum off of you in public places) and i looked at him and said "dude, i spent $9.50 for this pack" and he goes "oh and you're a smoker? you smoke them?" and i said "yes i SMOKE them" and he walked away sheepishly... i think he was gonna try to hit on me and bumming a cigarette was his way of breaking the ice... but hell no.... when i spend almost 50 cents for each cigarette i'm not gonna give them away to strangers who are occasional smokers!

Girl, in a casino they will screw you even more. Generally they are that expensive here though...maybe a dollar or so less outside of the casino.

[amber]

Originally Posted by Jessica Leigh

OMG i paid $9.50 for a f*cking pack of cigarettes in atlantic city!!!!!! this drunk guy walked up to me and asked if he could bum a cigarette (you know, social/drinking smokers who bum off of you in public places) and i looked at him and said "dude, i spent $9.50 for this pack" and he goes "oh and you're a smoker? you smoke them?" and i said "yes i SMOKE them" and he walked away sheepishly... i think he was gonna try to hit on me and bumming a cigarette was his way of breaking the ice... but hell no.... when i spend almost 50 cents for each cigarette i'm not gonna give them away to strangers who are occasional smokers!

$9.50???!!! is that normal? were the cigs made of gold?!! $9.50!!?

[WelshWitchPMD]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

I still remember your face when you saw the prices here. That? is why people from New Jersey drive to Delaware and buy cartons

Why are they so cheap in Delaware? I remember passing though there on one of my Mac excursions in Sept and my friend was shocked at the price of a carton. This was at a WAWA near Wilmington a really scummy WAWA to boot.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by amber

$9.50???!!! is that normal? were the cigs made of gold?!! $9.50!!?

The dirty little secret about cigs. is most state's treasuries and certainly the Federal Treasury could not run without the revenues collected from cigs. So, although they know they are addictive, they just tax them more. Go figure.

[amber]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

The dirty little secret about cigs. is most state's treasuries and certainly the Federal Treasury could not run without the revenues collected from cigs. So, although they know they are addictive, they just tax them more. Go figure.

Yeah, and that's fine, i'm just shocked. I thought ours were really high, but 9.50 is very, very high. that's 4.50 more than ours.

[AliP]

Originally Posted by Jessica Leigh

. eastern washington (once you get over the cascade mountains) you find a lot of bored people... meth is big... and so is white eyeliner and blue mascara. YIKES!!! to go have ANY fun you either have to travel into spokane (EWW EWW EWWWWW) or over the pass to Seattle (which can be very dangerous in winter) !

Yep, everyone calls Spokane "Spokecompton." Very crime ridden especially for only being around 200,000. But I do like to go there to shop.

[AliP]

Originally Posted by sara1998

\
When I went to Arizona earlier this year, it was the first time I've been further west then Illinois in all of my life. I felt so out of place there. My friend took my daughter and I to a restaurant the first night we were there. I was in a nice T-shirt and blue jeans, and my daughter was dressed the same, (nothing different from how we'd go at home) and we get there and people are dressed in nice shirts and blazers, kahkis, good shoes. Damn, did I feel like a slob. It was some serious culture shock. The people there are so different then us.

Yeah, I felt the same way there. Kind of reminded me of Las Vegas in the way all the girls dressed very prissy and for the most part 'slutty.'

[GardenStateGirlie]

Originally Posted by WelshWitchPMD

Why are they so cheap in Delaware? I remember passing though there on one of my Mac excursions in Sept and my friend was shocked at the price of a carton. This was at a WAWA near Wilmington a really scummy WAWA to boot.

Eh...no offense to anyone living in DE but Wilmington isn't the nicest area. The reason? Delaware has NO SALES TAX AT ALL. People go there so they don't have to pay any tax on the cigarettes. They're much much cheaper there.

[GateandGarden]

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

No - I also LOVE aquariums...though my love for them did become more pronounced when my nephew was born and proved to be a HUGE animal lover - he is so obsessed with animals...and so I've been to an aquarium with him - made me just fall in love with them again - I was completely mesmerized...they're so peaceful and I just love so many water creatures

Originally Posted by pianogirl04

Mardi Gras scares me. It's like an extension of Christmas, one more reason to party. New Orleans is cool as long as I'm in a group. I went last year with my debate team and we went to the Riverwalk and the Aquarium -- I hadn't been there since I was 9 and my gosh, things have changed!! There's so much more there now than there used to be... frogs and petting a sea urchin, among other things... there's so much there now that I can't remember what all of it is. I must say the jellyfish was my ultimate favorite -- and the penguins, of course. I was walking around with three of my teammates, we were all seniors, and for two hours I was eight again, absolutely mesmerized. Over jellyfish. I've still got a pass to the zoo and the aquarium that doesn't expire until August of next year -- I wonder how hard it would be to talk my mom into a road trip... she's wanted to take a tour of a cemetary for a long time now, I'm not so sure I could handle that -- with my luck, I'd get possessed or something

I'm so glad I'm not the only older person who loves going to an aquarium! Last time I went to the Aquarium of the Americas they had nurse sharks you could pet. That was so cool. I have a thing for that lone sawfish, too. He's stuck in the huge tank with all the sharks. There's only one and I always imagine he feels very strange, knowing that he's the only sawfish, and nothing else looks remotely like him. He has a huge, long saw for his nose! I just can't get over how wild that is! Yeah, I'm like an eight-year-old again every time I go there.

Oh, and I am afraid to go into a cemetary over there too, especially at night. I tend to believe the ghost stories and I'm easily scared, so I figure I need to stay far away from that.

Hillary

[jadegypsy]

Ohhh another CA person checking in: First I adore CA especially SF.

Best misconception: ALL of CA is SUNNY! Nope sorry esp. SF it's always foggy, so funny to see tourists running around in sweatshirts saying SF and shorts

Everyone does not speak valley girl, although sometimes it can be contagious...

California does exist north of SF, and no Norther and Southern CA don't go to war every sunday

Oh CA's capital is not SF or LA, ten points to the person who knows what city it is


to GateandGarden: Ever been to Monteray Bay Aquarium? It's awsome!

[amber]

Originally Posted by jadegypsy

Ohhh another CA person checking in: First I adore CA especially SF.

Best misconception: ALL of CA is SUNNY! Nope sorry esp. SF it's always foggy, so funny to see tourists running around in sweatshirts saying SF and shorts

Everyone does not speak valley girl, although sometimes it can be contagious...

California does exist north of SF, and no Norther and Southern CA don't go to war every sunday

Oh CA's capital is not SF or LA, ten points to the person who knows what city it is


to GateandGarden: Ever been to Monteray Bay Aquarium? It's awsome!

Rock! Sacramento. (what do my 10 pts get me?) Monteray Bay Aquarium is great! No, we and the south do not go to war, but we should be separate, they're taking all our water! hehehe. Desert a** mofos...
oh, you forgot - women here have the highest cancer rate. We win!!