1. You’ll Never Find Chocolate Gravy Unless You Make It Yourself
A famous treat around Arkansas, “chocolate gravy” doesn’t really travel. People will look at you like you’re crazy if you even bring it up—until they taste it.
2. Rotary Tiller Racing Isn’t A Sport That Travels
A sport that’s unique to Arkansas, thousands of people in the Natural State head to the PurpleHull Pea Festival every year to check out the World Championship Rotary Tiller Race. Featuring souped-up garden tillers, participants chase these machines down 200 feet of track hoping to get a fast time.
3. No One Will Be There To “Call Those Hogs” With You
If you shout the long “Woooooooooo” don’t expect a “pig” or a “sooie” to echo back. This might be normal in Arkansas, but it will get you some strange looks anywhere else.
4. People Might Find Your Love For Crappie Odd
A fish with a strange name, crappies are a popular source of food around the Natural State. Don’t expect to see them on restaurant menus and at fish frys if you leave. Even just mentioning that you’re “craving some crappie” will get you weird looks.
5. Everyone Underestimates Arkansas
When you mention you’re from Arkansas, get used to people simply shrugging. This is one state that out-of-staters tend to be relatively indifferent to. If only they knew how awesome it really was.
6. No One Will Know Anything About The Natural State
Perhaps people seem like they don’t care about Arkansas simply because they don’t know much about it. It tends to be one of those states that gets skipped over by most Americans when it comes to travel and it’s not in the national news much.
Every American knows that there’s a place called Arkansas and they’ll probably remember that it’s home to Little Rock, but expect their knowledge about the area to stop there.
7. People Probably Won’t Even Know Where Arkansas Is
If you leave Arkansas for another state be prepared to further explain where the Natural State is on the map. Because most Americans haven’t even been through the state, they’ll have a hard time placing it geographically.
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8. Brace Yourself For Some Negative Stereotypes
Despite the fact that most of them are completely in accurate, you can still count on out-of-towners having preconceptions about what someone from Arkansas should be like. People seem to have this opinion that everyone from Arkansas is a backcountry redneck. Sure, there are a few rural parts of the state, but that’s hardly representative of the entire population.
9. Your Accent Will Definitely Get Brought Up
You’ve probably lived your entire life thinking your accent doesn’t really show through—trust me, it does. The Arkansas accent can be most easily described as a Southern dialect comparable to how people sound in Oklahoma or Texas. Don’t let it frustrate you when people constantly bring it up, it’s just a reminder of the awesome place you’re from.
10. You’ll Actually Have To Go Hunting For A Good Float Spot
Home to plenty of awesome creeks and rivers perfect for inner tubes, there’s no better place in the country to grab a few friends and a few beers before sending yourself slowly downstream than in Arkansas.
If you leave the Natural State and tell new friends that you want to go floating, they’ll probably have no clue what you’re even talking about.
11. Expect People To Pronounce Arkansas Wrong
It’s “Are-Can-Saw”, not “Ar- Kansas.” Believe it or not, people will still occasionally get this wrong.
12. “Coke” Will Probably Get You Coca-Cola
While Arkansans use the term “coke” as a blanket word for all soft drinks, most other parts of the country use either “pop” or “soda”. If an Arkansan says they want a “coke” in these areas, they’ll get exactly that.
13. Tea Isn’t Always Super Sweet And Ice Cold
The southern states are famous for their ice cold sweet tea, but the further north you go, the less likely this is to be the case. If you order a tea out, expect a tiny cup filled piping hot, unsweetened liquid.
14. Gunshots Won’t Be So Familiar
There are tons of gun owners in Arkansas and tons of people that go hunting on a regular basis. If you’re in the more rural areas, hearing a gunshot in the distance isn’t quite so strange. In the rest of the country, gunshots in the distance tend to be a bit more shocking.
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15. You’ll Probably Be Able To Buy Booze On Sunday
One of only a few states that still won’t allow booze sales on Sunday, chances are that wherever you’re headed after Arkansas will be totally cool with it. No longer will you be sent into a panic when you run out of booze during the Super Bowl.
16. Most People Are Totally Missing Out On The Ozarks
The coolest natural feature of the Natural State, the Ozarks provided breathtaking views in every direction making them great for hikes. No one you meet outside the state will really be able to comprehend how beautiful they are. That’s just more of a reason to bring them back for a visit though.
17. Bring That Deep Fryer With You
If Arkansas was up for a new nickname, the “deep-fried capital of America” might be in the running. From veggies to meats to desserts, everything gets tossed in piping hot oil in the Natural State. If you’re moving somewhere that’s a little more health conscious, finding great fried food might be more of a struggle.
18. You’ll Start Fearing Deer Less
Driving in Arkansas means you must constantly be on the lookout for roadside animals. Not only can hitting them damage your car, wrecks can quickly turn into a very dangerous situation for everyone involved. If you’re leaving Arkansas, you probably won’t have to worry about deer crossing your path quite so much.
19. No One Will Believe Snipes Are Real
A relatively common bird in Arkansas, snipes are known for being very hard to shoot. In fact, they’re so hard to shoot that locals coined the word “sniper” as a result of the skill required to take one of them down. Most states only know of a “snipe” as an imaginary creature that they’ll send the naïve searching for when there’s not much else entertainment on a warm summer night.
20. “Supper” Tends To Confuse Most Americans
In Arkansas, midday meal is often called dinner and the nighttime meal is called supper. These terms don’t travel far from the south. Saying you’re eating dinner around lunch time is sure to confuse.
21. You’ll Probably Save A Lot On Bug Spray
If there’s one complaint that could be made about Arkansas, it would be about all the mosquitos constantly on the hunt for new victims. Thankfully, these winged creatures don’t plague the entire country. Forgetting the bug spray won’t cause the same level of panic in most places.
22. You’ll Miss Arkansas A Lot More Than You Thought You Would
The saying “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” definitely comes into play when you’re talking about leaving Arkansas. It’s full of beautiful scenery, great people, and deliciously awesome comfort food. That’s pretty hard to beat.
No matter how hard you try to explain how awesome Arkansas is to new friends, they won’t believe you, but no matter how far you get from the Natural State, Arkansas will always have a special place in your heart.
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