Let's laugh at ourselves in the Great State of Tennessee!

My oldest daughter brought this to me and it made me laugh! Thought that I would share for kicks...

1. Nashville isn’t the birthplace of country music, okay?
Bristol gave birth to the genre in 1927. Nashville just had the show that made it famous.

2. And believe it or not, we’re more than just twang.
The Allman Brothers, Johnny Cash, Kings of Leon, Paramore, The Black Keys, Jack White’s Third Man Records, Blackbird Studio, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Bessie Smith, B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, Ike Turner, Jerry Lee Lewis, Aretha Franklin, Charlie Rich — you can thank Tennessee for each and every one of them.

3. We’re not all homophobic, racist rednecks that bleed red, white, and blue.
Not saying you won’t see a few beer guts hanging out of Bud Lit- stained white tanks with Confederate flag tattoos faded against farmers’ tans here and there; but don’t act surprised when you meet a Tennessean who happens to not be that person you graduated with 8 years ago who only posts pictures of skinning hogs on Facebook and backward articles with the caption “I’m not racist, but…”

4. That being said, yeah, we are pretty Conservative.
You see that tiny little blue dot in a sea of red? That would be Memphis.

5. If there’s a chance of flurries, don’t go to the grocery store.
It’s like a scene from World War Z.

6. You just think you’re a bada$$ when it comes to spicy chicken.
Shut the cluck up with that one. Nashville will slam your taste bud’s pride with its notorious slap your mama Hot Chicken that will make you wish you had never bitched about places not making food spicy enough for you.

7. The first friday of every August is kind of like The Purge.
We’ve got one of the highest sales tax in the country, so when Tax Free Weekend rolls around and we can buy certain items with zero sales tax, excuse us for going a little psycho.

8. Yes, we really like our Civil War reenactments here.
Some Tennesseans just can’t let that one go.

9. You may need to drive to the bordering county — or state — to get alcohol. Get used to it.
On Sundays, you can buy beer — but not wine or liquor — after 12 pm. Liquor sales on any other day end by 11 pm. That is, unless you live in a county where the bars close earlier than 3 am, which means that beer sales stop when the bars close. And then you’ve got 26 out of Tennessee’s 95 counties being completely dry — including the one where Jack Daniel’s is distilled.

Screw it. Just start making moonshine. Speaking of which…

10. Moonshine is a real thing here.
Don’t worry — you don’t have to be a mountain hermit to enjoy some moonshine in a variety of flavors like peach, blackberry cobbler, apple pie, and pumpkin spice. But you do have to drink it out of a mason jar; that’s required.

11. We don’t want to hear your childhood treehouse story.
Because we can guarantee that your treehouse wasn’t a 97-foot tall structure made up of 80 rooms with porch decks, a church that doubles as a basketball court, and a bell tower, all fastened by 258,000 nails like the one built by Horace Burgess in Crossville, Tennessee.

LINK TO TREEHOUSE

12. You don’t need sauce to make barbeque ribs darn good.
Unless you like it wet, your slow-cooked ribs should be covered in a dry rub of salt and various spices and paired with three vegetable sides to get your daily meat and three in. And yes, mac n’ cheese is totally a vegetable.

13. We root for the Denver Broncos.
But only for Peyton Manning.

^^^^THIS one made me LOL because it is SOOOOOO true!

14. It’s perfectly normal if a total stranger invites you to church.
And no matter how weird or off putting you may find this, it’s actually meant to be a nice gesture.

15. Everything should have an egg on it.
Biscuits, BLTs, pizza, pulled-pork sandwiches, salads, soups, pasta, more eggs, whatever. It all tastes better with a fried egg thrown on top.

16. Roadkill is totally okay to eat.
Because feasting on flattened fauna is totally legal here.

^^^Believe it or not, I work with a guy who was "homeless" for years and ate roadkill. He can tell you what to eat, when to eat it, and how to prepare it with limited resources!

17. Not every lake is above ground.
The Craighead Caverns, located between Sweetwater and Madisonville, is famous for the United States’ largest — and the world’s second largest — non-subglacial underground lake.

LINK TO CRAIGHEAD CAVERNS

18. That vegetarian dish you just ordered probably has meat in it.
“Yeah sure it’s vegetarian! I mean, it’s made with chicken stock and there’s bacon in it, but it’s a green bean casserole!”

19. Tennessee whiskey is better than any other whiskey you’ve been privy to.
And it’s is definitely not the same thing as Bourbon.

The old man's favorite has always been Crown Royal...so...not sure how accurate that is...
I don't prefer bourbon or whiskey or anything brown...

As a KC resident, I take issue with the rib comment. I live in the same city with some of the best ribs in the nation - consistent top 5, usually top 3. And St. Louis has two of the others. I've eaten them personally. They do not need sauce and do not come with it.

I don't recall any Tennessee pretenders to best ribs being on those lists I've perused. Y'all's claim to mighty fine BBQ comes in other areas.

But, yes, Memphis BBQ is its own style.

a reply to: TNMockingbird

As a fellow Tennessean, I certainly appreciate some of these!! And some of them had me rolling

True story --- I'm not originally from here, and I can't imagine how I spent almost 20 (TWENTY!) years of my life being deprived of some of the best food in the country. TN truly has "something for everyone". Unfortunately, my Dr. doesn't share my enthusiasm (or my 25 extra lbs!)....

originally posted by: ketsuko
As a KC resident, I take issue with the rib comment. I live in the same city with some of the best ribs in the nation - consistent top 5, usually top 3. And St. Louis has two of the others. I've eaten them personally. They do not need sauce and do not come with it.

I don't recall any Tennessee pretenders to best ribs being on those lists I've perused. Y'all's claim to mighty fine BBQ comes in other areas.

But, yes, Memphis BBQ is its own style.

Memphis is the official "Bar-B-Que Capital of the world" after all... KC has "Ok" ribs. Doesn't beat Memphis' though....

tee hehhehe......

a reply to: justme2

Joe's KC and Bogart's in St. Louis say otherwise, and then there is Pappy's ... also in St. Louis. I've eaten at two of them and had the ribs. The only place ranked better is in Georgia.

a reply to: TNMockingbird
Once upon a time there was a tiny little block building that had once been a gas station. An old black man named Henry had converted the service station to a BBQ shack. It was just a walk-up affair with a couple of picnic tables outside. It was just across the Kentucky line in Tennessee, near the town of Adams. We stumbled upon it when our car overheated and we went looking for water.
That was hands-down the best BBQ I'd ever eaten, especially the ribs. For many years, if we were heading to Nashville, we made sure to stop by and say Hello to Henry and have some of his cookin'. Then, one spring we stopped and found it abandoned. I sat there in the car and cried. We drove into the town and asked around. Sure enough, Henry had passed but we found his grave and added some flowers and our sincere thanks for all the good food and his good cheer.
RIP Mr. Henry.

originally posted by: TNMockingbird
19. Tennessee whiskey is better than any other whiskey you’ve been privy to.
And it’s is definitely not the same thing as Bourbon.

The old man's favorite has always been Crown Royal...so...not sure how accurate that is...
I don't prefer bourbon or whiskey or anything brown...

THis Canuck was going to have an issue with that but it's not my fault if you don't listen to your Pa. Try this new one.

As to Tenn. I wouldn't make fun of them anymore. Seems like the Titans are actually serious about football again.

I'll tell you this about ribs. Love em. Cook em. Buy em in pubs..... in Canada. I had ribs in western NY that blew away anything I had ever eaten. You guys got this one. Shake hands and smoke those ribs.

a reply to: TNMockingbird

Also, if you're driving down the road and you notice giant flashing neon buildings the size of walmart, no it's not a casino, It's just a fireworks stand.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: justme2

Joe's KC and Bogart's in St. Louis say otherwise, and then there is Pappy's ... also in St. Louis. I've eaten at two of them and had the ribs. The only place ranked better is in Georgia.

Star for just the Georgia acknowledgment , You got that right......The ribs from the others , just pretenders to the throne.

a reply to: TNMockingbird

Now you went and made me all homesick!!!

AGH! I miss my mountains......Chattanooga girl from birth, and too long away!

If they'd fix the gun and home school laws, I'd move back!

...and does Memphis really count as being part of the state?

a reply to: TNMockingbird

I'm relocating to Tennessee in the next couple of years...

Thanks for the tutorial!!

a reply to: TNMockingbird

Sooo true this list, I love my state!!!

originally posted by: TNMockingbird
19. Tennessee whiskey is better than any other whiskey you’ve been privy to.
And it’s is definitely not the same thing as Bourbon.

It actually is if made with a 51% or higher corn mash bill (and a few other requirements).

a reply to: diggindirt

Don't get me wrong. I have in-laws in Nashville, so I have a small amount of familiarity with their scene and they do some great BBQ, just in other areas. And they do have good ribs, too, just not Joe's or Pappy's ribs.

Like I would never, ever say that KC beats Texas for brisket. Nashville/Memphis have their things. They also have hot chicken. And Nashville has a lovely food scene.

a reply to: ketsuko
We probably all just like whatever style we grew up eating. What I can say for sure is that I've found the best BBQ isn't usually found in the swanky joints but the little shacks along side the road. I keep my eyes peeled for those places!


When our neighbors (and best friends) moved to Indiana their biggest complaint was that they couldn't find "real" BBQ that hadn't been drowned in sauce. They would load up on Q when they came home for visits. Then, one fine she called and said, "It's wonderful---absolutely wonderful. I was at the garden store today and smelled BBQ. I followed my nose and found a real BBQ joint in a trailer!" The guy doing the Q was from Tennessee, Texas and Kentucky, had learned from people in all those states.