Tuesday, 31 March 2009

• Southern Hospitality is Not Just a Myth!

  

  After spending a week in the south, I've decided that "southern hospitality" is not just a myth, or something that you see in the movies.  In fact, southern hospitality is the number one reason why I love the south so much more now.

  From opening doors to pulling out chairs, the strangers in the south are just generally kinder than the strangers I've encountered in the north, specifically the Tri-State Area.  Their southern "twang" is only an extra step that makes them seem so much nicer, moving the traditional "You're Welcome" to a "Why you're so welcome, miss!"

  One of the greatest things that happened while in the south occurred in Savannah, Georgia on St. Patrick's Day.  As I wrote previously in another post, St. Patrick's Day in Savannah is the second biggest St. Patty's Day parade in America, so the imagination can only stretch to believe just how crazy the streets of this city get.  In desperation, my friends and I were looking for a cheap taxi to get from our hotel to the parade, and bumped into this man driving his own car titled "the Shamrock Shuttle."

  Jay, the driver, was driving around the city waiting for kids and tourists alike to flag him down for a ride.  The traditional taxi was costing about $40 each way, while he was only charging $10 - which was such an incredible steal, we couldn't pass up getting in the car with this stranger.  Not only did he get us there and back safely, he gave us mini tours - taking us pass Forsyth Park
  

  

  
  
  ...and spots where scenes from the movie Forrest Gump were filmed (picture of the park and distant bench here).

  

  He told us of all the hot spots in Savannah where tourists and young adults would be.

  Now when was the last time you had a polite taxi driver in New York City?

  Along with being the best tour guide I'd ever had, he called me several times that night to make sure that our group of five were all together and safe, being that the streets grew in its craziness as the sun began to set.  Once it was all said and done, he even called and thanked us for our patronage and said that he "hoped to see ya'll soon."

  If he wasn't the perfect example of a southern gentleman, then I don't know what is!

  Have you ever gone on vacation to find that a popular belief about that place was actually true?  Have you ever wanted to go back somewhere just based on how the people acted?

  • 1:13 PM
  • 732 Views
  • 36 eProps
  • 17 Comments