Tourists to America tend to go to New York, California and Texas, like these guys, and think they saw America. Wyoming, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, New Mexico, etc. are so different than those places. It is a pity so few wander far from the coast, there is a lot in the interior.
In Texas, they just go the large cities like Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. Which is a poor representation of Texas. They don't see the piney woods of East Texas, the beaches of South Padre Island, Palo Duro Canyon or the Blue Bonnets in bloom in the hill country in Central Texas. There are other places in Texas and also the fly over states that are amazing.
Completely agree.68 year old Ohioan here and most of the places these European reaction people always seem to go to,I wouldn't step foot in.As beautiful as California is/was,the place has turned so disgusting.New York city,never.Upstate NY,different story,like the finger lakes,Cooperstown,West Point.Love Texas,except for Austin,yuck.Would love to see these guys go to middle America where the real people that made this country live.Merry Christmas.
America is so huge and varied, it's not possible to see the whole country in one vacation so most people go for the more well-known places. The reverse is also true when Americans visit foreign countries. For instance, most Americans go to London in England, but not to other parts of the country that are fantastic but aren't as well known to Americans.
Im glad you hit on the cultural differences in between states and regions. I think a lot of folks here, and overseas forget how much different areas of the US is culturally.
It’s weird how Europeans say that “Americans don’t have culture” but then they turn around and have our American culture in stores, festivals, and theme parks…
Yeah, this one ticks me off. We have tons of culture of all kinds. We have operas, art, and museums, etc. for that type of culture. We also have modern culture which is the movie, fashion, and music type. If they don’t think we have any culture, then they should stop copying us. Besides, that comment is insulting. They should learn some manners and stop saying it.
America has a culture. We have a commercial culture. We have Costco and Walmart. We also have Hollywood and blues/jazz/rock n roll. We have bluegrass and country western. We have hot rods. We have surfing and skateboarding. We have cowboys. We have burgers and fried chicken. We have an egalitarianism that makes all creditworthy college grads socially identical. America has a culture. Miss me with this “opera and ballet” crap: those are European cultural things our wealthiest adopted at some point.
@@BillLaBrie I agree with you about adopting European culture as far as opera and ballet, etc. My point was we absolutely DO have those things though. And, there are "high brow" American composers, artists, etc., as well. Love that you mentioned cowboys. I'm in Texas and there are real cowboys in my family.
really happy you enjoyed your visit . I'm 64 and have seen exactly 25 percent of the nation . doubt if I see all of it before I die . Life happens fast when you work and raise a family
The size of the U.S. is why most of us don’t have passports. We can go from tropical islands to the arctic without one. Driving from NYC to Miami would be the same as driving from Copenhagen to Naples. It’s a long trip, even by our standards.
I disagree. Rather than the size, I think it's more the cost of trans-Atlantic travel and food/lodging in western Europe. It's really more than a lot of middle class Americans can afford or, at least, they'd rather spend their money on "stuff" (durable goods, cars etc).
I never fully understood this until my hubby and I spent a week in June there for our honeymoon. Had just come from a week in Bermuda where it was sunny and hot and thought, oh California so hot. Wrong! I remember looking out the window of our hotel and seeing ppl walking around in winter coats. Got stuck out one night in a sundress. Was freezing until a kind cablecar operator let us board for a ride back to our hotel even though our tickets had expired. I will always have fond, lovely memories of the City by the Bay. Heard a lot has changed in 40 years. So sad. Such a lovely place.
@@CynVee Yup - I grew up in the Bay Area; lived there for nearly 50 years. Being on the tip of peninsula next a vast ocean with high winds and generally cold temperatures, SF gets some... unique... weather. 😋 I'm always amused by people visiting California and thinking "Oh, it's a sunny and warm place" (which to be fair, it often can be)... and then they think the ocean will be equally comfortable. Wrong - the Pacific is friggin' _cold_ along the West coast!!!
Man, isn’t that the truth! I much prefer to be out in below freezing with sun and low wind to a damp, chilly, overcast and windy 35! That dampness makes your bones cold, even when you are dressed for it.
I love to hear about my country from the experiences of foreigners coming here. I am SO glad that your visit here was a happy one! If there is one sentence that can truly sum up how we feel about people, our own people and people visiting from other lands is this: we share a lot more in common than not. Another thing I ALWAYS suggest is on your next visit (yes - one day you will visit us again) that you explore our heartland, the interior of our country to find the hidden cultures that travelogues rarely tell you about. One final thought: we have our own pre-conceived ideas about Britain, too. Not sure I will ever get to visit the UK in person but I would look for all the same things you found here! :) Merry Christmas from Colorado
The word "barbecue" is used in 2 different ways here. Barbecue (or BBQ) is a style of slow cooking meat. But if someone invites you to a backyard barbecue, that'll be what you might call grilling. Austin actually has one of the country's most vibrant music scenes. You must have missed it.
BBQ, for sure has multiple definitions. It can be a way of cooking, the food that is cooked in that way, or an event. A noun or a verb. It can also be the grill (the bbq) that is used to bbq the bbq at the bbq. LOL context is everything.
Yeah we was on the outskirts of Austin at cedar park. The day we was meant to head tot the capitol building etc there was protests and with a 6 month old we thought best avoid that :D
I live in Pierre, South Dakota. I never really thought about it but we tend to measure drive distances in hours as opposed to miles. For example; Rapid City is a 3 hour drive. Sioux Falls is a 3 1/2 hour drive.
I actually commented about this in another video and someone got mad at me, but moving here from Canada, I HATE that. People from the States can't even think in distance-it's like it doesn't compute
We have a large nation, so much so that when Europeans are surprised many Americans don't travel abroad, it is important to know how much of America many of us have travelled. I have been to California, Washington State, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, New York and Idaho. All of this from New Jersey. Also travelled to Canada (Montreal and Toronto. And these were real visits, not just pass throughs.
The ability to connect and communicate with others across the world through the internet is really something special. Thanks for taking interest in our country! Greetings from the USA!
As an American born and bred (with European/English ancestors who came over to this country almost at its beginning), I love this country and love hearing some of my 'long lost relatives' from England tell their stories. Thank you for visiting; please come back any time for another visit!
People consider our history starting when Europeans began conquering and settling the land. There are some freaking cool Native American history that dates back thousands of years, even pre stone henge, just for perspective.
I would also point out that Europe has packed a lot of history into a long period of time, while North America has packed a lot of history into a short period of time. I'm not discounting Native American history, but pointing out that our current culture _including_ Native American culture has packed probably just as much change and interesting stuff in 500 years as Europe has in 1000. For good or bad.
@@tarmaque and then the Mayans, the natives they just found in the Amazon, a new tribe. No contact with Europeans . So which is older? Seems like we have much to relearn!
When it comes to culture, I think the saying that America is a melting pot is true. Sub cultures here abound. We have a lot of ethnic diversity and mixing of cultures, which results in traditional cultures being passed down (ex: my parents are first gen Americans from Holland, so I grew up with a lot of Dutch foods and traditions. Having those immigrant influences on families is very, very common here.). We also have regional cultures in the US (southern vs North Eastern, Vs PNW, etc). Those regional cultures can be rich and deep. For example, a visit to New Orleans, LA, going to be a completely different experience that of the Bronx in New York. You are right that there can be differences within states, as well. And don’t forget about indigenous cultures, with tribes all across the country, with their own histories, languages, foods, and traditions that go back far longer than the formation of the USA. I love how much you enjoyed your visit, and hope you will be able to come back soon. Come see us here in the Pacific Northwest! It’s beautiful!
People in Europe mock us Americans because we don't have passports. Most Europeans don't realize however that traveling by air from NYC to Dallas is roughly the equivalent of traveling from London to Moscow. We don't need passports. If we want to go to another country we just fly to San Francisco.
@@BTinSF Actually, it's more a matter of rural vs. urban, than region. There are plenty of Californians not very far from SF that have the same opinion.
Let's go country by country and look at raw numbers and not percentages. As of 2024, approximately 165 to 170 Million U.S. Citizens have a passport while only about 51 million Brits have one. Go country by country and I'd bet that more Americans hold a passport than those other countries citizens.
@@Hillbilly001 With the new laws? You are a beast! lol I have gone from Boston to St Augustine in under 24 without sleep though timed it perfectly through N.Y.C. and D.C.. lol Back in the mid 80's
@kevingouldrup9265 There were quite a few places out west that I didn't exactly go speed limit. LOL! In places like West Texas, Eastern New Mexico and the northern route through Arizona I kinda opened her up a little. If I had to go through the northern tier, Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana I really opened her up. Especially Montana. Back in the day they had an implied limit. 90+ mph in those large straight open roads were nothing. I owned a Peterbilt 379 with a Cat 425 and a 15 speed tranny. She had unlimited fuel pressure and a buck and a quarter was about the fastest I got her going, but I still had 4.500 rpm left. She would have gone faster, but it got rather scary past 95. LOL! Only did it a couple of times, mainly to prove to another knothead that she would stroll down the road. Most of the time I was just 10 or so over speed limit, unless I could goad a 4 wheeler into being my rabbit and I had heard on the breeze that a bear was taking pictures. LOL! Make the rabbit run and get the ticket, then the road is open for a stroll. LOL!!!! Trucker tricks and a pinhead in a fast 4 wheeler falls for it every time. LOL!!! We had the 10/8 rule back then, but you can't make money like that so running a couple of comic books was what you had to do. Just remember which log you're on and it'll be ok. LOL!!
As an American, it makes me laugh so hard to hear "we don't really learn about you we learn about our own" and realize "oh British schools don't teach about American independence because they lost that fight." LOL!
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) once stated, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." Come visit New England if you wish to see the British influence on early America.
I'm a native born and raised in Kansas City, living today on the west coast. Barbecue is a regional phenomenon, differing in style between regions, and for such regions, a religion. Hope you were well-treated during your visit. There are places in the US that won't automatically happen.
I’m American, I grew up in Pennsylvania. Of course, without a doubt, I love American food. However, my ancestors are from Poland. So I grew up with a Polish grandma and grandpa and to this day, Polish food is one of my favorite foods!
I'm in Oklahoma and my sister is five hours south of me in northern Texas. And that five hours makes me go, "Ah, it's just a hop skip and a jump, no problem. Can visit all the time. Isn't it great that we live so close?" The reason I think that is because she lived in Oregon before she moved to Texas, and that's a three day car ride from Oklahoma.
There are multiple styles of barbecue, not just Texas barbecue. There is also a North Carolina style... in fact, in the Carolinas, you might be asked, "Would you like some barbecue?" You might think, "Barbecue what??" In the Carolinas, a style of barbecued pork is called simply "barbecue." And there are other barbecue styles around the US.
There's Carolina barbecue- vinegar based and there's Kansas city barbecue that's way sweeter, and then there's 6,000 other versions. But if you must try BBQ, try Carolina, Kansas and Texas first. Kinda like pizza. NY pizza, Chicago pizza and well I'm sure there's another popular variety... thin vs deep dish
we are the great melting pot of vast cultures. Like so many have discovered with the shear size we are like many countries inside a country. To be American is an ideal, I cannot move to Japan and become Japanese but if you move here you can become American. Merry Christmas and the Happiest of Holidays
I immigrated to the USA from Greece in 1960. The best way I describe America is that it represents the United Nations better than the UN itself! People from everywhere in the world living peacefully together!
Going from Salt Lake City to Moab where Arches National Park takes about 4 hours none stop. Going from Utah to Oklahoma, IF you take no breaks and a designated route could be completed in 24 which intently enough is the same time sans stops it would take to drive from the state of Washington to Utah, according to a former truck driver I know.
In most large cities you can get authentic food from around the US. For example, you can get Texas barbecue in Chicago, NYC pizza in Los Angeles and Chicago hot dogs in Dallas. Restaurants have franchised across the country and chefs have taken their talents to other cities in search of new opportunities.
I have found that it’s easier to get great regional food from an individual restaurant opened by a chef/cook from the region. Chains, while OK, often aren’t as good IMO. Some of the best Cajun food I’ve had is from a particular restaurant in Seattle!
There's an outfit called Goldbelly (Google it) on the internet that ships food from all America's most popular, iconic or simply best known restaurants around the country. It isn't cheap though.
@@pacmanc8103 I'm a regular at a place called Brenda's French Soul Food (which is actual Cajun/Creole as is Brenda) in San Francisco. Having been to New Orleans multiple times, though, I will not go so far as to say that any Cajun food I've had outside south Louisiana is "the best". IMHO regional cuisines are always best in the place of their birth but are often enough copied well enough elsewhere.
Brits are not alone in not appreciating the size of the USA. What's funny to me as an American is that y'all don't seem to use Google Maps. All you have to do is plug in New York City and Dallas, and it will tell you it's 1549 miles and 24 hours of just driving.
@@joec0914 you are so right! The ignorance is not always with us. To me European attitudes like that are a lot like communicating with our old people about how to use the remote control. Kind of sweet but aggravating too.
Because the US is such a melting pot, our culture is constantly changing. I live in Minnesota. We used to be mostly northern European in culture until the 70s. Now we have the largest Hmong and Somali populations in the US as well as a growing Mexican population. Most of the Hmong population is centered around St Paul, whereas most of the Somali population is centered around Minneapolis and St Cloud.
In less than 30 minutes I can drive to food from every European and Asian and South American country. We have 3 from Africa. 30 minutes and I can eat food eaten by like 85% of the planet. We have so much food and we love it and food is culture. It leads to learning and friendships. Then someone decides to blend and you get weird but wonderful asian mexocan fusion restaurants.
Non-Americans might be surprised that most of us, at least here in New England, don't talk publicly about whether we own firearms. It's one of those impolite subjects, like religion, politics, and child-rearing advice. Even among some friends and family, I don't know who does and does not own any.
Kind of like how I carry one most everywhere I go... but in most instances nobody would ever know. It's not important that anyone know, unless it's "in the gravest extreme". Otherwise it's just a heavy and vaguely annoying weight on my belt under my coat/shirt.
I understand why you wouldn't go around advertising that you were carrying to strangers, but why wouldn't it come up with your friends and family in the same way you would talk about getting a new car or entertainment system or golf clubs? Is it a New England thing? Afraid that if it were to be known that you have a gun, people might assume (either falsely or correctly) you vote Republican or sonething and therefore shun you?
@@hanng1242 Because it's not like getting a new car or an entertainment system or golf clubs. The topic is more likely to be avoided when you know the friend or relative supports the other political party. Except for one uncle, the people in my life would rather not have pointless arguments that change the minds of nobody.
@@hanng1242 I put gun ownership in the same category as your income, your sex life and other private things. My dad owned guns and belonged to a shooting club and he hunted so obviously he talked about the guns with people who appreciated them to the same degree and in the same way. For me, they are just admirable pieces of workmanship and nobody really needs to know what I have and what I don't. As a matter of fact, I do usually vote Republican (although a registered Democrat), and my friends and family either know or suspect that--I'd much rather talk to them about it. But I live in a very liberal city (SF)--so liberal that it's rare to have a Republican candidate in local elections so the real election is the Democratic primary (hence why I registered Democrat). They drove the last gun shop out of town years ago. Who knows if they might try to confiscate guns one day (the make-up of the Supreme Court would likely have to change but stranger things have happened)? Just like I wouldn't wear a MAGA hat (it would be asking for trouble), I don't see any reason to have it known that I do or don't own a gun.
On the size and distance thing, I'm originally from St. Louis, Missouri, but we lived in Stockport, England for a short time in the late 70's. I remember my grandmother coming to visit us, and she and my mom went on some sort of a day trip with a group on a coach - less than two hours away (Yorkshire, I think, but can't remember for sure) - and some of the others remarked that they couldn't believe my mom was making her 80-year-old mother endure this long coach ride! 😄 After we moved back to the States, my grandmother would routinely come to visit us in our new home - 6 hours away in Iowa. 😊 Also, my dad drove me 4 hours to Wisconsin to see Adam Ant in concert.
You should travel to the True Midwest (small/rural towns throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio) and explore what we have to offer.
People all over the world have brought their foods and recipes to America.. Italian, Polish,German, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Chinese, Mediterranean, Jewish.. etc.
Night before last we had pizza(Americanized Italian) and wings. Last night we had Tex-Mex. Tonight, leftover Tex-Mex. Tomorrow we're having Japanese/Chinese.Just your typical American diversified diet
Only 4? 😂 You can look at it as every state is like its own country size wise. Also don't forget to try the sauces and condiments they help to bring the entire meal together.
California has so many microclimates, especially closer to the coast, that weather is insane. Where I used to live, summers were routinely twenty degrees warmer inland just twenty miles. However, once last year, the temperature between two weather stations (one in the city where I lived and one a mere ten miles away) had a 50 degree difference at the same time.
To be fair, most Americans are like most people everywhere, we eat meals at home and cook pretty boring meals most of the time except for special occasions. We often eat out is real restaurants and fast food tends to be more if you need a quick lunch or breakfast and not as much for dinner.
My British friends call anything cooked outside on a grill barbecue. Barbecue in the United States is a very specific kind of highly spiced smokey meat often cooked for hours that varies greatly by region.
Americans always have bbq and its burgers. We call everything cooked outside bbq because it’s on a grill. I know Americans who don’t eat real bbq meat and can’t describe it.
American here. We call barbecue anything grilled outside, too. It doesn’t have to be smoked a long time. If you want to refer to a long time smoked barbecue, then you could say, “smoked barbecue,” “Texas barbecue,” etc.
In Texas, and most of the South, barbecue fits that definition. A few politicians get accused every election cycle of being carpetbaggers for conflating grilling and “barbecue”. Outside the South, grilling and barbecue are synonyms. Closed grill, semi smoked grilled chicken is one of my favorites. Marinated in red wine, soy sauce, garlic, and fresh ginger.
At 15 , I left home in rural Alabama and moved to New York City on my own .It was like moving to another planet where they almost spoke the same language .My family has been in America for more than 400 years , I am 14th generation American and because I'm old , there are 3 more generations after me , so 17 generations here and on my Cherokee branch , who knows how many .
You can visit the 4 corners of any US state and find completely differnt types of peoples, cultures and language dialects. If you go to the "touristy" spots of America... NY - NYC, California - LA, San Diego, San Francisco etc, Texas-Houston, Austin, Florida- Miami, Key West, Tampa, and then hit the off-the-trail places into the low country, or in the mountains, or the smaller "big" cities, you will find so much diversity, flavor and temperature differences! Fast foods are a'plenty here, but the mom-n-pop places are definitely the BEST (and typically better cost value too!). I think it's great you got to try a variety of US commerical things from a real big Walmart and Chick-fil-A to other places like Cracker Barrel... but next trip you should focus on a region. Like the south (east, west, or mid), the north (new england or like north of say ohio), find ya a coastal place that is only a few hours from the mountains... beach one day and hike natures beauty the next. Search for the vibes you want: More high speed or slowed down and laid back. Also, 90% of America is thankfully NOT like Hollywood or NYC lol. New York alone is way more than just that "little" city area! Hahahahahaha We might be Young in the scheme of the world as a nation, but we have the melting pot of diversity. Really enjoy seeing and hearing outside perspectives!
Another thing to think about "history" is Britain's current form of government was formed in the early 1700s, the United States, the late 1700s. If you're going to assume a country's history only goes as far back as when the current government was formed then Britain's not that much older and many European countries are younger. If you mean human history on either continent, North American human history goes back tens-of-thousands of years. It didn't start when Britain colonized the continent, but some people seem to think that's the only history that counts.
The vast majority of Americans have no idea that the oldest city in America is St. Augustine, Florida--1565. The east coast completely forgets all the conquistadors and the indigenous tribes and all that happened out west, long before Plymouth Rock in 1620 or Jamestown in 1607.
Great Britain is slightly larger in terms of square area than Oregon, and it is about the length of Florida. The area of the USA (including Alaska) is about equal to that of Europe.
I’m a Chicagoan, but if you drive 3 or 4 hours to parts of southern Illinois the people have true southern accents. It’s always surprising to me, one state and many accents.
Why do people have a problem with larger sizes? No one's forcing you to consume all of it. Just like Americans, you're free to eat as much OR as little as you like. Do British restaurants require all customers consume their mean entirely before allowing them to leave or something?
MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR! One thing I found most foreigners don't realize is that each state has its own laws. weed is a good example. it's legal in some states and illegal in others. Tax and Gun laws also differ greatly from state to state.
@@goldfieldgary I agree they probably won't. but the point I was trying to make was that you can't make blanket statements about America, assuming the same rules apply everywhere.
@@brendawalters3728 True, but if one conducts oneself in a reasonable manner, you're not likely to be arrested anywhere in the US. No police department wants an unlawful arrest lawsuit.
I live in Minnesota and have a friend in Texas, a cousin in Puerto Rico and a daughter in California. I have to think in terms of time zones any time i want to communicate with them. My cousin is 2 hours earlier than me, my friend is 1 hour later, and my daughter is 2 hours later.
Quesadillas are easy to make if you have tortillas. Tortillas are easy to make if you can’t get them. Might be a fun project for Millie, James, and Vickie to make a huge amount of tortillas and freeze a lot of them so you can make quesadillas, enchiladas, burritos, etc. Millie might not be that into cooking (also time to cook is harder working and having a toddler plus filming time) but at least gringo style microwave quesadillas are easy enough for Millie to make quickly for Archie as a snack or for meals.
@@CKaffeineIVStat that is a great idea. And they make good party food cut in wedges. Vickie mentioned she likes to take small sized treats to gatherings. Making fresh salsa or guac to go with it would also be a good thing. They seem to like a little heat.
By 1500 Europeans were poking around the Americas with some settlements. By 1600 you see functional communities. Where I live there are some grave markers going back to the early/mid 1600s. The thing is history followed the expansion of America, so on the East Coast and Southwest you see the oldest remnants of colonization.
If you want to drive from the Dallas/Fort Worth area and head to the northern tip of the panhandle of Texas, or if you want to drive from the same area, down to the southern tip of Texas to Corpus Christi, it is a 12-hour drive, either way. I don't think many Texans even blink at a 4-hour trip.
Really enjoyed your take on the US. Sure laughed when you got to SF. “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” Mark Twain(apocryphal) I live 3-4 hrs from SF near Redding, CA. it can be 64F in SF and 120F in Redding at the same time. no exageration, our summers are so hot. SF weather is unique even from Oakland, which is just across the bridge. Merry Christmas! Next time you come, try Kansas City bbq, totally different. St Louis has it's own bbq, and so does Tennessee. KC is my personal favorite, but I wouldn't turn down the others.
I live in downtown SF and, before I retired, worked in Concord. I took BART (commuter rail) to and from work. It was common, on a summer afternoon, to be in the mid-90s (F) in Concord and the upper 60s (F) at home in SF.
Go to places like CHARLESTON, S Carolina; SAVANNA, Georgia; WILMINGTON, N.Carolina,; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Santa Barbara, CALF.,;Saint Augustine, Florida; CAMBRIA, Calf; PALM BEACH, Fla;
And swear before you go that no fast or chain food will pass your lips--you will eat strictly in locally owned and run places. There are guide books that will give you recommendations as will the people at your lodging or, finally, Yelp (a web site where people critique restaurants). Or you might binge on the TV show, "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" before leaving home.
@@ct6852 As are small towns (especially college towns) in New England; places around the Chesapeake like Easton and Cambridge, MD; Nashville, Key West (and the rest of the FL Keys) and towns in the Blue Ridge/Appalachians to name just a few they missed on their last trip.
@@BTinSF Lol. I'm a convenience whore. But my sister lives in SF and she takes me to the good food when I visit. But she says I normally eat like a stupid child and she's not exactly wrong.
One is much more likely to get good food in strip malls or hole in the wall independent restaurants than with chains. The chains are predictable, but least common denominator food.
Perfectly put💯 the fast food chains got too greedy, started using low quality ingredients and jacking up the prices so high they're almost comparable to a good sit-down restaurant. Add in a delivery service fee and it's just not worth it
Context driving across the U.S. from a Pacific Coast state like Washington to say an East- coast state likeMaine would take: 4-6 Days. Which if you drove about 8-10 hours per day on the road However, this depends on your chosen route and how many stops you make along the way US from coast to coast is approximately 2,800 miles.
Talking about the size of the USA. A lot of people in other parts of the worlds have complained how Americans don't know much beyond our own borders and vary rarely travel outside of the US. While that statement is factually true for I would say over half of Americans, there is a pretty good reason behind it. Not for lack of wanting to know or desire to travel, its just that the USA is SOOO big that if we were to drive From say California to Florida or to New York, if only driving 8 hours a day, then that is a 4 to 5 day trip of JUST driving. Not stopping and seeing the sights along the way. It's not that we Americans don't want to visit another country or know another culture. It is just that for a lot of Americans, there is just so much to see and experience in America that 75% of Americans will NEVER see it all. Our culture is also vastly different from say, Alabama to California. The south vs the north, east vs west. As you touched on, America's culture is influenced by almost all of the countries of the world simply because of Immigration. American itself is an amalgamation of the world. Even our language is an amalgamation of the world incorporating words from hundreds of different languages. Hence why American English and British English are so vastly different. The have the same base but as America split off from England and incorporated other cultures, we also incorporated some of their languages as well. I have been a Truck driver for over 20 years and been in most of the continental states over the years and seen so much, but there is so much more that I have missed as well. It's just mostly impossible to see just our own country in our lifetime let alone other places.
I laughed at the beginning when you mentioned food we 9 different types of bbq and many different varieties🤔 I live here and Texas Mexican so different from town to town
I suppose it kinda goes both ways. Here in America when we learn about the wars of the past in Europe it's like how did they fight each other before there were trains and cars? It takes a bit of time to work out that in Europe countries are the size of states.
@@pacmanc8103 Yeah, but sadly they didn't see any of rural or non-urban California like the wine country in either the north (Napa, Sonoma, Russian River etc) or central California (Paso Robles area). They should have taken a day and driven from SF to LA down Highway 101.
@ Agree - would have enhanced their experience. I would have also suggested a day trip down to Monterrey and Carmel from the Bay Area. Very Mediterranean feel, imo.
2:01 It feels small to us. I have done guided tours of the UK for Americans and when I show them the proposed itinerary on a map they think they'll be spending all day on a bus when it's actually just a couple hours. England (minus Scotland) is about the size of Illinois or North Carolina.
@@baraxor By length, perhaps, but California is 163,696 square miles and the UK is 94,058 square miles. A closer comparison is Michigan at 96,714 square miles. If the UK were a US state, it would be the 12th-largest by area. Population is a different story. It would be the most populous state at 68 million to California's 39 million.
As an American, I had no idea how large America was until I visited Europe. From maps, I had assumed that European countries were similar in size to America. It was a shock to realize how small the European countries were to America, especially since Americans study the importance of European history.
On size... just Maine, often overlooked when discussing size, is by itself as large the entirety of Ireland, north and south. Aroostook County in Maine takes a few hours to drive from it's northern most point to its southern most.
Even locals may not try the best food in their area. When my wife first visited NYC's Chinatown with me we went to a rather ordinary looking restaurant for lunch. The food was excellent and we had a huge portion. We had no room for dinner.
A lot of the best food in any city comes from small restaurants that aren't chain restaurants... whenever I go anywhere, I don't go to the chains, I go to the small/local restaurants.
Just regarding food, every state is known for its own foods; Georgia peaches, Florida oranges. Michigan cherries, Iowa corn, Montana bison, Wisconsin cheese… SO many others!
I Love McDonalds but I’m a pretty healthy person. My cholesterol is low. I’m not overweight. I just don’t look down on fast food. Some of it is very enjoyable in moderation
I just don’t get the history thing. You mean to say our European history isn’t that long. The continent has as much history as any other continent. There were people here before the Europeans arrived 😊
It’s not written down like the Europeans did. Hard to study something that’s a lot word of mouth. We don’t know how many tribes there were and who fought who and who lived where. I know there are ways to learn that but not in public schools.
There was no written languages in North America prior to Europeans visiting. I live in Ohio. Pre-history is before in 1670s. We have vague knowledge of stuff before then, but nothing specific.
@@kathyp1563I have friends who are Wampanoag. Talk to someone who is a tribal member of their history. They will be thrilled to share their rich history.
With the native Americans and there tribes that were here earlier than that we do have cave paintings and drawings that do date back a thousand years or more let alone the sand stone building and the cities carved into cliffs in the western United States
It was really interesting to hear about your experiences with the size of the country and the multiple cultures and foods! Truly mind-broadening, just as travel should be!!!
My American History goes back to the same England as yours. But Native American History goes back possibly longer than UK since the UK was unoccupied during the last ice age. Our Country is founded on the Magna Carta and English common law.
I'm so glad you guys had a good time on your trip. I lived around Laenhead RAF/SAC and Mildenhall air bases when I was a kid and I heard of Council Houses and Tobacco Houses but I'd never heard the term of two up and two down until recently and then it was a while until I learned what that meant. Always new adventures to be had.
My husband and I order a regular orfer for one and share it. If one of us wants, we might order an extra side item. We are older and many portions are just too large.
Brits are "I know the US is big." No, No you don't. You THINK you do. You don't know the actual meaning of the word BIG. Americans commute 2 hours just for WORK. 2 hours in Britian is halfway across the island. America- where inches ARE bigger than centimeters.
It was 1784 when we became a recognized nation. That was because the British and French ratified the Paris treaty that recognized us as a nation in its own right. The American revolution was over for a year. King George did not get word that he lost for six months because mail was so slow then he had to send back a reply which took six more months. He gave up because he couldn’t really pay the German mercenaries he hired and it was draining the English economy dry. King George was not exactly a healthy man by 1765 as he had a liver disease but doctors dismissed it as psychological. George got more mad as the years passed because his brain was being affected by his failing liver. George finally died in 1820 completely blind and unable to even move. His son George the 4th only rule for 10 years before William then finally starting the Victorian era with Queen Victoria. It’s was a major rough time for Brits.
A good itinerary for next time: Go in to Miami airport. Drive to Key West and watch the sun set with the crowds. Drive north through the many islands and there is an all you can eat Seafood restaurant. back into South FL and eat the best island foods from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and South America.
Mark Twain the famous American writer from the nineteenth century said “The coldest winter he every experienced was a summer in San Francisco!”. The cold damp air from the Pacific Ocean cuts right to the bone!❤
I live in California, and it is big, like TX. We always talk about driving distances in hrs rather than miles. Also, Northern Californians always mention they are from the North, whereas Southern Californians tend to just say California. This is because it really does seem like two separate states, and when anyone thinks of CA they tend to think of the Southern part of state. I grew up in southern part, so I speak from my own experience. Driving from the border with Oregon to the border with Mexico at speed limit will 14-15 hrs depending on traffic. Google told me it takes 13-14 hrs to drive from top of Scotland to bottom of England, just to help your British viewers with a size reference. All I really know is it takes 12-13 hrs to get from my home to Disneyland, lol.
To non-Americans, America is what they see in the movies and what they see is a function of where the movie and TV industries are which is southern California. As a San Franciscan, I love watching the tourists shivver in their shorts and T-shirts until they give up and patronize one of the ubiquitous sweat shirt/hoodie sellers at locations popular with tourists.
Love you guys and your respect for history as well recognizing the reality of what you have seen with your own eyes, and James, you mum is lovely and given her eagerness to explore American recipes I can see where you got your openness to new ideas.
Tourists to America tend to go to New York, California and Texas, like these guys, and think they saw America. Wyoming, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, New Mexico, etc. are so different than those places. It is a pity so few wander far from the coast, there is a lot in the interior.
In Texas, they just go the large cities like Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. Which is a poor representation of Texas. They don't see the piney woods of East Texas, the beaches of South Padre Island, Palo Duro Canyon or the Blue Bonnets in bloom in the hill country in Central Texas. There are other places in Texas and also the fly over states that are amazing.
Completely agree.68 year old Ohioan here and most of the places these European reaction people always seem to go to,I wouldn't step foot in.As beautiful as California is/was,the place has turned so disgusting.New York city,never.Upstate NY,different story,like the finger lakes,Cooperstown,West Point.Love Texas,except for Austin,yuck.Would love to see these guys go to middle America where the real people that made this country live.Merry Christmas.
America is so huge and varied, it's not possible to see the whole country in one vacation so most people go for the more well-known places. The reverse is also true when Americans visit foreign countries. For instance, most Americans go to London in England, but not to other parts of the country that are fantastic but aren't as well known to Americans.
Going from a country home in Britain to NY or LA is little different than someone from the USA visiting HONG KONG and thinking they've seen China. :)
A very Merry Christmas to all the Beesleys and those who love them.
Im glad you hit on the cultural differences in between states and regions. I think a lot of folks here, and overseas forget how much different areas of the US is culturally.
It’s weird how Europeans say that “Americans don’t have culture” but then they turn around and have our American culture in stores, festivals, and theme parks…
Yeah, this one ticks me off. We have tons of culture of all kinds. We have operas, art, and museums, etc. for that type of culture. We also have modern culture which is the movie, fashion, and music type. If they don’t think we have any culture, then they should stop copying us. Besides, that comment is insulting. They should learn some manners and stop saying it.
America has a culture. We have a commercial culture. We have Costco and Walmart. We also have Hollywood and blues/jazz/rock n roll. We have bluegrass and country western. We have hot rods. We have surfing and skateboarding. We have cowboys. We have burgers and fried chicken. We have an egalitarianism that makes all creditworthy college grads socially identical. America has a culture. Miss me with this “opera and ballet” crap: those are European cultural things our wealthiest adopted at some point.
@@BillLaBrie I agree with you about adopting European culture as far as opera and ballet, etc. My point was we absolutely DO have those things though. And, there are "high brow" American composers, artists, etc., as well. Love that you mentioned cowboys. I'm in Texas and there are real cowboys in my family.
@ anything we’ve imitated from the Europeans was not proper American culture. We have our own culture and that ain’t it.
@@BillLaBrieyou obviously don’t have a very complete picture of US culture. Seems like you’re only familiar with the lower class things.
That color yellow looks absolutely fabulous on Millie. That should be a regular in your wardrobe.
She has really classed up her look.
really happy you enjoyed your visit . I'm 64 and have seen exactly 25 percent of the nation . doubt if I see all of it before I die . Life happens fast when you work and raise a family
Merry Christmas, Beesleys! 🎅 🤶 🎄
The size of the U.S. is why most of us don’t have passports. We can go from tropical islands to the arctic without one. Driving from NYC to Miami would be the same as driving from Copenhagen to Naples. It’s a long trip, even by our standards.
I disagree. Rather than the size, I think it's more the cost of trans-Atlantic travel and food/lodging in western Europe. It's really more than a lot of middle class Americans can afford or, at least, they'd rather spend their money on "stuff" (durable goods, cars etc).
@@BTinSF In my case, it's more that I have so much yet to see here. I'll do Europe after I'm done with North America.
@@BTinSFRegarding costs, I have one word, Disney.
Mark Twain famously wrote, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco..." 😋
I never fully understood this until my hubby and I spent a week in June there for our honeymoon. Had just come from a week in Bermuda where it was sunny and hot and thought, oh California so hot. Wrong! I remember looking out the window of our hotel and seeing ppl walking around in winter coats. Got stuck out one night in a sundress. Was freezing until a kind cablecar operator let us board for a ride back to our hotel even though our tickets had expired. I will always have fond, lovely memories of the City by the Bay. Heard a lot has changed in 40 years. So sad. Such a lovely place.
@@CynVee Yup - I grew up in the Bay Area; lived there for nearly 50 years. Being on the tip of peninsula next a vast ocean with high winds and generally cold temperatures, SF gets some... unique... weather. 😋
I'm always amused by people visiting California and thinking "Oh, it's a sunny and warm place" (which to be fair, it often can be)... and then they think the ocean will be equally comfortable. Wrong - the Pacific is friggin' _cold_ along the West coast!!!
He never said that actually.
Man, isn’t that the truth! I much prefer to be out in below freezing with sun and low wind to a damp, chilly, overcast and windy 35! That dampness makes your bones cold, even when you are dressed for it.
I love to hear about my country from the experiences of foreigners coming here. I am SO glad that your visit here was a happy one!
If there is one sentence that can truly sum up how we feel about people, our own people and people visiting from other lands is this: we share a lot more in common than not.
Another thing I ALWAYS suggest is on your next visit (yes - one day you will visit us again) that you explore our heartland, the interior of our country to find the hidden cultures that travelogues rarely tell you about.
One final thought: we have our own pre-conceived ideas about Britain, too. Not sure I will ever get to visit the UK in person but I would look for all the same things you found here! :)
Merry Christmas from Colorado
The word "barbecue" is used in 2 different ways here. Barbecue (or BBQ) is a style of slow cooking meat. But if someone invites you to a backyard barbecue, that'll be what you might call grilling. Austin actually has one of the country's most vibrant music scenes. You must have missed it.
BBQ, for sure has multiple definitions. It can be a way of cooking, the food that is cooked in that way, or an event. A noun or a verb. It can also be the grill (the bbq) that is used to bbq the bbq at the bbq. LOL context is everything.
Sometimes we might refer to it as a cookout too. Atleast, in the North.
Yeah we was on the outskirts of Austin at cedar park. The day we was meant to head tot the capitol building etc there was protests and with a 6 month old we thought best avoid that :D
I live in Pierre, South Dakota. I never really thought about it but we tend to measure drive distances in hours as opposed to miles.
For example; Rapid City is a 3 hour drive. Sioux Falls is a 3 1/2 hour drive.
Yeah, we do that in Texas too
Same in Maryland. We think of distance in hours
I do both. I'm in NJ and with how traffic is it can be a 15 mile drive but take 45 minutes depending on the time of day.
Same in WA
I actually commented about this in another video and someone got mad at me, but moving here from Canada, I HATE that. People from the States can't even think in distance-it's like it doesn't compute
We have a large nation, so much so that when Europeans are surprised many Americans don't travel abroad, it is important to know how much of America many of us have travelled. I have been to California, Washington State, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, New York and Idaho. All of this from New Jersey. Also travelled to Canada (Montreal and Toronto. And these were real visits, not just pass throughs.
Been to Europe a few times. The countries are so close and small, you can spit in the next one!
The ability to connect and communicate with others across the world through the internet is really something special.
Thanks for taking interest in our country! Greetings from the USA!
Still pretty mind blowing to anyone who didn't grow up with this stuff. It's crazy to me, and we had the internet by the time I was 12.
A very Merry Christmas to you and your extended family.
As an American born and bred (with European/English ancestors who came over to this country almost at its beginning), I love this country and love hearing some of my 'long lost relatives' from England tell their stories. Thank you for visiting; please come back any time for another visit!
I’ve heard it said that Europeans don’t believe how big the US is, and Americans don’t believe how old Europe is.
Thank you for saying that you enjoyed your stay! We do love you too!💕❤️💕
People consider our history starting when Europeans began conquering and settling the land. There are some freaking cool Native American history that dates back thousands of years, even pre stone henge, just for perspective.
I would also point out that Europe has packed a lot of history into a long period of time, while North America has packed a lot of history into a short period of time. I'm not discounting Native American history, but pointing out that our current culture _including_ Native American culture has packed probably just as much change and interesting stuff in 500 years as Europe has in 1000. For good or bad.
And many tribes had only an oral history, because they were still hunter/ gatherers when the Europeans came. One example are the plains Indians .
@@tarmaque and then the Mayans, the natives they just found in the Amazon, a new tribe. No contact with Europeans . So which is older? Seems like we have much to relearn!
@@crs7937yeah but there talking North America, as in the states, not South America.
Native American history is not U.S. history. They are part of it, but U.S. history does not start before we existed as a country.
When it comes to culture, I think the saying that America is a melting pot is true. Sub cultures here abound. We have a lot of ethnic diversity and mixing of cultures, which results in traditional cultures being passed down (ex: my parents are first gen Americans from Holland, so I grew up with a lot of Dutch foods and traditions. Having those immigrant influences on families is very, very common here.). We also have regional cultures in the US (southern vs North Eastern, Vs PNW, etc). Those regional cultures can be rich and deep. For example, a visit to New Orleans, LA, going to be a completely different experience that of the Bronx in New York. You are right that there can be differences within states, as well. And don’t forget about indigenous cultures, with tribes all across the country, with their own histories, languages, foods, and traditions that go back far longer than the formation of the USA. I love how much you enjoyed your visit, and hope you will be able to come back soon. Come see us here in the Pacific Northwest! It’s beautiful!
People in Europe mock us Americans because we don't have passports. Most Europeans don't realize however that traveling by air from NYC to Dallas is roughly the equivalent of traveling from London to Moscow. We don't need passports. If we want to go to another country we just fly to San Francisco.
"If we want to go to another country we just fly to San Francisco" Shame the Brits won't capture this well as it deserves. 😂
Cue the MAGA haters on blue California (yet another vast regional difference).
@@BTinSF Actually, it's more a matter of rural vs. urban, than region. There are plenty of Californians not very far from SF that have the same opinion.
@@Nyet-Zdyes Oh, sure there are. Technically it's coastal California vs the rest (if you look at a map where Trump won and where Harris did).
Let's go country by country and look at raw numbers and not percentages. As of 2024, approximately 165 to 170 Million U.S. Citizens have a passport while only about 51 million Brits have one. Go country by country and I'd bet that more Americans hold a passport than those other countries citizens.
Merry Christmas Beesleys. Yes, America is HUGE, driving across the US takes 5 days and is like traveling from Lisbon to Moscow.
5 days? You drive slow. I'm a retired trucker and I've done it in 3. From Secaucus NJ to Los Angeles. Cheers from Tennessee
@@Hillbilly001 Someone is not pulling over for the required rest periods... 🤣🤣🤣
@@Hillbilly001 With the new laws? You are a beast! lol I have gone from Boston to St Augustine in under 24 without sleep though timed it perfectly through N.Y.C. and D.C.. lol Back in the mid 80's
@kevingouldrup9265 There were quite a few places out west that I didn't exactly go speed limit. LOL! In places like West Texas, Eastern New Mexico and the northern route through Arizona I kinda opened her up a little. If I had to go through the northern tier, Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana I really opened her up. Especially Montana. Back in the day they had an implied limit. 90+ mph in those large straight open roads were nothing. I owned a Peterbilt 379 with a Cat 425 and a 15 speed tranny. She had unlimited fuel pressure and a buck and a quarter was about the fastest I got her going, but I still had 4.500 rpm left. She would have gone faster, but it got rather scary past 95. LOL! Only did it a couple of times, mainly to prove to another knothead that she would stroll down the road. Most of the time I was just 10 or so over speed limit, unless I could goad a 4 wheeler into being my rabbit and I had heard on the breeze that a bear was taking pictures. LOL! Make the rabbit run and get the ticket, then the road is open for a stroll. LOL!!!! Trucker tricks and a pinhead in a fast 4 wheeler falls for it every time. LOL!!!
We had the 10/8 rule back then, but you can't make money like that so running a couple of comic books was what you had to do. Just remember which log you're on and it'll be ok. LOL!!
@@Hillbilly001 Awesome!
As an American, it makes me laugh so hard to hear "we don't really learn about you we learn about our own" and realize "oh British schools don't teach about American independence because they lost that fight." LOL!
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) once stated, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." Come visit New England if you wish to see the British influence on early America.
You guys look wonderful! Merry Christmas!!!!
I'm a native born and raised in Kansas City, living today on the west coast. Barbecue is a regional phenomenon, differing in style between regions, and for such regions, a religion.
Hope you were well-treated during your visit. There are places in the US that won't automatically happen.
I’m American, I grew up in Pennsylvania. Of course, without a doubt, I love American food. However, my ancestors are from Poland. So I grew up with a Polish grandma and grandpa and to this day, Polish food is one of my favorite foods!
My great grandpa , Nowacki, we would eat sauerkraut for breakfast!
I'm in Oklahoma and my sister is five hours south of me in northern Texas. And that five hours makes me go, "Ah, it's just a hop skip and a jump, no problem. Can visit all the time. Isn't it great that we live so close?"
The reason I think that is because she lived in Oregon before she moved to Texas, and that's a three day car ride from Oklahoma.
There are multiple styles of barbecue, not just Texas barbecue. There is also a North Carolina style... in fact, in the Carolinas, you might be asked, "Would you like some barbecue?" You might think, "Barbecue what??" In the Carolinas, a style of barbecued pork is called simply "barbecue." And there are other barbecue styles around the US.
I believe they are 2 barbecues in North Carolina. Eastern and Lexington.
There's Carolina barbecue- vinegar based and there's Kansas city barbecue that's way sweeter, and then there's 6,000 other versions. But if you must try BBQ, try Carolina, Kansas and Texas first. Kinda like pizza. NY pizza, Chicago pizza and well I'm sure there's another popular variety... thin vs deep dish
we are the great melting pot of vast cultures. Like so many have discovered with the shear size we are like many countries inside a country. To be American is an ideal, I cannot move to Japan and become Japanese but if you move here you can become American. Merry Christmas and the Happiest of Holidays
So true.
I immigrated to the USA from Greece in 1960. The best way I describe America is that it represents the United Nations better than the UN itself! People from everywhere in the world living peacefully together!
Going from Salt Lake City to Moab where Arches National Park takes about 4 hours none stop.
Going from Utah to Oklahoma, IF you take no breaks and a designated route could be completed in 24 which intently enough is the same time sans stops it would take to drive from the state of Washington to Utah, according to a former truck driver I know.
In most large cities you can get authentic food from around the US. For example, you can get Texas barbecue in Chicago, NYC pizza in Los Angeles and Chicago hot dogs in Dallas. Restaurants have franchised across the country and chefs have taken their talents to other cities in search of new opportunities.
I have found that it’s easier to get great regional food from an individual restaurant opened by a chef/cook from the region. Chains, while OK, often aren’t as good IMO. Some of the best Cajun food I’ve had is from a particular restaurant in Seattle!
There's an outfit called Goldbelly (Google it) on the internet that ships food from all America's most popular, iconic or simply best known restaurants around the country. It isn't cheap though.
@@pacmanc8103 I'm a regular at a place called Brenda's French Soul Food (which is actual Cajun/Creole as is Brenda) in San Francisco. Having been to New Orleans multiple times, though, I will not go so far as to say that any Cajun food I've had outside south Louisiana is "the best". IMHO regional cuisines are always best in the place of their birth but are often enough copied well enough elsewhere.
Brits are not alone in not appreciating the size of the USA. What's funny to me as an American is that y'all don't seem to use Google Maps. All you have to do is plug in New York City and Dallas, and it will tell you it's 1549 miles and 24 hours of just driving.
@@joec0914 you are so right! The ignorance is not always with us. To me European attitudes like that are a lot like communicating with our old people about how to use the remote control. Kind of sweet but aggravating too.
Because the US is such a melting pot, our culture is constantly changing. I live in Minnesota. We used to be mostly northern European in culture until the 70s. Now we have the largest Hmong and Somali populations in the US as well as a growing Mexican population. Most of the Hmong population is centered around St Paul, whereas most of the Somali population is centered around Minneapolis and St Cloud.
In less than 30 minutes I can drive to food from every European and Asian and South American country. We have 3 from Africa. 30 minutes and I can eat food eaten by like 85% of the planet. We have so much food and we love it and food is culture. It leads to learning and friendships. Then someone decides to blend and you get weird but wonderful asian mexocan fusion restaurants.
Non-Americans might be surprised that most of us, at least here in New England, don't talk publicly about whether we own firearms. It's one of those impolite subjects, like religion, politics, and child-rearing advice. Even among some friends and family, I don't know who does and does not own any.
Kind of like how I carry one most everywhere I go... but in most instances nobody would ever know. It's not important that anyone know, unless it's "in the gravest extreme". Otherwise it's just a heavy and vaguely annoying weight on my belt under my coat/shirt.
I don't believe I've ever told even my best friends whether or not, or how many, guns I have at home. And nobody I know would ask.
I understand why you wouldn't go around advertising that you were carrying to strangers, but why wouldn't it come up with your friends and family in the same way you would talk about getting a new car or entertainment system or golf clubs? Is it a New England thing? Afraid that if it were to be known that you have a gun, people might assume (either falsely or correctly) you vote Republican or sonething and therefore shun you?
@@hanng1242 Because it's not like getting a new car or an entertainment system or golf clubs. The topic is more likely to be avoided when you know the friend or relative supports the other political party. Except for one uncle, the people in my life would rather not have pointless arguments that change the minds of nobody.
@@hanng1242 I put gun ownership in the same category as your income, your sex life and other private things. My dad owned guns and belonged to a shooting club and he hunted so obviously he talked about the guns with people who appreciated them to the same degree and in the same way. For me, they are just admirable pieces of workmanship and nobody really needs to know what I have and what I don't. As a matter of fact, I do usually vote Republican (although a registered Democrat), and my friends and family either know or suspect that--I'd much rather talk to them about it. But I live in a very liberal city (SF)--so liberal that it's rare to have a Republican candidate in local elections so the real election is the Democratic primary (hence why I registered Democrat). They drove the last gun shop out of town years ago. Who knows if they might try to confiscate guns one day (the make-up of the Supreme Court would likely have to change but stranger things have happened)? Just like I wouldn't wear a MAGA hat (it would be asking for trouble), I don't see any reason to have it known that I do or don't own a gun.
On the size and distance thing, I'm originally from St. Louis, Missouri, but we lived in Stockport, England for a short time in the late 70's. I remember my grandmother coming to visit us, and she and my mom went on some sort of a day trip with a group on a coach - less than two hours away (Yorkshire, I think, but can't remember for sure) - and some of the others remarked that they couldn't believe my mom was making her 80-year-old mother endure this long coach ride! 😄 After we moved back to the States, my grandmother would routinely come to visit us in our new home - 6 hours away in Iowa. 😊 Also, my dad drove me 4 hours to Wisconsin to see Adam Ant in concert.
You should travel to the True Midwest (small/rural towns throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio) and explore what we have to offer.
People all over the world have brought their foods and recipes to America.. Italian, Polish,German, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Chinese, Mediterranean, Jewish.. etc.
Night before last we had pizza(Americanized Italian) and wings. Last night we had Tex-Mex.
Tonight, leftover Tex-Mex. Tomorrow we're having Japanese/Chinese.Just your typical American diversified diet
Only 4? 😂 You can look at it as every state is like its own country size wise. Also don't forget to try the sauces and condiments they help to bring the entire meal together.
USA Starbucks drink sizes:
Short. - 8 ounces (237ml)
Tall - 12 ounces (355ml)
Grande - 16 ounces (473ml)
Venti - 20 ounces (591ml)
Trenta - 30 ounces (887ml)
Does Starbucks even sell "short" anymore?
Visit Louisiana some time. It would take weeks to sample all the different types of food, and each meal will be better than the last.
California has so many microclimates, especially closer to the coast, that weather is insane. Where I used to live, summers were routinely twenty degrees warmer inland just twenty miles. However, once last year, the temperature between two weather stations (one in the city where I lived and one a mere ten miles away) had a 50 degree difference at the same time.
To be fair, most Americans are like most people everywhere, we eat meals at home and cook pretty boring meals most of the time except for special occasions. We often eat out is real restaurants and fast food tends to be more if you need a quick lunch or breakfast and not as much for dinner.
My British friends call anything cooked outside on a grill barbecue. Barbecue in the United States is a very specific kind of highly spiced smokey meat often cooked for hours that varies greatly by region.
Americans always have bbq and its burgers. We call everything cooked outside bbq because it’s on a grill. I know Americans who don’t eat real bbq meat and can’t describe it.
American here. We call barbecue anything grilled outside, too. It doesn’t have to be smoked a long time.
If you want to refer to a long time smoked barbecue, then you could say, “smoked barbecue,” “Texas barbecue,” etc.
In Texas, and most of the South, barbecue fits that definition. A few politicians get accused every election cycle of being carpetbaggers for conflating grilling and “barbecue”. Outside the South, grilling and barbecue are synonyms. Closed grill, semi smoked grilled chicken is one of my favorites. Marinated in red wine, soy sauce, garlic, and fresh ginger.
@@tomhalla426yes, I always get annoyed when I hear people say "barbecue" referring to cooking burgers and hot dogs outside on a grill.
@@JasMcKenzie why would that annoy you? Does it annoy you if someone calls Mountain dew a soda and someone else refers to it as a bottle of pop?
At 15 , I left home in rural Alabama and moved to New York City on my own .It was like moving to another planet where they almost spoke the same language .My family has been in America for more than 400 years , I am 14th generation American and because I'm old , there are 3 more generations after me , so 17 generations here and on my Cherokee branch , who knows how many .
You can visit the 4 corners of any US state and find completely differnt types of peoples, cultures and language dialects. If you go to the "touristy" spots of America... NY - NYC, California - LA, San Diego, San Francisco etc, Texas-Houston, Austin, Florida- Miami, Key West, Tampa, and then hit the off-the-trail places into the low country, or in the mountains, or the smaller "big" cities, you will find so much diversity, flavor and temperature differences! Fast foods are a'plenty here, but the mom-n-pop places are definitely the BEST (and typically better cost value too!). I think it's great you got to try a variety of US commerical things from a real big Walmart and Chick-fil-A to other places like Cracker Barrel... but next trip you should focus on a region. Like the south (east, west, or mid), the north (new england or like north of say ohio), find ya a coastal place that is only a few hours from the mountains... beach one day and hike natures beauty the next. Search for the vibes you want: More high speed or slowed down and laid back. Also, 90% of America is thankfully NOT like Hollywood or NYC lol. New York alone is way more than just that "little" city area! Hahahahahaha
We might be Young in the scheme of the world as a nation, but we have the melting pot of diversity. Really enjoy seeing and hearing outside perspectives!
1 Fast food meal now cost more than Texas Roadhouse steak to order with 2 sides and some buns.
Fast food is crazy now with their prices
Another thing to think about "history" is Britain's current form of government was formed in the early 1700s, the United States, the late 1700s. If you're going to assume a country's history only goes as far back as when the current government was formed then Britain's not that much older and many European countries are younger. If you mean human history on either continent, North American human history goes back tens-of-thousands of years. It didn't start when Britain colonized the continent, but some people seem to think that's the only history that counts.
The vast majority of Americans have no idea that the oldest city in America is St. Augustine, Florida--1565. The east coast completely forgets all the conquistadors and the indigenous tribes and all that happened out west, long before Plymouth Rock in 1620 or Jamestown in 1607.
I was born here and when I go from state to state, I kinda feel like I'm going to different countries, too.
Great Britain is slightly larger in terms of square area than Oregon, and it is about the length of Florida. The area of the USA (including Alaska) is about equal to that of Europe.
Merry Christmas guys! 🎄 Love y'all from Texas ❤
I love your hair in that ponytail! Very chic!! Merry Christmas guys!
I’m a Chicagoan, but if you drive 3 or 4 hours to parts of southern Illinois the people have true southern accents. It’s always surprising to me, one state and many accents.
Same in Indiana. 👋 Hi neighbor!
Why do people have a problem with larger sizes? No one's forcing you to consume all of it. Just like Americans, you're free to eat as much OR as little as you like. Do British restaurants require all customers consume their mean entirely before allowing them to leave or something?
It's seen as polite, yes. I understand that if you have no exposure to this, it may seem odd to you
We also take our leftovers home for another meal.
@@SharonCurtis7 I know-I live in the States. In many other countries, that is seen as impolite (and in a couple lands, it is considered theft)
I swear to you, I just yelled “OMG” and I woke my bird. 🤣😃🤣 You didn’t eat NY pizza!!! 😭😭😭😭 You gotta come back, that’s all there is to it. lol
MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR! One thing I found most foreigners don't realize is that each state has its own laws. weed is a good example. it's legal in some states and illegal in others. Tax and Gun laws also differ greatly from state to state.
Good point about gun laws, although as they are British citizens I don't think they're in the market to buy a firearm.
@@goldfieldgary I agree they probably won't. but the point I was trying to make was that you can't make blanket statements about America, assuming the same rules apply everywhere.
@@brendawalters3728 True, but if one conducts oneself in a reasonable manner, you're not likely to be arrested anywhere in the US. No police department wants an unlawful arrest lawsuit.
I live in Minnesota and have a friend in Texas, a cousin in Puerto Rico and a daughter in California. I have to think in terms of time zones any time i want to communicate with them. My cousin is 2 hours earlier than me, my friend is 1 hour later, and my daughter is 2 hours later.
Quesadillas are easy to make if you have tortillas. Tortillas are easy to make if you can’t get them. Might be a fun project for Millie, James, and Vickie to make a huge amount of tortillas and freeze a lot of them so you can make quesadillas, enchiladas, burritos, etc. Millie might not be that into cooking (also time to cook is harder working and having a toddler plus filming time) but at least gringo style microwave quesadillas are easy enough for Millie to make quickly for Archie as a snack or for meals.
@@CKaffeineIVStat that is a great idea. And they make good party food cut in wedges. Vickie mentioned she likes to take small sized treats to gatherings. Making fresh salsa or guac to go with it would also be a good thing. They seem to like a little heat.
By 1500 Europeans were poking around the Americas with some settlements. By 1600 you see functional communities. Where I live there are some grave markers going back to the early/mid 1600s. The thing is history followed the expansion of America, so on the East Coast and Southwest you see the oldest remnants of colonization.
...and if you dig deeper you learn there is plenty of evidence of huge civilizations in the US... LONG BEFORE the 1500s.
If you want to drive from the Dallas/Fort Worth area and head to the northern tip of the panhandle of Texas, or if you want to drive from the same area, down to the southern tip of Texas to Corpus Christi, it is a 12-hour drive, either way. I don't think many Texans even blink at a 4-hour trip.
Really enjoyed your take on the US. Sure laughed when you got to SF. “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” Mark Twain(apocryphal) I live 3-4 hrs from SF near Redding, CA. it can be 64F in SF and 120F in Redding at the same time. no exageration, our summers are so hot. SF weather is unique even from Oakland, which is just across the bridge. Merry Christmas! Next time you come, try Kansas City bbq, totally different. St Louis has it's own bbq, and so does Tennessee. KC is my personal favorite, but I wouldn't turn down the others.
I live in downtown SF and, before I retired, worked in Concord. I took BART (commuter rail) to and from work. It was common, on a summer afternoon, to be in the mid-90s (F) in Concord and the upper 60s (F) at home in SF.
Austin is where all the California hippies decided to be move to 😂
Most maps show that its over 3k miles from NYC to LA its also almost a 6 hour flight
Go to places like CHARLESTON, S Carolina; SAVANNA, Georgia; WILMINGTON, N.Carolina,; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Santa Barbara, CALF.,;Saint Augustine, Florida; CAMBRIA, Calf; PALM BEACH, Fla;
Missing Montana/Wyoming. Yellowstone alone is worth it.
Savanna and Charleston are really unique.
And swear before you go that no fast or chain food will pass your lips--you will eat strictly in locally owned and run places. There are guide books that will give you recommendations as will the people at your lodging or, finally, Yelp (a web site where people critique restaurants). Or you might binge on the TV show, "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" before leaving home.
@@ct6852 As are small towns (especially college towns) in New England; places around the Chesapeake like Easton and Cambridge, MD; Nashville, Key West (and the rest of the FL Keys) and towns in the Blue Ridge/Appalachians to name just a few they missed on their last trip.
@@BTinSF Lol. I'm a convenience whore. But my sister lives in SF and she takes me to the good food when I visit. But she says I normally eat like a stupid child and she's not exactly wrong.
One is much more likely to get good food in strip malls or hole in the wall independent restaurants than with chains. The chains are predictable, but least common denominator food.
Perfectly put💯 the fast food chains got too greedy, started using low quality ingredients and jacking up the prices so high they're almost comparable to a good sit-down restaurant. Add in a delivery service fee and it's just not worth it
Context driving across the U.S. from a Pacific Coast state like Washington to say an East- coast state likeMaine would take: 4-6 Days. Which if you drove about 8-10 hours per day on the road However, this depends on your chosen route and how many stops you make along the way
US from coast to coast is approximately 2,800 miles.
Talking about the size of the USA. A lot of people in other parts of the worlds have complained how Americans don't know much beyond our own borders and vary rarely travel outside of the US. While that statement is factually true for I would say over half of Americans, there is a pretty good reason behind it. Not for lack of wanting to know or desire to travel, its just that the USA is SOOO big that if we were to drive From say California to Florida or to New York, if only driving 8 hours a day, then that is a 4 to 5 day trip of JUST driving. Not stopping and seeing the sights along the way. It's not that we Americans don't want to visit another country or know another culture. It is just that for a lot of Americans, there is just so much to see and experience in America that 75% of Americans will NEVER see it all. Our culture is also vastly different from say, Alabama to California. The south vs the north, east vs west. As you touched on, America's culture is influenced by almost all of the countries of the world simply because of Immigration. American itself is an amalgamation of the world. Even our language is an amalgamation of the world incorporating words from hundreds of different languages. Hence why American English and British English are so vastly different. The have the same base but as America split off from England and incorporated other cultures, we also incorporated some of their languages as well.
I have been a Truck driver for over 20 years and been in most of the continental states over the years and seen so much, but there is so much more that I have missed as well. It's just mostly impossible to see just our own country in our lifetime let alone other places.
My family migrated here 20,000 years ago.
Happy Holidays 🎄
I laughed at the beginning when you mentioned food we 9 different types of bbq and many different varieties🤔 I live here and Texas Mexican so different from town to town
I suppose it kinda goes both ways. Here in America when we learn about the wars of the past in Europe it's like how did they fight each other before there were trains and cars? It takes a bit of time to work out that in Europe countries are the size of states.
You haven't been to California, you've been to LA. Come to Sonoma county and visit a winery.
They were in San Francisco, too.
@@pacmanc8103 Yeah, but sadly they didn't see any of rural or non-urban California like the wine country in either the north (Napa, Sonoma, Russian River etc) or central California (Paso Robles area). They should have taken a day and driven from SF to LA down Highway 101.
@ Agree - would have enhanced their experience. I would have also suggested a day trip down to Monterrey and Carmel from the Bay Area. Very Mediterranean feel, imo.
2:01 It feels small to us. I have done guided tours of the UK for Americans and when I show them the proposed itinerary on a map they think they'll be spending all day on a bus when it's actually just a couple hours. England (minus Scotland) is about the size of Illinois or North Carolina.
England sounds tiny when you say that Illinois comparison.
Even with Scotland Great Britain has about the same dimensions as California.
@@baraxor By length, perhaps, but California is 163,696 square miles and the UK is 94,058 square miles. A closer comparison is Michigan at 96,714 square miles. If the UK were a US state, it would be the 12th-largest by area. Population is a different story. It would be the most populous state at 68 million to California's 39 million.
As an American, I had no idea how large America was until I visited Europe. From maps, I had assumed that European countries were similar in size to America. It was a shock to realize how small the European countries were to America, especially since Americans study the importance of European history.
On size... just Maine, often overlooked when discussing size, is by itself as large the entirety of Ireland, north and south. Aroostook County in Maine takes a few hours to drive from it's northern most point to its southern most.
Even locals may not try the best food in their area. When my wife first visited NYC's Chinatown with me we went to a rather ordinary looking restaurant for lunch. The food was excellent and we had a huge portion. We had no room for dinner.
A lot of the best food in any city comes from small restaurants that aren't chain restaurants... whenever I go anywhere, I don't go to the chains, I go to the small/local restaurants.
You used to react to videos and now I see people reacting to your videos! Full circle.
Just regarding food, every state is known for its own foods; Georgia peaches, Florida oranges. Michigan cherries, Iowa corn, Montana bison, Wisconsin cheese… SO many others!
TN whiskey KY Bourbon
Barbecue in Texas is completely different than South Carolina barbecue. And in between, are hundreds of different varieties of barbecue
This American never eats fast food. Have not been to McDonalds in many decades
I do like a Jumbo Jack w/cheese every once in a while.
Fast food is dominated by teenagers & travelers.
I Love McDonalds but I’m a pretty healthy person. My cholesterol is low. I’m not overweight. I just don’t look down on fast food. Some of it is very enjoyable in moderation
Your choice. Not others.
@kathyp1563 in what reality?
I just don’t get the history thing. You mean to say our European history isn’t that long. The continent has as much history as any other continent. There were people here before the Europeans arrived 😊
It’s not written down like the Europeans did. Hard to study something that’s a lot word of mouth. We don’t know how many tribes there were and who fought who and who lived where. I know there are ways to learn that but not in public schools.
They’re talking about United States history.
There was no written languages in North America prior to Europeans visiting. I live in Ohio. Pre-history is before in 1670s. We have vague knowledge of stuff before then, but nothing specific.
@@kathyp1563I have friends who are Wampanoag. Talk to someone who is a tribal member of their history. They will be thrilled to share their rich history.
With the native Americans and there tribes that were here earlier than that we do have cave paintings and drawings that do date back a thousand years or more let alone the sand stone building and the cities carved into cliffs in the western United States
guys that setting is great! it's like we are on the other couch across from you just chillen hearing a story. very nice! love you guys.
It was really interesting to hear about your experiences with the size of the country and the multiple cultures and foods! Truly mind-broadening, just as travel should be!!!
Having moved from Las Vegas to Florida it was 36 hours of driving. That does not include the stops to gas up and sleep.
Thats pretty fast
My American History goes back to the same England as yours. But Native American History goes back possibly longer than UK since the UK was unoccupied during the last ice age. Our Country is founded on the Magna Carta and English common law.
I'm so glad you guys had a good time on your trip. I lived around Laenhead RAF/SAC and Mildenhall air bases when I was a kid and I heard of Council Houses and Tobacco Houses but I'd never heard the term of two up and two down until recently and then it was a while until I learned what that meant. Always new adventures to be had.
There is an old joke, "The coldest I have ever been is in San Francisco."
It can get cool, but even the most cold is pretty mild. And the heat is generally mild, too.
7-11 has big gulps.. most convenient stores have super size fountain drinks..
My husband and I order a regular orfer for one and share it. If one of us wants, we might order an extra side item. We are older and many portions are just too large.
Glad you enjoyed your trip to USA 😁 Love this country
Brits are "I know the US is big." No, No you don't. You THINK you do. You don't know the actual meaning of the word BIG. Americans commute 2 hours just for WORK. 2 hours in Britian is halfway across the island. America- where inches ARE bigger than centimeters.
It was 1784 when we became a recognized nation. That was because the British and French ratified the Paris treaty that recognized us as a nation in its own right. The American revolution was over for a year. King George did not get word that he lost for six months because mail was so slow then he had to send back a reply which took six more months. He gave up because he couldn’t really pay the German mercenaries he hired and it was draining the English economy dry. King George was not exactly a healthy man by 1765 as he had a liver disease but doctors dismissed it as psychological. George got more mad as the years passed because his brain was being affected by his failing liver. George finally died in 1820 completely blind and unable to even move. His son George the 4th only rule for 10 years before William then finally starting the Victorian era with Queen Victoria. It’s was a major rough time for Brits.
A good itinerary for next time: Go in to Miami airport. Drive to Key West and watch the sun set with the crowds. Drive north through the many islands and there is an all you can eat Seafood restaurant. back into South FL and eat the best island foods from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and South America.
Mark Twain the famous American writer from the nineteenth century said “The coldest winter he every experienced was a summer in San Francisco!”. The cold damp air from the Pacific Ocean cuts right to the bone!❤
Is amazing to me when I have visited the UK. Your history is unreal. ❤
I live in California, and it is big, like TX. We always talk about driving distances in hrs rather than miles. Also, Northern Californians always mention they are from the North, whereas Southern Californians tend to just say California. This is because it really does seem like two separate states, and when anyone thinks of CA they tend to think of the Southern part of state. I grew up in southern part, so I speak from my own experience. Driving from the border with Oregon to the border with Mexico at speed limit will 14-15 hrs depending on traffic. Google told me it takes 13-14 hrs to drive from top of Scotland to bottom of England, just to help your British viewers with a size reference. All I really know is it takes 12-13 hrs to get from my home to Disneyland, lol.
To non-Americans, America is what they see in the movies and what they see is a function of where the movie and TV industries are which is southern California. As a San Franciscan, I love watching the tourists shivver in their shorts and T-shirts until they give up and patronize one of the ubiquitous sweat shirt/hoodie sellers at locations popular with tourists.
You can get New York style pizza just about anywhere in the Northeastern states.
You can get New York pizza in Sonoma County California.
I have an apartment in Boston a house in Florida it takes over 20 hours by car.
Did you just say that the United States is one of the most powerful countries in the world. It is the most powerful country in the world.😊
Love you guys and your respect for history as well recognizing the reality of what you have seen with your own eyes, and James, you mum is lovely and given her eagerness to explore American recipes I can see where you got your openness to new ideas.