Midwest Love
One undercurrent of Lauren's recent post on work life was about geographic divisions. While I may reside on the East Coast now (and have also lived on the West), I was born and raised in Iowa, went to school in Missouri, and consider myself fundamentally Midwestern in many ways. And today I'm inspired today to give a shout-out to some of my personal favorite places and things about the Midwest: (Yes, I realize a lot of this list is about food. So?)
- The Chicago skyline
My first big city! As a kid, I remember staring out of the car windows on family vacations, looking at the buildings and busy streets. I will always associate this city with excitement and possibility. - Happy Joe's Taco pizza
Nom nom nom. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it. - Milwaukee!
The Friday fish-fry and polka brewery tour, awesome local artists, Broad Vocabulary, that regional delicacy known as cheese curds. Where the bloody marys come with a High Life chaser and the lake is gorgeous and blue. Home to my best friend in the whole wide world, a truly awesome, amazingly crafty Midwest lady. - REAL frozen custard
Seriously, fuck Danny Meyer and his knockoff custard stand. The Midwest is home to the real deal. - The thrifting
The second-hand stores in my home region are second-to-none. I maintain that I was at my best-dressed when I lived in the Midwest. - Midwest feminists
Yes, they are a slightly different breed of awesome. Shout out to the fine broads and dudes of Lil Mama's Burly-Q Revue, the good people who put together Venus Zine, the clinic workers, the Midwest Teen Sex Show, the DIY mavens, Leslie Hall. And, of course, Shark-Fu and so many other wonderful Midwest-based feminist bloggers.
Dear readers who identify as Midwesterners, what do you love about your home region?
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Midwest Love.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/11891
I cannot believe there was a shout out for Happy Joe's taco pizza--that's awesome! My favorite part of living in the midwest has always been that we got school called off both for snow/cold weather and when it was too hot. Sometimes pracitcally in the same week!
The thrift stores really are better in the midwest. The northern chicago suburbs and the downtown area have some of the best (and cheapest) thrifting spots. Kentucky may have a plethora of Goodwill stores, but they are overpriced and utterly pale in comparison.
And I really think CHEESE should have it's own category. The Mars Cheese Castle in Wisconsin is a personal favorite of mine.
Kentucky has some amazing vintage shops that are totally affordable, at least in lexington and louisville; you just have to know where they are because most look a lot like holes in the wall. Keep looking!
voxtrollop -- I couldn't agree more on both Chicago and Kentucky.
So Kathryn, why don't you send us those great vintage store locations. Please!
I moved from Canada to Kansas City, and altough I have my stubborn homesick moments where I want to hear eh instead of y'all and bitch about the lack of Coffee Crisp and Caramilk chocolate bars, I'll take 25 degrees C in February over eight feet of snow...anyday.
everything to do with happy joe's really deserves a shout out, not just taco pizza.
my favorite part of the midwest is the unexpected pockets of diversity.
I would like to second the frozen custard reference and add that the midwest is great for some very progressive political and public leaders including "Fighting Bob" LaFollette, Sheila and Paul Welstone, and Patty Wetterling.
Also, who doesn't love a good Friday night Fish Fry at the local VFW?
I'm a Missourian, and went to MU in Columbia. I love the people from the LGBT Center that I worked with as well as the folk down the hall at the Women's Center. They rock the Vagina Monologues. I love KC BBQ, Karst topography, Shakespeare's pizza, and Sparky's ice cream. Missouri has some great wineries, too.
I've got access to big city culture and food (albeit in more limited quantities), but a small town commute. Cheap housing is good, too.
There's a no-bullshit quality to midwestern small-town culture that I find appealing as well.
I second the WI cheese motion; growing up in Chicago we always stopped at the Mousehaus on our way to the North Woods.
I miss so much about living in Chicago after 10 years on the East Coast: 16" softball; free music festivals in Grant Park in the summer; the lights on Michigan avenue at Christmastime; riding my bike to the lakefront to go swimming; saying "pop" not "soda"; the magnificent downtown skyline; watching thunderstorms roll across the endless prairie sky. But most of all, I miss the people - the good humor in the face of miserable extreme weather, the friendliness, the pragmatism, and the pride that people take in the city - even in the face of corruption and violence.
I too love the thrifting. Other things I love: being able to see miles of sky
growing my own food
the unexpected beauty of places like Starved Rock, Blue Mounds and Giant City
the awesomeness that is WisCon and the Madison Farmer's Market
being able to rent a 100 year old 4BR farmhouse and 3 acres of land for $500/month
having every ethnic food imaginable available with an hour's drive or less
the landscape in fall--bright orange fat pumpkins nestled against tall corn in every shade of amber under coral-pink sugar maples.
Cecile Richards once spoke at the 75th anniversary of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region. She said something to the respect of "Here's the thing about Missouri. When the governor cut funding for low income women to get cancer screenings, Missourians figured out the path he jogged daily and lined it and covered it in signs demanding funding for Women's Health. He had to change his jogging route."
I was born in Saint Louis and now go to MU, and I can say that Midwest feminists really do have something special :)
This post made my day!
Even though Broad Vocab in MKE is having some tough times and is operating as a co-op now, it's still one of my favorite Midwest finds.
Also, there's A Room of One's Own and A Woman's Touch in Madison, WI. And let's face it, ALL of Madison is pretty great. The farmer's market, all of the biking that goes on...
Detroit! While D-town has gotten a bad wrap, it really is an amazing city filled with diversity and a great scene. I love the DIA and the fabulous little resteraunts and bars. Not to mention the rockstar feminists that come out of Detroit- shout out to thinkgirl.net!
I agree! Also great about Detroit: it draws people who are disporportionatly creative, innovative, entreprenurial, outside-the-box.
I lived in Boston for a few years, and while I love that place and many of the people there, it can't compare to the sort of pioneering ethic I keep seeing in Motown.
If you ever find yourself in DeKalb IL (and I'm not suggesting you travel there, but if you do) then you must make sure to seek out Ollie's Frozen Custard.
Seconding the Ollie's love! Yay for another DeKalb feminist!
I can't believe there are other poeple from DeKalb on this website.
Are you students? Or do you live here for serious?
Ollie's is awesome.
I live in DeKalb for serious and have never attended NIU. I moved out here 13 years ago for the cheap cost of living.
we should organize some sort of feminist event! I have only lived here for about 1 year and a half, so I don't know very many people outside of work.
You can contact me at bifemmefatale at livejournal dot com and we can talk more--this sounds like fun!
are you still in DeKalb?
I live just outside Kansas City and I love that I have the best of both worlds. I live in an area with a lot of wildlife. I like driving by a field and seeing a flock of wild turkeys or a group of deer. But I also live close enough that I have good places to shop.
If you ever find yourself in Akron, Ohio, you need to get some custard at Srickland's right by the Goodyear Airdock and Derby Downs (where the box car derby is held every year). Then if you're still hungry, get a hamburger from Swenson's and then a pizza from Luigi's downtown!
God how I miss Stricklands!
Oh, I have such a craving for Swenson's! Bacon cheeseburger, extra crispy fries, and a California!
I'm from Minneapolis, born and raised, and I love the progressive politics of my state. The weird humor (MST3K), the Coen Brothers, Prince and Dylan, birthplace of MacGuyver (R.D. Anderson) and Dorothy! (Judy Garland) and a lot of other cool things about my state.
If you ever visit the Twin Cities (skip St. Paul ^_~) and head to First Ave for some music and Hell's Kitchen for some great food.
Amazon Bookstore is a great feminist book co-op and The Smitten Kitten is a queer-friendly, feminist sex toy shop that offers products that are made from environmentally friendly materials that won't hurt your sensitive bits.
Now if Norm Coleman would just give the damn senate seat to Franken!
come on, don't hate on st. paul. we've got decent gay bars, lots of great coffee, a number of good bookstores, some amazing yarn shops, and lots of delicious restaurants! :)
You know I mean it all in friendly Twin City rivalry jest. ;) St. Paul has great stuff, but I am biased towards my hometown.
Haha, I love it! A little Twin Cities rivalry, makes my day! I'm from the Cities as well (a suburb originally and then St Paul and then Minneapolis!) but recently moved to San Francisco for grad school. I find myself constantly saying to my new friends here "Oh! But that's from Minnesota!" Garrison Keillor! The Coen Brothers! Prince! The second largest State Fair in the country! I also find that coming from a state like Minnesota is tied to my identity a little more than coming from California. No one ever says, "Oh, so-and-so is from California" like it means anything.
And I DEFINITELY second loving the progessive politics of the Midwest. I love SF, don't get me wrong, and it is a bastion of liberal mindedness, but somehow progessives in Minnesota feel different and vibrant in a way they don't here. To this day it is hard to even read Paul Wellstone's name without feeling the full weight of the unjust universe. It sucks that we lost him.
Ohhhhh how this MN kid misses home! I second about everything above. Especially the tendency to share when something is from MN... I do that all the time, but never heard someone articulate it before. When I went off to NY for college my best friend from home and I both got the outline of MN tattooed on our ankles! What I wouldn't give for a summer weekend at someone's cabin "Up North."
I grew up in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago, born in Kansas City and spent every summer in Sioux City where all my family lives. Besides missing the amazingly down-to-earth and friendly people, the fantastic food (Portilio's, Yoahan Japanese Super Market, all the fantastic Polish and Ukrainian restaurants downtown, the best BBQ in all the country), and the museums, the thing that makes me most nostalgic is the smell of farms and manure. I know, I know, extremely weird, but after years of roadtripping across miles of cornfields, that smell has become intricately entwined with all my memories of childhood adventures.
I'm throwing out a second for starved rock.
Also, I love, love, LOVE the Great Lakes.
But I live in Chicago so they are very close at hand.
Other fantastic things about Chicago? Early to Bed, The Chicago Diner, the Bleeding Heart Bakery and all of the fantastic (big, small and ethnic, weird) museums.
I grew up on Lake Michigan, in St. Joseph, MI (right across from Chicago). I had this idea as a kid that everybody had beaches and dunes. A cousin from Ohio would say they were bored during the summer, and I'm like, "So go to the beach." I didn't even realize that for most folks, such stunning, HUGE, freshwater lakes are, at most, a vacation.
Haha, so true. I'm so spoiled by the Great Lakes that I don't really like salt water. Although there is something a little ominous about the nuclear power plant hovering over the Michigan dunes...
I love it when people from the coasts make fun of us "landlocked" Midwesterners, and then come to Chicago and are like THAT's the LAKE? Don't they know we do EVERYTHING big in Chi-Town?!?!?!
I never realized how spoiled by the Great Lakes I am until I finally saw the Pacific... driving down the PCH from SF to LA, I was disappointed because it reminded me so much of driving up along Lake Superior. California's great, but I like my lakes. :)
I was hanging out with a friend from Maine on the Atlantic shore, and she asked me how it compared to Lake Michigan.
I think she was disappointed in me saying it was actually pretty similar--vast, no shore in sight, big waves--except there was no salt. I think she wante dme to be more impressed. But honestly, I was always weirded out by the salt. Give me those fresh Great Lakes anyday!
I love it when people from the coasts make fun of us "landlocked" Midwesterners, and then come to Chicago and are like THAT's the LAKE?
I've heard something like that before, to which I usually reply, "Yes, and there's four more of them!"
I'm born and raised Missouri, and now living in Michigan for graduate school.
I love Missouri, despite it being a red state. Missouri politics run deep, as does its culture. There's a certain patience, a drawl to living there. Of course there's a certain urgency to do great things, particularly among our queer and feminist communities, but there's still a necessary attitude of being able to enjoy every moment. Work incredibly hard at day, but don't bring it home. At home, sit on the porch with a beer and your best friends. Watch the sunset.
Interstate 70 runs from Kansas City to St. Louis, and Highway 44 runs along Old Route 66 and all the small towns that sprung up alongside it.
St. Louis is in an incredibly time economically - it's in the beginning (or early middle) of a city wide revitalization effort. The economy is just enough on the bad side that massive downtown buildings can be bought cheaply enough to allow people to make fantastic, wildest-dreamlike ideas and actually making them happen. Check out the City Museum.
I love St. Louis and its horrible, gooey cheese pizza, the Tivoli theater, Ted Drewes frozen custard, Mokabe's amazing queer coffeeshop, sweltering summers, Catholic high schools, outdoor theater at the Muny. Forest Park (bigger than NYC's Central Park). The Cardinals. The big, sprawling city with cultural neighborhoods and North, West, and South Counties.
I love Missouri wine. Highway 19, home to most of the best wineries, winds its way through mid-Mo, and it's one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on. Augusta and Washington are particularly wonderful.
Columbia is a queer haven in the middle of very rural Missouri. It's home to Mizzou, Shakespeare's Pizza, the Cherry Street Artisan coffee shop, SoCo queer bar with amazing drag every Thursday and Friday night, The District. Ragtag Cinema.
Kirksville is also incredible - a small, small town of a vibrant community and a liberal arts state college. Thousand Hills State Park is a beautiful park with a huge lake, picnic areas, and where many a Kville wedding has taken place. The view in the fall, as the leaves turn colors, is unbelievably calming. There's a train bridge about ten miles out of town, and you've never been able to see more stars. The queer community is strong, and the feminist community is active and vibrant. Washington Street Java Company, on the city square, is my favorite coffee shop of all time. Everything is made from scratch, from the bagels, breads, and scones to the salads and quiche. The sun sets in hues of purple.
Kansas City has unbelievable culture. The BBQ is not to be missed. Art museums, Buddhist temple, jazz music, downtown living... it's so vibrant.
And now that I've written a virtual ode to Missouri... I think it's pretty clear I love being a Midwest kid.
Yes, yes, yes! to everything.
I also miss the weather -- I moved from CoMo to Wyoming, and believe it or not, all the sun up here is tiring... I want some rain!
Dude you mentioned Mokabe's! I used to go all there all the time like 15 years ago when it was in Kirkwood. I grew up in ST Louis, moved to North Carolina for grad school and just moved back to the midwest after 13 years (Kansas City this time). I love it here, I never really felt at home anywhere else.
I heart Missouri. There are so many wonderful opportunities in places like St. Louis and KC, even where I am right now, Springfield. I love how there's a huge support for the arts here at Springpatch. Every first Friday, myself and a friend go on the ArtWalk to look at some art, shop, and maybe have some drinks. Springfield has a lot parks too, so there's always one to choose from. On a hot summer day, you can go to Jordan Valley Park and play in the fountains, or on a nice spring day you can head over to Sequiota and explore the caves. There are good places to eat and have fun, and if St. Louis was in another state, I'd probably stay here.
Michigan may have the nation's highest unemployment rate, but it's worth it because I can point out where I live on my hand!
And west Michigan is ultra-conservative, so those of us who actually think can't just abandon the area to the puritans.
Long live west Michigan! Don't give it up. From my native ground, I miss the vineyards and sand dunes, the passion for high school sports, big skies, and the kind of cafes where everybody in town will pass through before the end of the day.
Harumph, Daomadan! Skip Minneapolis - too big and too cold and too many way too hip people who really wish they were living on the coasts. You want to have a taste of the upper Midwest, enjoy Saint Paul. Walleye, the State Fair, the Saints, and sitting at the Saint Paul Grill looking out over Rice Park.
Oh, and our Mayor never led a protest march wearing his pajamas.
How is Minneapolis "too cold" compared to St. Paul??? lol
And I have no idea what the mayor reference is referring to, but I fully intend to google it, because I think a mayor leading a protest in pajamas is awesome. The very thought makes me happy. If our mayor did that, I consider that a point of pride!
You kind of sound like one of those bitter St. Paul people...but then I would be bitter too if everyone thought my neighboring city was the capitol.
by the way, my mom is a St. Paul person, so I say all of the above with the greatest respect :)
Ah, come on now. Don't you now your social goes to St. Paul to die? Minneapolis is the Paris of the Midwest and we've got to represent! ;-)
Ah, I love the rivalry between our two cities. Don't worry, just picking some fun--St. Paul has a lot of great stuff going for it too. I particularly love the MN History Center, the Cathedral, and Heimei's Haberdashy (I mean you don't see many haberdashies anymore).
Ugh, "Don't you know your social life goes..."
I'm typing too fast today.
Amen!!! Minneapolis is the most fabulous city in the world.
Oh! I feel loved. =)
Yes, the cheese curds really are quite excellent--I like them with a bit of ketchup. I'll have to second the commendation of A Woman's Touch (very helpful and nice-looking place), and many other places in this area. I just generally love living in Wisconsin, especially the spring storms and all the little towns around here. Oh yes, and the cheesecake at the 2 Loons Café in Johnson's Creek is the best I've ever had!
Chicago is also great fun; I don't go there often since it's kind of a drive, but the SOFA expo and Art Institute are worth a visit, as well as the museums.
Thanks for this post! I'm a midwesterner. I'm from originally just south of Akron, OH. I lived and went to college in Cleveland. Now I'm in Chicago.
Granted, I don't know other places, but I love the activists of the midwest. I love walking around Chicago. I love the food. God how I love the food. The intellectual/academic community here is fabulous.
Aw you said it all for me! I'm actually from the 'burbs of Minneapolis - which are a rather different breed, but I attend school in the Twin Cities now.
I would like to add that we have some of the most kickass theater in the nation in Minneapolis. I think I read somewhere that we have more theaters than any other city, and quality wise we are usually ranked right behind New York City. Bedlam Theater is one of my favorites and does a lot of innovative work. And you can't not mention the Guthrie Theater.
I am so happy to see something positive about the midwest, we get such a bad rap. Minnesota is totally progressive. Fun fact - we were the only state that didn't go for Reagan in either election, and we have gone for the democrat in every presidential election since '72.
Sadly my home suburb is one of the exceptions in the state and has consistently gone republican for forever. And somehow we still have Michelle Bachmann as a state representative which simply blows my mind. But I really hope we are getting rid of Coleman for Franken.
I meant to add this on to Daomadan's post.
Yep, we have the most theatres after NYC and the highest attendance at theatre and art events outside of NYC. Damn proud of the brilliant theatre we produce here at the Guthrie, Penumbra, Theatre Mu, Bedlam, Theatre Garage...the list goes on and on.
Don't forget the annual Fringe Festival! It's the largest non-juried Fringe Fest in the world (and the overall 3rd largest in North America).
When I came to Minneapolis, I thought I hated theater. Now I volunteer for them.
I'm a Minnesota native, too. Although I was born in Duluth and live in Rochester, I know the most about the Cities. I wouldn't skip St Paul, though, there's the Science Museum, lots of great parks, and the Winter Carnival with ice sculptures (and some years a whole ice castle). Minneapolis has Midori's Floating World cafe, the best sushi and japanese restaurant I've ever been to (they have ample tempura and noodles, too) and Gasthof zur Gemutlichkeit in Nordeast (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast,_Minneapolis), a German restaurant that has live German music every night of the week, Apflekorn, and every server has a snuff board (I haven't had the guts to try yet).
Hey! Now I am homesick, after all this Twin Cities love and friendly poking fun. Let's not forget the Mixed Blood theater, the Electric Fetus, the bagels at Common Roots cafe, Caffe Latte on Grand Ave, the christmas lights on Summit Ave and Rice Park or walking around Lake of the Isles. We've got silly Peanuts statues and the Mississippi river, an extensive skyway network and Minnesotans invented Spam, Post-It Notes and the Tilt-A-Whirl.
Whoo!
Oh! And the Grand Old Fair! (MN State fair for the uninitiated - the largest state fair in the country) Originator of everything you can eat on a stick (the fair website has a search for foods on a stick feature http://fairborne.mnstatefair.org/foodfinder/Results.lasso)- candybars, cheesecake, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, alligator, smores, all on a stick...
So much love! This thread is great.
I was wondering why that giant red line was in the sky....
I'm kidding, but the heart goes like, right over my home town of Springfield, IL. I guess the fact that Lincoln lived there is pretty cool, (I'm in Jacksonville at school right now, it's 40 minutes away.) Also, nowhere else in the U.S. will you find a horseshoe. It's meat on bread topped with fries and cheese. I'm not a fan, unless it's D'arcy's Pint. Their cheese rocks so hard, it got on the food network.
No Indiana love yet??? Indianapolis in the hizouse!
While I can't think of anything that I really LOVE about living here, I have to admit the cost of living is pretty reasonable. And we turned blue this year for the first time in like 40 years. Hellz yeah!
I'm hoping to meet some fellow feminists tomorrow night at the PPYL 80s Prom. Gotta show Planned Parenthood some love!
Indianapolis is always blue! It's the rest of the state that is so dark red. I was so proud of my homestate this year! If you're in Indy, you must eat at Yats, and definitely catch the amazing drag show at Talbot Street if you haven't already. I lived at 47th and Penn, and I loved walking down the street to get groceries where Cork's used to be, and getting brunch with my mom at Patachou's. I also used to work at the Starbucks in Broadripple, and I miss that Starbucks so much. It's much better than any other Starbucks I've been in, not least because it's so close to Good Earth, the Ally Cat, fun vintage shops, Indy CD & Vinyl, Luna's, etc., etc. Oh! And Mama Carolla's has better Italian food than I've had anywhere else in the US.
I've been to Yats, Mama Corollas and Patachou. All very good and worth mentioning...thanks. Some Guys and Bazbeaux have the best pizza around here. Brugges in Broad Ripple is good, fries and beer mmmmmm...
And I'm going to my first drag show at Talbot Street tonight!!! Very excited about that!
Oh my gosh, I love me some Bazbeaux! My favorite is the Neptune.
My favorite thing about Ohio is that I can watch the sun come up out of the earth and set back down into the earth, with no mountains or buildings or oceans in the way. AND I can eat frozen custard with fresh strawberries while watching said sunset, mmm...and chocolate buckeyes and apple fritters..
chocolate buckeyes for the win!
My dad is originally from Cincinnati and I still have a lot of family there and I love the chili! Hands down, Cincinnati chili is my favorite kind. I prefer Skyline myself.
Also, Graeter's ice cream? My mom and I would go just to get their coconut ice cream.
Has anyone mentioned Chicago pizza? The best hands-down. But Chicago is full of all kinds of great ethnic food -- Middle Eastern, Mexican, Asian ...
I grew up near Joliet and went to college in Blm-Norm. And, yes, like others I miss Starved Rock Park, the endless sky, the tall-grass prairie, the diversity, the pragmatism of Midwesterners, lots of friends and family, fields of soy beans in the fall -- beautiful! -- and of course, all Chicago has to offer. Anthony Bourdain is right; there really are only two metropolises in America.
Chocolate buckeyes are pretty much the best. thing. ever.
I live in northeast Ohio, and gorgeous Lake Erie is only a short drive away, as well as covered bridges, wineries, gorgeous country, etc., but then you can always go enjoy the city life, too.
I love the people in the midwest - always so friendly, helpful, and down to Earth.
I have lived in the Metro Detroit suburbs all my life. Although I may complain, I love that I get to experience summer and winter, sometimes in the same week. Michigan has Lays Potato Chips, Faygo Pop, Vernor's Ginger Ale and Red Wings hockey. Detroit has produced Motown music and Michigan has some really good educational institutions, which are both big state schools and smaller private colleges.
The economic downturn really does suck, but don't forget the Motorcity introduced some really cool looking cars for years.
I love the Midwest!
Faygo Pop! I'm so glad you brought that up, could be the absolute best thing about living in MI.
I'm originally from Cincinnati, which is condered the most midwestern southern city, or the most southern midwestern city. I was always told it was the midwest, so i'll shout out some Cincinnati love really quickly.
Skyline chili, Graeter's Ice Cream, the beautiful views of the city from the top of any hill (that's right, it's not flat!) the parks, the river, the labor day webn fireworks, and having a good sense of humor about the fact that Jerry Springer was our mayor for a little while in the 70s!
I also lived in Athens, OH and Oberlin, OH and love both of those towns.
Yes! Skyline chili and Graeter's ice cream.
Also, don't they call Cincinnati the "Rome of the Midwest" or something because of the seven hills?
As a native of Dallas, and a fairly recent transplant to the Midwest: Madison! (and other places in WI ;) )
The Madison Farmer's Market, UW Madison(!), the New Glarus Brewing Co., Olbrich Gardens & it's free/$1 for the conservatory admission, Fighting Bob Fest, 92.1 The Mic & Lee Rayburn, the UW Arboretum, Vilas Zoo & it's awesome free admission, and finally Russ Feingold. (who is slowly rehabilitating me after years of being stuck with John Cornyn.)
My instructor last semester in the Women & Gender Studies department at Mizzou is a member of the Burly Q-Revue. :) Good to see that link on the site. The performances are very political and empowering. Loved it.
I wouldn't consider St. Louis the Midwest, even though it is the Gateway to the Midwest. My own thinking. (I dislike St. Louis & further dislike St. Louisians as I further my education at Mizzou) . The thrifting in Kansas City is the best in Missouri. Salvation Army Superstore, DAV, & Goodwill in Northland of Kansas City is legit & always has a great find.
Ragtag Cinema, Shakespeares, SPARKYS ICE CREAM!, Artisan, McNally Mondays. Columbia is my home away from Home.
Oh, I forgot Ragtag! And how awesome that it is Ragtag-Uprise Bakery-9th St. Video now?!
I love all the shoutouts for Columbia here -- it really is a unique place in the middle of nowhere! I miss it so...
I have lived in Iowa for most of my life. My best, favorite things are:
1. Auctions - farm and little old lady stuff
2. Small town football friday nights
3. Growing my own veggies - planning my summer garden now.
Thanks for mentioning Happy Joes! I haven't been there in years and now I can't stop thinking about it.
Any Nebraska love out there?
I love living in Omaha... there is something exhilarating about being a liberal in a very conservative state- great to band together with others and fight the good fight!
and the FOOOOD.... to die for! Mama's, Rivera's, the Dell, M's, Upstream, La Casa... I could go on and on... and on.
And it's cliche for Omahans to do... but gotta give a shout out to Conor Oberst and the other musical masterminds of Bright Eyes
add in the rest of Saddle Creek records while you're at it!
You totally forgot to mention Blue Line Coffee !
Ahh, thanks so much for giving the midwest a little love! There are soooo many great things here as everyone has mentioned and I'd like to name a few more:
First, another shout out to Starved Rock! This is such a beautiful park near my hometown Ottawa...it is amazing how many beautiful places you will find in Illinois, creeks, sunsets, sunrises, trees, farm land, waterfalls...oh the list goes on.
Also, for those of you headed to Chicago, definitely check out the Bleeding Heart Bakery, you will have the bEsT vegan cupcake of your life here!
Chicago is also great for Women and Children First, Chicago's feminist bookstore. They have so many events and wonderful staff just like many of the great midwestern feminist bookstores already mentioned.
The activism and passion in the midwest is great! People here are going to take the time to get involved because it means something very dear to them, making movements and organizations full of wonderful people (although tired at times)!
It would be great to see feministing focus on some more midwest events and happenings! It will never cease to amaze me when I hear of a seemingly random group of people aiming to make a difference.
Seconding Women & Children First. I bought my first Ani CD there.
My grandpa was from Ottawa and we had tons of family picnics at Starved Rock! Nothing like cold fried chicken and potato salad eaten on top of a rocky outcropping. :-)
Hehe. Cool post. I grew up in Wisconsin and I have to second your best-cheese-ever sentiment, especially when it's fresh cheese from little local dairies. The one other big thing I'm proud of is the Midwest's universities and unashamedly liberal capital cities. My feminism was nurtured at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a veritable bastion of awesome professors and activists, especially at Planned Parenthood, and home to the Ph.D. in Women's History, pioneered by Gerda Lerner, and home to the first university dance program in the country, pioneered by Margaret H'Doubler. I also miss having a liberal governor (fuck you, Pawlenty).
I miss Madison's Saturday Farmers' Markets. And I miss Lakes Monona and Mendota, even if they were gross-looking and washed up dead fish in the summer occasionally.
And I miss the bars and the beer, and drinking beer on the lake at the Memorial Union Terrace. Hehe. Gotta be honest.
Born and raised in Michigan living in Indiana. I love the midwest. The people are friendly (but not fake-creepy friendly) and they'll still tell you what they really think. I like historic districts, county courthouses, farmers markets and the fact that people here can shrug off half a foot of snow in one night because it'll be 50 degrees next week.
Raised in a farmtown with a population of 129, including cattle, I moved to Columbia, MO (or CoMO) at 18 to attend MIZZOU. It was here that Feminism presented itself to me via the wonderful women (and some men) of the Women's Center (Vagina Monologues, Love Your Body Day and everyday positive, feminist attitudes). For a smallish town it has a pretty large population of awesome radicals. I feel that Midwest social justice activists work harder...but that's just me, and I'm biased:) Shout out to my good friends in the Burly Q Revue (Strubs and Katie Blair) who teach and inspire with every performance. Shout out to the Center Project, a group that has been working for 5 years to open the first LGBTQ Community Center that will serve all the surrounding Mid-MO rural areas, and just signed a lease! (thecenterproject.org) And, yes, shout out to the Midwest BBQ, Midwest Pizza and Midwest Draaawwww accent.
I grew up in Metro Detroit. I don't live there now, but the Midwest will always be a part of me. So, let's see:
Chicago-style pizza
Tony Packo's Sweet Hot Pickles & Peppers
Vernors
The Great Lakes (of course!)
Paczki from the Hamtramck bakeries
And that's just a few...
Yeah Hamtramck! Probably most ethnically diverse small town in the nation! Schoolkids in Hamtramck, MI have 26 different native languages--in a city of 20,000 people.
THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING CHICAGO PIZZA
i scrolled through this thread in disbelief that no one had mentioned it. chicago pizza ftw
Born and raised in Chicago. Love the great lakes. Swimming in salt water feels weird to me. Western Michigan has incredibly beautiful beaches. I love how the grassy dunes give way to oak forest. Superior is really a freshwater sea; cold, deep and often choppy.
Sometime when the economy improves Spouse, our two kids and I will move to Iowa City. It is unfortunately land-locked, but otherwise is a great, livable city. There is a wide selection of restaurants, a vibrant arts community and good schools. Though I'll always be a Chicagoan, I'll be proud to call myself an Iowan as well.
As an East Coast native who transplanted herself to Minnesota, then Wisconsin, here's my Midwest Love Top 10:
1) Atmosphere
2) The Louisiana Cafe (sweet potato fries ... mmm)
3) The Chocolate Shop of Madison and Grand Old Creamery in St. Paul
4) Progressive Politics
5) Squeaky cheese curds
6) Bayfield, WI and the Apostle Islands
7) Sawatdee in St. Cloud, MN - still the best Thai place I've found anywhere
8) Big blue skies
9) How Minnesota has some of the best domestic violence laws and service programs in the country
10) Midwest nice, even if it's fake
Yes! I adore Atmosphere...best kept Midwestern music secret, although I hear they are now making inroads to the rest of the US with the latest album/tour. Love that intelligent, lyrical, poetic, and just damn real hip-hop. :)
Long live west Michigan! So much to love, so much that grates. Don't give it up. I miss the vineyards and sand dunes.
Hear Hear! Born and raised on the east side of Michigan, I am now a true believer in Grand Rapids and western michigan. It might not be perfect but it's home. You can't deny Martha's Vineyard and Yesterdog!
And I agree, we do have some of the best thrifting in the country.
Cincinnati Chili (I like it all)
Jake Speed & The Freddies (local Cincy band)
Delicious Burgers at Hink's (Sycamore, IL)
I grew up in South Dakota (which I hesitate to include in the midwest catagory since that would relegate it to somewhere other than the f'ing middle of nowhere!!!) My high school graduating class had 35 kids in it! Maybe I'm still resentful of the crazies in this state who have tried to take away our right to choose twice in the last 4 years...but I'm having a hard time thinking of good reasons to stay here. The second I gradutate I am out of here...maybe to somewhere else in the Midwest that has a population!
hoorah! this post and everyone's comments made me a little homesick...i grew up in ohio and lived in minneapolis (my favorite city ever) before i moved to seattle last year...where no one knows about cheesy potato casserole, no-bake cookies, and cold weather.
ah midwest...wide open spaces and hidden gems everywhere.
and nicer people.
Don't forget Ann Arbor, MI! Lived there for five years, during and after college, and it pretty much turned my world over.
Things to love about Ann Arbor:
Shaman Drum Bookshop
Univ. of Michigan sports
The outdoorsy feel of an artsy city--there's all kinds of trees and the Huron River and trails and so on
The farmers markets
The Residential College at U of M--an amazing, creative educational experience www.rc.lsa.umich.edu
Zingerman's
The Arb
Phenomenal music and theater
A college campus where student activism is vibrant and healthy
The Prison Creative Arts Project
A^2 definitely rocks! I lived there for 7 years myself, and if I were to return to Michigan, Ann Arbor would be at the top of my list.
t-bex - NO CHEESY POTATO CASSAROLE!@! No person should be forced to live without that.
I actually didn't know that was a midwest thing.
I grew up in Indianapolis, IN and now live in Chicago, IL. Meeting people from other parts of the country, as one often does in a city like Chicago, I hear so many of them remark at how chilled out we are... how, for the most part, people are much more down to earth. Moving here from Indy, I was not expecting this. But, at the first party I was invited to after moving here, they were playing Cornhole (you know you're from the MIdwest when..)! And I instantly felt at home. Corn hole is freaking huge up here. Bars have tournaments and everything. I realized that behind its big city veneer, Chicago is really just a midwestern town.
Sometimes I miss Indy, and maybe one day I'll move back. The cost of living is awesome, and because it's so small and largely conservative, the queer community is hella intimate and tight-knit. See, there are advantages to only have three gay bars to rotate between. :o)
You are all making me homesick for the Midwest now! :-( I miss driving along rural highways through wooded vales Hancock County in Illinois, the vinegar pie at Maid-Rite in Quincy. Standing underneath a beautiful summer sky that stretches endlessly to the horizon watching the clouds roll by. I miss the harvest-time dinners and dozens of types of jello salads shared with my extended family in NE Iowa. (And also thanks for the Happy Joes shout-out, Ann!)
Of course I also can't forget the many little hole-in-the-wall restaurants that Chicago and its surrounding area has. I don't think that my childhood would have been the same without occasional trips to little hot dog shacks! Texas has some great places for Mexican food but so does Chicago!
awh, i miss the midwest. i miss the Mississippi valley blues fest, the Sugar Grove Corn Boil, fox valley blues events, going into chicago to see the lights at the lincoln park zoo at christmas time and riding a horse drawn carriage around the city :)
also: culver's. they had the best ice cream ever. my grandma and i would stop there after work sometimes. great memories :)
Sugar Grove corn boil? Holy cow, there are a lotta locals on this site!
What is with all the Happy Joe's love? The man is locally notorious as an anti-choicer who has worked actively to prevent women's health cinics from opening in his town. Now that there is a clinic open across the street from his HQ he welcomes protesters who want to hang out on his property and harass everyone entering or leaving the clinic. I'm sorry, I had my childhood birthday parties at Happy Joe's but you couldn't pay me to eat there now.
But midwestern thrift stores really are better than anywhere else in the country. Spot on, Ann.
To everyone else's contributions I would add:
- fair food
- affordable local music shows and musically diverse scenes that (gasp!) actually interact amongst themselves
- most things dairy, especially SDSU's dairy bar and the extremely unfortunately named Whitey's ice cream
- weather that serves as a community building experience
- good, cheap beer--I took Shiner to a bar in northwest Iowa that had Fat Tire on tap for $3 a pint, he was sure he'd heard the bill wrong. Also home to Bell's, Superior, Summit, Fitgers, Stone City, and Surley breweries, among many others. Sorry, non-Midwesterners, some of these aren't distributed widely. We keep the good stuff close to home.
I had no idea about the founder's political beliefs! I suppose this is a hazard of writing about businesses you mostly patronized before you were politically conscious...
It's the same with Oberweis Dairy products...
The BEST milk and ice cream I have ever had but Jim Oberweis, the owner, runs for congress in Illinois with some regularity on a conservative, anti-choice platform.
Fortunately, the people of IL seem to think he ought to stick to ice cream, as he has lost every election he has run in.
Born and raised in central Minnesota! Even though I love Boston, there are some things I majorly miss:
- Old Dutch Dill Pickle Potato Chips!!! (Don't knock 'em til you've tried 'em!
- squeaky cheese curds - hear, hear!
- the lakes (swimming, boating, tubing, fishing, ice skating)
- the small-town Minn. sense of community
- our fun/crazy politics: Governor Jesse Ventura and (almost) Senator Al Franken, anyone?
- Coco wheats
- cheap booze!
You've made me homesick too! I grew up in Keokuk, Iowa, in the SE corner. I've lived in Chicago and St. Louis as well.
I miss:
Chicago Diner, Lincoln Park, the Lake, Sterzings Potato Chips, THUNDERSTORMS, fall colors, green summers, endless blue skies, fields of corn, huge gardens full of vegetables, chickens running around the farm, cheap rents and housing prices (but not heating and cooling expenses), potato pancakes, chilli with two ls, chilli-mac, the Chuck Wagon cafe in Keokuk, the George M. Verity riverboat museum, the Mississippi river, Chief Keokuk, Gate City Seed Company, beans and cornbread, general stores with penny candy, rock roads, the adventure of the out house, pumping water at my great grandma's house and bathing in a metal tub, riding a tractor, pragmatism, getting straight to the point, unlocked front doors and neighborliness, Basco, IL fireworks, St. Louis arches, picking morel mushrooms every spring, bringing in the cows with Grandpa and having my own walking stick, the summer street fair and hay rides.
We think about moving to Iowa City maybe when the recession is over. I wonder what heating costs are now and if they offset the savings in rent, and what wages and jobs are like there normally. Sigh...
Dude! My grandma lives in Ft. Madison!
The internet is a tiny, tiny place.
oh man, this is the best thing feministing has ever done for me. finally, some midwest recognition.
-stuffed pizza
-old style beer
-chicago sports (go sox!)
-chicago's incredible parks, many of which were designed by the likes of daniel burnham and frederick law olmsted. also the university of chicago campus
-indiana dunes, and the great lakes in general. people from the coasts just don't get it.
chicago also has an incredible diversity of progressives, with places like early to bed, casa aztlan, women and children first, etc. we have an amazing punk and hardcore diy tradition than continues today.
not to mention, our first black president.
i agree with everyone who has said that midwest feministing readers/posters should try to get it together
I'm an Oregonian, but I can definitely relate to a love for cheese curds! We used to have a cheese factory on the coast in the tiny town of Bandon that made cheese curds but sadly it was bought out by Tillamook, which does not make cheese curds. I really miss cheese curds. =x
No matter where I go, I will always love Illinois (home, sweet, home) and the whole of the midwest.
-The people are down to earth and friendly.
-Blind Faith, Evanston, IL
-The special brand of pride (haha)that comes from having our Governor indicted and our senator become president within the same few months.
-Bringing the funny...definitely the best improv theater in the country
Really, home is where the heart is and my heart is with Illinois.
I went to college in Kirksville, and drown down to Columbia for so many weekends that I just had to move here when I was done. Now I live right off the MKT and love that I can bike downtown without having to cross any streets.
And the CoMo farmer's markets are the best I've seen. Local, fresh, and almost entirely organic, not to mention cheap!
I grew up in Northwest Indiana; went to college in Iowa; lived in Chicago for 10 years and am now in the Indianapolis area.
Like the folks above, I LOVE my Lake Michigan. I grew up among the sand dunes on the lake's south shore and miss the area greatly, now that I am landlocked.
Also...
- The Chicago skyline
- Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood
- Of course, the food!
- Good greasy, fried shrimp and catfish
- Chicago-style polishes
- Deep-dish pizza
- The best Italian beef on earth
Creepy Hoosier friendliness
Gotta love that Midwest Teen Sex Show!!!! One of the funniest things I've ever seen. My mother agrees =)
Kansas City Jazz!
The Blue Room at 18th & Vine is my favorite spot.
I grew up in the KC area but go to school in Oklahoma City. I'm graduating in May and can't wait to move back!
Oh, and euchre: "Pick it up, I'm going alone."
I moved from Baltimore to Bowling Green, Ohio a few years ago and although the Midwest will never truly be my home (I miss the mountains!), I have to say that there is a lot to love about it. Every time I go back east I am struck by how much less sincere, helpful, and friendly people are. I get really tired of all the people who move here from out of state and spend their entire time just bitching about how much it sucks. The Midwest has a lot to offer if you just let go and learn to enjoy life!
Ohhhhh my gawd.... I've been in the Northeast for 7 months, and this thread makes me very happy/sad. Goddess bless A Room of One's Own and the Smitten Kitten.
Also, what's wrong with food? Beer. Cheese. Repeat. If you think velvetta and Labatt's Blue has anything to do with that, you need to get out more.
Oh jeez, this thread is killing me (positively).
I grew up in Duluth, MN, though I'm living on the West coast these days. I miss dramatic weather (the thought of thunderstorms makes my heart squeeze), seasons, Big Top Chautauqua, scalloped corn, the Aerial Lift Bridge/Park Point, eye contact with people you don't know, family, earnestness, music festivals in big fields, and feeling comfortable wearing whatever.
I moved before I became political, but I'm looking forward to someday exploring what my home state has to offer in terms of activism. Go go Midwest.
zomg Park Point! One of my favoritest places in the world!!
I've been a Midwest girl all my life and, for better or worse, I love it here in MO. Born and raised just outside KC, I now go to school at Mizzou, this place has opened me up to so many opportunities. I'm an employee at the University Women's Center where my bosses and all of my co-workers are amazing feminists. I'm so lucky to be here in Columbia. It can be frustrating to live in a red state, but going to school in a town that's a liberal stronghold definitely makes up for it.
I also have a love-affair with Wisconsin, my mother's home-state. It's a beautiful and underrated state, just like MO. It holds so many great memories for me. Thank you so, so much for giving the Midwest some props. Sometimes it feels like the rest of the country over looks us out here and it's uplifting to see all the positive comments.
I'm never leaving Milwaukee. Born and bred here, I've got almost everything I could ever want here. Currenly I'm at UWM, seriously considering Women's Studies as my major, and I'm never living farther than Chicago to my hometown. I love WISCONSIN!!!! I've got a Sconnie t-shirt, Milwaukee wear, and things are just dandy. I've never eaten anything but Wisconsin cheese (to all you Californians, I'm sorry, but Happy Cows come from Wisconsin (lmao)) or Wisconsin beer. I'm German and Polish, some of my family are socialists, and I love it here!!!
I almost forgot to mention Lake Michigan!!!! sdfja;dlfjadslfkjadslfj what is wrong with me? haha jk.
I moved to Arizona from Indianapolis, and I miss Yats, Talbot Street, the hub of philanthropy in that city, the awesome vintage stores, Broadripple's arty scene, being really close to Cincinnati, which has Graeters ice cream.
Nothing is more beautiful than a clear North Dakota sky in the winter away from the city. Hands down the closest I have ever gotten to experiencing the sublime.
However, I do not miss the -47 with wind-chill winter weather.
(Oh, Fargo born and raised, btw.)
HOW have we missed Ruffalo's pizza in Pleasant Prairie WI??
Amazing!
Oh god, what a fantastic thread!! I'm living in San Francisco now, and while I love it, I think Chicago will always have my heart. I grew up in Aurora, then moved into Chicago for college and lived there until I moved out here...
I miss:
Thunderstorms (oh my god, yes..)
Deep dish pizza
Midwestern folks
Lincoln Square in October
Women and Children First
Early to Bed (Good Vibrations doesn't begin to compare)
The dyke scene there - the dyke march still feels political
The grid system!!!
The CTA (and goodness knows, I never thought I'd ever say that)
All the wonderful museums
The Chicago skyline and the lakeshore in summer time...
I LOVE HAPPY JOE'S PIZZA!! I had a birthday there once when I was like 4, I believe it was in Grand Forks, ND, and as we were leaving, the Happy Joe's dalmatian dog was standing outside with his "head" off smoking a cigarette. Classy.