City Mouse Goes to the Country

To be fair, this really should say Suburban Mouse, but City just sounds so much better. And, although I live in the suburbs of Boston now, I have spent a fair amount of time living and working in the city.

As promised, and requested...I thought I would share a few thoughts on the differences between Massachusetts and Iowa (including western Illinois, as we drove from Chicago to get there). Hubby, my mom and I were there last weekend to attend the wedding of my cousin—the middle daughter of Mom's little brother.

For a little background, my mom and her family grew up on a farm in upstate NY, which slowly evolved into a giant suburb outside of Albany which I call my hometown. Anyone heard of Clifton Park? My dad's family is from a rural part of south-central NY. So I am no stranger to rural areas.

Hubby, on the other hand, was born and raised inside 128 (95 for people not from here). It's a beltway that circles Boston. His grandparents, parents, brother, and us, all still live inside. (although, for a brief period, Hubby owned a house outside the circle, cause it was the only place he could afford).

OK, enough background...here are some points of comparison I found interesting and humorous.

Parking:
- At Logan Airpot, short term parking costs $3/half hour for up to three hours ($18)

- O'Hare, short term parking costs $2/hour for up to three hours ($6)

- In Boston, I often have to shimmy my way out of my car once I've crammed myself into a parking spot. I drive a PT Cruiser. It's a tiny car people!

- In Iowa, we rented a giant boat of a car. The doors were so big, I couldn't reach the handle when they were fully open. They never hit the neighboring car. These are parking spaces sized for pick-up trucks. Unfortunately for us, our other car is actually a Chevy Silverado.

Highway Scenery:
- In Massachusetts, driving down I-90W (which, is the longest interstate in the country, if I remember correctly from my days of designing travel almanacs for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store.) you see twists and turns, hills, trees, and cliffs. You will drive through the highest point on the highway until you get to the west coast (in the Berkshires near the MA/NY border). The farthest you can probably see is three miles. but usually, it's less than a football field before the trees or the cliffs get in the way. Unless you are just leaving Boston, you will not have to stop and pay a toll until you exit the highway, or leave the state. There are at least 4 rest stops in about a 2 hour stretch of highway.

- In Western Illinois, driving down I-88W, you will see corn, corn, and more corn. It is incredible! One of the wedding guests commented that out of towners always exclaim about the corn. Now, it's not that we've never seen corn. Did white people discover corn in Mass thanks to the Native Americans? We have corn mazes, and farm stands on street corners. We love corn. What is amazing to us is that you can see seemingly forever (fifteen miles or so?), into horizon. And filling up that entire distance is corn. Nothing but corn. We don't experience the horizon here in Mass, unless we are at the coast, and then it's only in one direction. Oh, and there was only one rest stop in three hours.

Brew Pubs & Burgers:
- In Boston, we are proud of our beer. There are several local breweries, and lots of brew pubs that make sure you know they have brewed their own beer with the giant kegs that hang over your head. There are always locally brewed beers on tap. If you want a burger and fries to go with your beer, it will probably cost about $12.99.

- In Muscatine, we went to a place called the Missipi Brewing Company. Not a giant keg in site. But, they did have a shelf lining one full wall displaying a variety of beer cans from over the years. (we don't drink beer in cans here, at least in the beer snob crew in which I run). They did have a nice summer brew on tap, but they did not brew it. The burger and fries cost $3.99.

Nightlife:
- In Waltham (population 60,000+), where I live, located along the Charles river, the downtown area is lined with restaurants of any and every ethnicity. If you want to go out on a Friday night to eat, be prepared to drive around for awhile to find a spot. At least the meters shut off at 6pm. The streets are always hoping with people.

- In Muscatine (population 20,000+) right along the Mississippi river, we saw two other restaurants aside from the one we chose. One was Thai! There were no people outside on the streets. We pulled right up to a parking meter on an empty street that had shut off at 5pm.

Hats:
- In Boston, everyone owns a hat with a "B." Mine is pink with a blue "B" which I wear at the beach, because I just don't care about baseball. I'm just thinking now, shouldn't it be an "R" for the Redsox? But everyone knows what it means. These hats are worn low, tight to the head. Often, they are purchased to size and are not adjustable.

- In Iowa, men were tractor style caps, with vented panels on the back. These hats have big plastic adjustable tabs in the back, and are worn high on the forehead. They display logos like John Deere or some other farm equipment company.

Carbonated Beverage:
- In Boston, we call it Soda (although some in the greatest generation will call it tonic. This confuses me. Tonic is something to which I add vodka or gin and a lime). I will admit, that somewhere between Syracuse and Rochester, NY, this changes to the midwestern thinking.

- In Iowa, it it called Pop. To me, that is someone's grandfather.

Housing:
- In my little suburb, a 1400SF house will hit the market for $450k. You might be lucky enough to get it for just under $400k. You will be even luckier if it has a garage. And bonus if that garage is attached to the house. It will not fit a pick-up. A PT Cruiser will be a tight squeeze. It is unlikely that any midwestern visitors will be able to stand up full height on your second floor. Do you watch Family Guy? That house is exactly what we have here, in great abundance. We were so lucky not to buy one. (As an aside, I have these theory from my younger, single, bar hoping days that corn-fed midwesterners of scandinavian decent stand heads above potato-fed Bostonians of Irish decent. The guys here are stocky and have no necks. You can always spot the midwestern guy in the crowd, cause you can see him above everyone else!

- In Muscatine, my cousin just bought a 2500SF house with a three car garage for less than the asking price of $169k. You would be lucky to get a studio condo here for that much.

All right. That's all I've got. I may have had more, but blogger crashed and didn't save my original post that took me 40 minutes to write. This is my best attempt at recreation! Grrr!

Anyway, we had a fantastic time visiting my family who we haven't seen in three years since my wedding. But we're not in a rush to go back. I have one single cousin left. He's 23. It should be awhile, right? Although, people do tend to marry a lot earlier out there too, I'm told.

So, what about you? Any good east coast/midwest thoughts to share?

One thing I do know we have in common right now is this heat wave. Hope everyone is staying cool. I'm off to a friends for an afternoon swim!