# Geography is apparently a lost art, sorry, skill
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [March 1, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118 "2026-03-01T19:43:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/61 "2026-03-02T22:30:51Z")
> [@Johanna](#):
>
> That’s odd, I associate Chess with Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, etc.
I associate Chess with _One Night in Bangkok_, and the rest of the album(s).
---
### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/62 "2026-03-02T22:40:46Z")
> [@snowthx](#):
>
> Florida also has a “Bay Area” to add to the confusion.
Very true. And if you say “Tampa Bay,” most non-Floridians will incorrectly assume “City of Tampa”.
My elementary schooling largely ignored geography; I constantly work at learning what I failed to learn in childhood. I suspect I’m not the only American for whom this is true.
---
### Author:  [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/63 "2026-03-02T22:51:21Z")
Can y’all spot the flaw in this logo?…
[ ](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%2Fid%2FOIP.RM_U9NMoNZ_AZHY90KkU9gHaEk%3Fpid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=ad36c987187e672a36a46d5321aa53d3587402bdf06d19b41db27128259525c1&ipo=images)
---
### Author:  [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/64 "2026-03-02T22:52:15Z")
Gateway to the West, hence Gateway Arch
---
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/65 "2026-03-02T23:28:20Z")
You know what’s always annoyed me about American geography? The fact that the Great Lakes don’t drain into the Mississippi-Missouri basin. I mean, its sources are right there! No mountains or anything in the way! It’s just… wrong.
I say we dam the St. Lawrence and see what happens.
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2026, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/66 "2026-03-02T23:44:50Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> As a SoCal native, “back east” began at the eastern border of CA. And so included AZ & NV as part of the irrelevant “east.”
To a Montanan, a “Californian” (or various other less polite terms) is someone from anywhere other than Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, the Dakotas, Alberta, Saskatchewan, or Alaska.
> [@enipla](#):
>
> Ohio is NOT Midwest by any means of the term.
>
> Colorado is Midwest. Ohio is NOT.
No, Colorado isn’t Midwest; it’s West.
> [@enipla](#):
>
> Really this all happenend with the westward move of our country. Ohio was at one point very west. It’s not any more.
Like, we all remember that Wild West sharpshooter, Annie Oakley? Ohioan.
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> You know what’s always annoyed me about American geography? The fact that the Great Lakes don’t drain into the Mississippi-Missouri basin. I mean, its sources are right there! No mountains or anything in the way! It’s just… wrong.
>
> I say we dam the St. Lawrence and see what happens.
Chicago pretty much did see what happens. They reversed the direction of the Chicago River, so that the city’s sewage would keep moving down a river, and not just accumulate in a mostly-static lake.
---
### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/67 "2026-03-03T00:06:40Z")
Hey, that’s _my_ line.
---
### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/68 "2026-03-03T00:06:57Z")
I lived there 20 years and will always have a soft spot for the Saint Louis, warts and all.
It’s been described as the northernmost outpost of the South, the southernmost outpost of the North, the westernmost outpost of the East, and the easternmost outpost of the West.
If the 1950s-2010s USA had a cultural center of gravity, it was there.
---
### Author:  [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/69 "2026-03-03T00:28:35Z")
> [@garygnu](#):
>
> Hey, that’s _my_ line.
No joke, not lying, I originally @'d you. I had included:
> @garygnu knows what I’m talking about.
Then I deleted it because I didn’t want to pester you.
---
### Author:  [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/70 "2026-03-03T01:52:17Z")
No saguaro cactus or mesas in El Paso. The city is built around the Franklin Mountains however.
---
### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/71 "2026-03-03T01:56:30Z")
Yes, but are there saguaro cactus (cacti?) or mesas in _Old_ El Paso?
---
### Author:  [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/72 "2026-03-03T01:58:15Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> _Old_ El Paso?
I’ve never been there, to be honest, I always just pass it.
---
### Author:  [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/73 "2026-03-03T02:59:39Z")
and southeastern is Appalachian
---
### Author:  [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/74 "2026-03-03T03:09:42Z")
> [@snowthx](#):
>
> Can y’all spot the flaw in this logo?…
Is it that something “Established 1938” isn’t all that old, as those things go?
---
### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/75 "2026-03-03T03:15:06Z")
> [@snowthx](#):
>
> Can y’all spot the flaw in this logo?
It’s missing [Marty Robbins and a Mexican girl!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWm5WErkffQ)
[ ](https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d0000b2736eba6b88b711cad48797b7af)
---
### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/76 "2026-03-03T04:24:35Z")
> [@fedman1](#):
>
> and southeastern is Appalachian
Yes it is. Cedar Hill on the eastern border of Cleveland is the escarpment at the western edge of the whole Appalachian system. Where I grew up. Now I live on the Virginia Piedmont, by the corresponding eastern edge (the fall line). My pioneer ancestors started out near here in Maryland in the 18th century, then settled on top of the Allegheny Ridge after the Revolution, and several generations later my grandmother moved from Homestead to Cleveland. Only for me to reverse the entire migration. I like the symmetry and closure of it all.
---
### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/77 "2026-03-03T04:41:41Z")
Popular Bumper Sticker ‘round these parts…
There is only One Great Lake… Tahoe
---
### Author:  [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/78 "2026-03-03T04:57:37Z")
> [@Johanna](#):
>
> Cedar Hill on the eastern border of Cleveland is the escarpment at the western edge of the whole Appalachian system
Really? My parents grew up in Cleveland Heights, off Cedar Road, maybe Cedar and Lee.
So instead of midwesterners they’re hillbillies; can Jews be hillbillies? It would also explain the first cousin marriages a few generations ago…
---
### Author:  [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/79 "2026-03-03T11:36:31Z")
[Here’s a map that separates regions by accent.](https://aschmann.net/AmEng/) According to it Ohio is “Central Midland”.
---
### Author:  [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2026, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118/80 "2026-03-03T11:44:46Z")
No, it’s a geography-related thing.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118.md?page=3)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-is-apparently-a-lost-art-sorry-skill/1028118.md?page=5)