I am currently living out of the country, and have an ongoing argument with an American friend of mine. He is from Michigan and I am from Texas. We both think our homes are on the “third coast” of America. He believes the third coast is the Great lakes, and I am certain that the third coast would obviously be, after the East and West coasts, the Gulf coast. He claims he won the argument because the first thing that pops up when you do a google search for “third coast” is a Michigan literary magazine, even though there are more references to the Gulf coast being the third coast. One of our mutual friends told me the other day, “I can’t believe you lost that argument with Jim about the third coast…” Michigan boy all talking smack, I didn’t lose the argument… Who’s right?
I’ve never heard the expression “third coast.”
That said, it seems to me that the Gulf should win, since the Great Lakes are really several coasts.
I must say, your use of google to settle this kind of dispute is questionable.
I’m not seeing this, either way. The Great Lakes are the north coast, not the third coast. And the Gulf Coast is just part of the Atlantic coast.
If that doesn’t help, how about this: Which is the First Coast?
Michigan, Wisconsin et al: North Coast
Texas, Louisiana et al: South Coast
Happy?
Are you saying the Gulf of Mexico is really just the Atlantic Ocean? Hmmm. Maybe the Mediterranean is too, and the Bay of Biscay, and the North Sea, and any other body of water connected to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Gulf of Mexico is indeed part of the Atlantic Ocean, as is the Bay of Biscay, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. What else would they be?
The Mediterranean, on the other hand, is concidered by geographers to be a separate ocean.
After all, this discussion is similar to the one about the difference between an island and a continent, i.e. totally arbitrary distinctions.
And now back to the OP. If there such a thing as a “third coast” it can be nothing but the Gulf of Mexico as the word coast means the land adjacent to a sea.
This is probably more a matter of opinion than fact, but I’ll leave it here for now.
I t makes sense to me that the third coast would be the coast of the third ocean that borders the USA, i.e, the Arctic coast of Alaska.
The slang term ‘third Coast’ is widely known as Texas, and has been adopted into the hip-hop subculture. See here
If America was to have a third coast, it does seem that it would start on the SE side of Texas.
“Third Coast” (and, around Cleveland (and Duluth?), “North Coast”) came into the Great Lakes lexicon after the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway allowed ocean-going freighters to visit Great Lakes seaports.
On a technicality, mentioned above, I would say that the Great Lakes “coast” usage fails simply because the word coast implies ocean frontage, not just ocean access. This, of course, gets blurry when one substitutes sea for ocean and refers to the Great Lakes as freshwater seas. (The South Shore Skeptics of Cleveland adopted their name in reaction to the “North Coast,” noting they were on the “south shore” of Lake Erie.) However, there is ample usage in English (or English translations from other languages) where coast is used to mean national border, and the Great Lakes (saving Michigan) qualify on that point, leaving you with a “my definition is better than your definition” squabble.
Why don’t you take turns? One week Texas can be the third coast (even though it can be argued that it is simply an extension of the Atlantic coast) and the next week the Great Lakes can be the third coast (with the reservations noted above).
Since a ship leaving Europe can dock at either New York or Galveston without having to choose a strait or river to reach either one, I would be inclined to eliminate the Gulf from the “third coast” category, as well, giving that honor to the Arctic Ocean, but I think these sorts of squabbles are best fought after too many beers when you don’t have to try to remember who won, later.
Michigan wins by virtue of eminent domain. The Kalamazoo Brewing Company of Kalamazoo Michigan has long offered “Bell’s Third Coast Ale”. The label on the bottle clearly depicts the Michigan shoreline.
Case closed.
Bottoms up!
The “first coast” is the Atlantic, and even more specifically, has become the name for the region from around Crescent Beach/St. Augustine to the FL/GA border…and sometimes it even includes the St.Mary’s/Kingsland area in GA.
I read in the paper that when Jacksonville started to boom, it hired a marketing company to come up with a catchy nickname for the region. “The First Coast” was the one that has stuck.
The name arises from the fact that St. Augustine was the first city(and yes, I know there is some dispute to that fact).
I don’t think “Third Coast” is widely associated with Texas except perhaps among some Texans.
FYI, there is a popular restaurant in Nashville called Third Coast. People in the music industry there think of Nashville as the Third Coast after NYC and LA.
What? Would that be the Mediterranean Ocean? Cite, please.
Like TJdude825 said, Google can help clear this up. Third Coast is a term used by both regions to refer to their respective shorelines.
With regards to robotcricket’s OP, they’re both right.
Or the Mediterranean Sea or whatever. In my book, whatever it is, it is not part of the Atlantic. You can read here what some bloke calling himself SDSTAFF Songbird has to say about the concept of the Seven Seas.
But as I wrote and bibliophage agreed on. This is just a matter of arbitrary definitions.
Maybe I’m a bit thick, but I fail to see the relevance of an article regarding the meaning of the phrase “the Seven Seas” (in which, by the way, no geographer was quoted) to the claim that
And so far as I can tell, what bibliophage said also says nothing about your claim.
Geographers, shmeographers. They don’t have the final word on this.
It depends on the point of view of the observer. For instance, a person from Martha’s Vineyard would look to see if the nicest yachts were on the Great Lakes or the Gulf.
A surfer would have a completely different view, and might even say that Hawaii is the First Coast, throwing the Atlantic fans into a tizzy.
As a desert rat any water works for me. I’m looking forward to spending my summer on the Adriatic Ocean.
I’d say Third Coast Beer is just an anomaly put forth by addled trolls. Those lower Michiganders rarely get things right. I’d say most true Great Lakes residents know that the great lakes constitute the North Coast.