The new Mason-Dixon Line
Posted January 9, 2009
I'm a native North Carolinian and, hopefully, a Southern gentleman. When I first traveled to the North, I was shocked that sweet iced tea was not available in most restaurants. Shocked!
"Well, I declare!" I declared.
You might say that sweet tea is a major factor in the cultural divide between the North and the South. The Mason-Dixon Line, devised in the 1700s to settle a border dispute between the colonies, has been the unofficial line of demarcation between the North and the South. The line ran mostly along the northern Maryland border.
But a lot has changed since the late 1700s. Where is the "new" Mason-Dixon Line?
Someone on the Web studied McDonald's locations in Virginia and marked which locations served sweet iced tea. It draws a new line to show the sweet-tea cutoff, suggesting the North is creeping southward. It looks like Richmond, the old Confederate capital, is now on the northern side of the line!
What do you think?