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than when you enter it from Ohio or Indiana.

I just spent two days in Northern IN and drove hundreds of miles through Ohio to get there and back. Don't get me wrong . . . America needs corn, and I'm glad there's a place to grow it . . . but otherwise would anyone miss the midwest if it were swallowed into a hole in the earth?

I feel the same way about Chicago.  I spent 8 days there earlier this month and would just as soon been in hell, which Chicago in reality is.  The late Lewis Grizzard, A great American, was dead on about that cesspool. 

So why were you at Notre Dame? :naughty:

Not South Bend, thankfully(?). Fort Wayne. Corn and soybeans in every direction.

Now, see, one sees a boring landscape when they see nothing but crop fields in every direction.  I think that landscape is beautiful.  I love living here in Knoxville, with all its conviences and proximity to the mountains.  But I also love our area in Michigan where we lived. A small town completely surrounded by miles and miles of corn, soybean and other fields.  Driving through there in the Fall with the crisp air and the corn stalks blowing in the breeze was just an awesome site.  To each his own.

Having grown up between the foothills of the Smokies and the Cumberland Plateau and near the confluence of a half dozen rivers, I'm just used to variety in views and terrain. I find the flatness and sameness of the miles and miles of cornfields incredibly dull and even disorienting. I completely understand the beauty in it, but it's the same everywhere for hundreds of miles, and that would just drive me mad.

I feel the same way about Interstates. A few cities try to make them look more appealing by planting flowers in the median, otherwise, they all look alike.

Feel the same way about interstates. The last several years when the wife and me travel we take the back roads and enjoy every minute of it. IMO you miss too much of America driving interstate highways. We are never in a hurry, it takes more time but going through small towns America is like I remember traveling back in the 50's and 60's.

Plus, I don't have to do 80MPH with white knuckles worrying about getting my azz run over by semi's and idiot drivers  :thumbdown:

As a deer hunter, I heart the Midwest. When I make my second million, I'm buying a small farm in Illinois or Indiana.

I wouldn't want to live there, but a recently harvested cornfield with a trophy class whitetail at 100 paces on a frosty November morning is a beautiful picture.

Ever spent time in Gurnsey or Nobel counties in SE Ohio?  Back in the day, before I was married, there was good hunting there.

I have relatives from both sides of the family all over Ohio, and go up there at least once every couple years.  For the most part, I find the entire state depressing.  And while I agree that the landscape is very boring, the cities are the worst.  Cincinnati and Columbus are ok.  They are the only big cities whose economies weren't based primarily on manufacturing.  And there are some very picturesque small towns.  But go to any other sizable town- Cleveland, Dayton, Akron, Canton, Toledo, Youngstown, etc.- and you'll see one shuttered factory after another, and vacant houses and commercial space all over town.  It's not quite as bad as Detroit, but it's getting there.  Really makes you understand why they call it the Rust Belt. :frown:

It's beautiful!  But yeah, it gets monotonous.  FWIW, Iowa is worse than Indiana, lol.

At least up there the farms are well kept though...unlike some parts of the country.  And my memories of driving into Kentucky from Indiana or Ohio when I was a kid was that the roads instantly got much worse.  That may not be true any more though.

I have not. I do have friends who hunt in that general area, though, and they rave about it.