13 Things You Only Understand Living In Small Towns Around Evansville
I already wrote an article about the things you know living in Evansville, but what about things you only know from living right outside of Evansville? Living in a small country town is much different than living in a city like Evansville, Newburgh, Henderson, or Owensboro. From a Mount Vernon native's perspective, here are things you'll only understand if you're from a small town outside of 'the big city...
1) You Make a Weekly Trip to the City AKA Walmart
Everybody knows that since there are no stores that sell everything you need out in the country, people in the area generally travel to the city once a week or once a month to get their product fix at Walmart (or Target).
2) The Stars Are Brilliant At Night
Unfortunately, the lights and industry in the city frequently make it difficult to star gaze or even see the stars at all. In the beautiful local countryside, you can take a flatbed pickup out in the middle of nowhere and park to see millions of gorgeous twinkling stars. Take a few pillows and blankets and even spend the night under the stars. (Hint: This is a great date night idea.)
3) There Are Car Lots In The Middle of Nowhere
You'll just be driving along and BAM there's a car lot. I don't understand this, but evidently, it works out because these car lots sell cars to people from all over the place!
4) In The Country, It Can Smell Like Doodie
The country is beautiful and free and sometimes smells like absolute, horrid poop. Unfortunately, it can't be perfect all of the time. As a child, I lived near a pig farm and on certain hot and humid days, pig poop permeated the air to the point you could almost taste it. It's an awful experience.
5) There Is Corn As Far As The Eye Can See
Live in rural Indiana? Corn is your new best friend! Miles and miles of corn fields stretch all around the Tri-state. Secretly though, between you and me, I love the smell of the corn fields after a rain shower. It's one of my most favorite and comforting smells since I grew up in… You guessed it! In a corn field! Well, not in a corn field. This isn't Children of the Corn, but there was one right across from my front yard. Or is it?
6) Town Consists of Two Main Roads
Every single town I can think of outside of the cities around here that have a Walmart only consist of about one or two main drags. That's it. Sure there are other roads, but there are only one or maybe two main streets in town. I bet some of you city folks haven't even seen a railroad crossing without arms and hazard lights!
7) Lakes and Mud Are Entertainment
This is something that's fairly difficult for city dwellers to understand I've learned. City people have fancy things like parks and putt-putt golf and movie theaters. Out in the sticks, there isn't any of that. People have to come up with their own entertainment. Hence the popularity of lakes and mud. Folks either go muddin' or fishin'. Kids join in also, and even get to play in the lake mud which was my favorite thing as a kid. I made mud pottery. Yes, I know I'm weird.
8) You Have Little To Zero Food Options
Local diners tend to rule the roost in small towns. There are a few exceptions where towns may have up to about 3 fast food joints to choose from in the area but otherwise that's about it. So people generally get tired of the local cuisine pretty quickly.
9) People Use ATVs, Tractors, and Golf Carts To Get Around
Though this may sound like a joke, it is not. It's not unusual at all to be traveling down the main strip in town and see a tractor trucking down the street at its highest speed of 30 mph. In some small towns in the area such as New Harmony, Indiana, everyone travels around in golf carts, which is my personal favorite.
10) Beers and Bonfires Are Just Things We Do
Another thing some city dwellers don't understand very well sometimes is the fascination of fire and beer, especially combined. Sometimes country folks just get the urge to set ISH on fire in mass quantity and watch it burn. What better way to kill the time by watching the hot fire burn than with a cold beer in your hand? I mean, it's one of my all time favorite things. What is there to not understand?
11) Everybody Knows Everybody Else
This is the worst and best thing that's ever happened to anyone who lives in a small town. Foregoing anonymity sucks sometimes because anytime anything happens to you, everyone, and I mean everyone knows. However, it also works the other way around. Also, this can be good in cases of helping the community band together in times of hardship for families in the area since news spreads so quickly. Before Facebook, there were just rotary phones and small town gossip!
12) Hawg N Sauce Is The BBQ Place
Unless you want to drive to Evansville or Owensboro, your hook-up for a good BBQ meal is definitely going to be Hawg-N-Sauce in Mount Vernon. That's just the way it is.
13) Mount Vernon Stinks
If you ever visit Mount Vernon, Indiana, there are some plus sides and some not so plus sides. The refinery there smells faintly like burnt hair or sulfur. On the other side of town, the ethanol plant smells like loaves of damp, burning bread. It's fabulous.
You can tell I was born and raised in a small town, but I've learned the ways of the city as well. I love aspects of both country and city living. Currently, I'm a city dweller, but I frequently find myself missing the country and all the things it has to offer that the city just can't give. There's nothing quite like the experience of good old country charm.