If you're from the southern state of Tennessee, you might have a southern accent and you might like wearing orange on Saturdays. But if you truly are blessed to be from Tennessee, you will definitely know these next 10 things to be true:
1. Game day is a holiday.
If you refuse to work, go out, or get married on a Saturday in the fall, you're probably from Tennessee. Each Saturday our plans consist of eating Papa Johns while wearing an obnoxious amount of orange, because we can't wait to watch Jalen Hurd run all over people. We have a weekly tradition where up to 102,455 of us gather in Neyland Stadium to scream almost as loud as a live rock band-- at 114 decibels to be exact -- as we cheer on our Vols. And the craziest part? It doesn't get old, and yes, we will do it again next week.
2. Peyton Manning is a king.
Don't argue with us on this one- Peyton is the greatest of all time. What other NFL star is classy and loyal enough to come home every Saturday that he can to cheer on his alma mater? Peyton's faith, courage, and talent are only three of the many reasons we Tennesseans love him so much- and it only helps that he also bleeds orange. Number 16 is sacred to us, thanks to Peyton.
3. High School football is almost as good as college...almost.
The only thing that comes close to our hype on Saturday nights, is on Friday nights. No matter how long ago we attended high school, that's where you will find us on Friday nights. Oh, and the only rival almost as serious as the Tennessee vs. Florida one, is the one our high schools had with the others in our counties. Go Tigers!
4. Florida is where we vacation.
Whenever the Tennessee heat and mountains just don't do it for us in the summer, we head right down to the Florida panhandle. The only thing you see more of than Florida license plates in Tennessee during the fall and winter, is other Tennessee tags while on vacation in Florida. The clear water and powdery sand is healing to our souls, but after a week, we've had enough Florida and it's good to be back. We can't be around Gators too long.
5. We love BBQ.
No matter what small town or big city you live in here, we all have the one spot. The one local BBQ joint that fulfills our weekly need of the good stuff. Nothing sounds better after church than a BBQ sandwich, with all the fixings.
6. Lake days are what we do during the summer.
Thank God we have pontoon boats, jet skis and rope swings. Lake days are our holy grail in Tennessee. Hot days mix perfectly with tubing, jet skiing and country music are how we get through the summer.
7. The tri-star is our favorite.
If you're from Tennessee, you probably have one of these decals on your car, tumblr cup, or on a T-shirt that you own. The tri-star symbol can be seen on the Tennessee flag, so you know as Tennesseans, we're proud to flaunt our state symbol.
8. The weather is bipolar.
You could very well be wearing a jacket in August and shorts in November. There's no weather like in the south. And this definitely holds true to Tennessee. If you're from Tennessee, you've probably walked to work or class in shorts in the middle of November, while wearing a jacket sometime in August.
9. Bridgestone Arena is where we "concert".
If you've ever been to a big-name star's concert like Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, or Justin Bieber, you've most likely visited Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. It's not the worst thing in the world driving to our state's capital- and music city- to enjoy good music with thousands of other Tennesseans.
10. Dollywood is our very own Disney World.
As Dollywood as our Disney, and Dolly as our Mickey, we have our very own theme park and landmark in Tennessee, and we love it. There's nothing like acting like tourists and spending the whole day in Pigeon Forge, riding Mystery Mine, and singing along with Dolly.
On good ole Rocky Top, we have several things to be proud of and to complain about. No matter how different or how far apart we are, singing Rocky Top as loud as we can and spending our Saturdays at Dollywood is what brings us Tennesseans together, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
