Midwest Love

One undercurrent of Lauren’s recent post on work life was about geographic divisions. While I may reside on the East Coast now (and have also lived on the West), I was born and raised in Iowa, went to school in Missouri, and consider myself fundamentally Midwestern in many ways. And today I’m inspired today to give a shout-out to some of my personal favorite places and things about the Midwest: (Yes, I realize a lot of this list is about food. So?)

• The Chicago skyline
  My first big city! As a kid, I remember staring out of the car windows on family vacations, looking at the buildings and busy streets. I will always associate this city with excitement and possibility.
• Happy Joe’s Taco pizza
  Nom nom nom. Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it.
• Milwaukee!
  The Friday fish-fry and polka brewery tour, awesome local artists, Broad Vocabulary, that regional delicacy known as cheese curds. Where the bloody marys come with a High Life chaser and the lake is gorgeous and blue. Home to my best friend in the whole wide world, a truly awesome, amazingly crafty Midwest lady.
• REAL frozen custard
  Seriously, fuck Danny Meyer and his knockoff custard stand. The Midwest is home to the real deal.
• The thrifting
  The second-hand stores in my home region are second-to-none. I maintain that I was at my best-dressed when I lived in the Midwest.
• Midwest feminists
  Yes, they are a slightly different breed of awesome. Shout out to the fine broads and dudes of Lil Mama’s Burly-Q Revue, the good people who put together Venus Zine, the clinic workers, the Midwest Teen Sex Show, the DIY mavens, Leslie Hall. And, of course, Shark-Fu and so many other wonderful Midwest-based feminist bloggers.

Dear readers who identify as Midwesterners, what do you love about your home region?