Crossing the sweet tea line.

Today is a glorious Saturday and a chance for all of us to get out of the house and explore our new territory. When we moved 640 miles north of Athens, many of my friends and family decided to be funny and call us Yankees. Ah ha, not so fast I told them - Westminster is still slightly south of the infamous Mason-Dixon line that runs along the Pennsylvania border and separates North from South. So today, my husband being the Civil War buff that he is, we decided to drive the short distance to Gettysburg to see the battlefield and tour the museum. It was quite a sight to see of course. The museum was super nice and very thorough, the films were emotional and telling, and even the museum shop was cool. We spent over four hours there looking around and learning, trying to explain the concept of war to a four year old, and prevent her from wandering off. Then we drove around some in the actual downtown area of Gettysburg and I saw the Pub where Hal and I had dinner the first time we visited the area. If I remember correctly, the conversation in the restaurant went something like this:
Waiter: Can I get you something to drink?
Me: I'll have Diet Coke.
Waiter: How about Diet Pepsi.
Me: (grudgingly) Okay.
Waiter: Okay, and you sir?
Hal: I'll have sweet tea without lemon (his perpetual beverage request no matter where we are)
Me: (kicking Hal under the table and whispering) I'll bet they don't have sweet tea!
Waiter: (looking at Hal like he has two heads) Sir, we don't have sweet tea up here - you're above the Mason-Dixon now.
Hal: Oh, uh I guess I'll have Coke.
Waiter: We don't have that either. How about Pepsi?
Hal: Do you have water? I'll take water. Without lemon.
The waiter walks away and I toss my head back because I'm laughing so hard. Hal shrugs his shoulders and says something about their crappy customer service. I laugh harder.
From then on, I liked to think of the Mason-Dixon line as the sweet tea line. Here in Westminster, right below the Mason-Dixon, sweet tea is available in all the restaurants. Should you find yourself above that geographical and cultural line however, it's BYOST (bring your own sweet tea).