5 reasons to date locals

You have probably figured out by now that I am at least 75% mushy, even though I pretend to be tough, impenetrable, flighty, brash, lewd, and other non-mushy things.  Yes, I like kittens and ballads and Dove chocolates and I'm part of the royal line of RomCom Queens.  I also have been known on more than one occasion to make gagging noises when people are being cute in my vicinity, especially my sister and her boyfriend, or my parents, or Mary & Zach.

Double-kitten cuteness: Stella chomping my first-ever Beanie Baby, Snip.

That being said, how about we agree that inconsistency is a human condition, that Valentine's Day kind of makes everybody want to puke, even if what we want to puke is rainbows and carnations, and that I will try to spare you the obligatory mushy-gushy V-Day post and will not entirely succeed.

My intention here, so you can hold me accountable, is to err on the side of unromantic practicality: One major benefit of dating, especially as the new kid on the block, is the opportunity to explore new places and activities that I wouldn't normally look into or even know about.  This is also why it is a good idea to date locals.*

*J., this is not why I go out with you, I swear...


There are definite ethnographic benefits of getting close to the natives for purposes of becoming more familiar with the culture of interest.  Here are a few:

1. You get the inside scoop on local lore.  One night in New Orleans on Spring Break, I picked up a Bourbon Street bartender, born and raised in 9th Ward Nawlins.  When I told him I had never fallen in love with a city so hard and so fast, he asked, "Have you drunk tap water?"  I said I had, and he assured me I would return.  "You'll be back," he said.  "That's what they say: you drink the water, you'll come back someday."

As it turns out, I'm on the books to head back to NOLA this summer--as a chaperone this time.  Are you scared?

OK, moral of the story: There's magic in the water.  Be warned.

I realize that story is not Delaware-related, but I'm pretty proud of it, and the principle still stands.  Although I have heard that Delaware water isn't really potable.  And also that the nuclear power plants across the highway from my house were built in the 70s and are now breaking down.  Straight into our 'hood.

2. You have someone to drag along with you to check out venues.  At work I click a lot of Twitter links to Delaware events and attractions.  (If anyone is interested, follow the #netDE hashtag for all that good stuff.)  Anyway, I often stumble upon awesome activities or features and I can just share links to things I want to check out.  Dates are not likely to say, "No, let's not check out this incredibly cool activity."

3. They can recommend venues.  They tell you what's good, because they know.  They can show you all their favorite places, the places they've been going for as long as they can remember, the burger joint with the best fries because they have really compared most of the fries in Wilmington.  They usually have backstories too, like, "That's the place I went when I had just turned 21 and my cousin almost started a barfight so I've never been back."

In that vein, they can also tell you where not to go.

4. You know how to get there.  Locals know their way around better than a GPS or even an atlas, which especially south of Wilmington are often glaringly 10 years out of date.  Better yet, locals know shortcuts and back roads and beautiful scenic routes like the proverbial Valley.

And best of all, locals sometimes like to pick me up and take me to the destination, so I never actually have to figure out how to get there.  Ever.

5. You know what to order.  Back to Twitter.  The Wilmo Visitors' Bureau (@VisitWilmington) often posts links to at least one really excellent food blog, which is/are torturous to read at work because of the utterly delicious eateries and entrees they review and recommend, NONE of which I can eat at work.

Anyway, that blog recently featured this awesome-looking café called Lucky's, and when I caught myself drooling on my keyboard I sent the link to J., who messaged me back, "I go to lunch there all the time!  They have awesome..."  Now I don't remember what he said was awesome, but he was gung-ho about it and will definitely tell me what's good.

***

Update: Since starting this post I have been to Lucky's Coffee Shop and I can safely say the grilled ham & cheese sandwich, the turkey club, and the banana cream pie are all delicious.  Also, good jams (the 60s Sirius station).  And super cute place in general.


However, I have to revoke #4 above: Locals do NOT, in fact, know their way around.  I mean, it's not a given.  Sometimes you might drive around for 40 minutes or so looking for the interstate, or US 202, whichever shows up first.  In the meantime, you might hit pretty much every other highway in the state while driving in unclosed polygons across the whole northern half of Delaware.


You might.


It's not so bad, though.  After all, you learn a lot about a person when you're driving down unlit back roads in a car with them, "looking for the interstate"...