I was born in the Bronx, grew up outside philly, lived in Springfield, MO for 13 years, and after being in Jville NC for 1.5 years I had to come back to pa. Boy am I homesick for NC! And I don’t even like the beach. I would be in earth/heaven if I was in the Appalachians but was truly content in Jville.
We are now celebrating our ninth year on our little acre homestead here in GreenAcres, located in rural NWGA...loving (almost) everything about the area and the culture.
I even scared myself one time (one time only!) in a restaurant counter transaction with a female when the term "darlin'" (as in "Thank you, darlin'!") came out of my mouth spontaneously. I was so stunned that I had to ask my wife if that really did happen or was I hallucinating...
Other than that I am still unable to spontaneously use the terms "y'all" or "fixin'ta" as well as dropping the use of forms of the verb "to be"...as in: "The car needs fixed..."
Can't imagine willingly returning to living in Philly or Boston.