Illinois

Ahhhh Illinois. Land of Lincoln, the Cubs, Ferris Bueller apparently a rolling field if the above postcard is to be believed as well as an old-timey wagon if you believe the postcard below.

Both my wife and I have been to Illinois, but not together. I went in high school as part of my birthday present. I had relatives who lived about 45 minutes outside of Chicago and they let me stay with them and took me to a Cubs game. My wife went after we were married for a conference (I believe) and stayed an extra day with a friend to also go to a Cubs game. One of these years we'll get to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field together.

As any good parent would do, I've brainwashed encouraged my son to be a Cubs fan just like me. He knows the biggest rule we have in the house is we always cheer for the Cubs no matter who they're playing. He told me near the end of last season "the Cubs sure do lose a lot." I just smiled and agreed.

So that's Illinois.

39 states down, 11 more to go.

If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below.

South Dakota

Ahhhhh, South Dakota. Home of Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, South Dakota State University and is, without question, the better of the two Dakotas. (Ok, I made that last part up, there is some question as to the better of the two Dakotas, but as far as I know, South Dakota hasn't proposed changing its name like its neighbor to the north, more on that - if I remember - whenever I get a North Dakota postcard.)

Despite never having been to South Dakota, I do have a story about it. When I lived in North Carolina, the former Miss South Dakota moved with her boyfriend into our apartment complex. She watched our son once or twice when I had places to go and couldn't take him with me. We used to be friends on facebook, but I just recently noticed she defriended me.

I thought this would be one of the last 10 I would get, but as luck would have it, it's number 38.So that's South Dakota.

38 states down, 12 more to go.

If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below.

Georgia

Ahhhhh, Georgia. My home for 28 of the last 31 years. Land where two inches of snow can bring a sprawling metropolitan area to a halt for 24 hours, where people want the University of Georgia football coach fired every year, and where a skeleton of a Mosasaur is prominently displayed at the Georgia Southern University Museum. While not technically a dinosaur, it lived during the age of dinosaurs and was even featured in an episode of Dinosaur Train (It's a show on PBSKids, and honestly the most obvious kids show ever developed. Kids love trains. Kids love dinosaurs. That it took until a few years ago for the two to be combined into a show is a failing of society.)

I was interested to see when or if we'd get a Georgia postcard seeing as how we live here. I kind of had a feeling that all my friends and family would assume someone else would do it (a fair assumption, honestly, I'd have done it too.) Ultimately my brother went to the Georgia Southern museum and got this one for him. And yes, we've been to the museum where the fossils are displayed. There's even a small space to crawl into the belly of the great beast, which my son has done. He said it was cool.

So that's Georgia.

37 down, 13 to go.

If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below.

Kentucky

Ahhhh, Kentucky. Land of bluegrass (I assume the musical style as well as the actual grass), horses, the most famous derby in the United States and two college basketball programs in Louisville and University of Kentucky that consistently rank among the best in the country. It's also home to Frankfort which is quite possibly the capital city I forget more than any other. I legitimately asking for someone to tell me something, anything interesting about Frankfort.

My wife and I planned on going to Kentucky one year for our anniversary, but car trouble on the way resulted in us not making it there. So far, the only time I've been in the state is when I slept through it in my father-in-laws van as we drove there for some family something-or-other.

36 states down, 14 to go.


If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below.

Tennessee

Ahhhhh, Tennessee. Land of the fiercest debate ever on the Fantasy Focus Baseball Podcast in which the two hosts argued over which is the most famous city in Tennessee. One said Memphis, home of the Blues and Elvis Presley. The other said Nashville, home of the Grand Old Opry and country music. When I asked my mom what city was the most famous, she said "I don't know, Chattanooga?" thus disqualifying her from future debates on the truly important matters in the world.


No discussion of Tennessee would be complete without acknowledging that Arrested Development (the music group, not the television show) wrote what I can only assume is the state song, "Tennessee."

For what it's worth, my kid's favorite city in Tennessee is Nashville while mine remains Memphis.

35 states down, 15 to go.

If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below.

Wisconsin

Ahhhh Wisconsin. Land of cheeseheads, Badgers (more on them later) and.... well, I'm not sure what else. I've heard nothing but good things about its capital, Madison, as being a really cool college city. Its baseball stadium is relatively new, but I've never had a desire to go see it.

As for the aforementioned Badgers (the mascot for University of Wisconsin athletics for those unaware), my brother and I have, for years paraphrased Blazing Saddles whenever Wisconsin was playing any sport by saying "Badgers, we don't need no stinking badgers." Seriously, that's about all I've got about Wisconsin.

My son did have a girl named Madison join his class in December and he was excited that someone named after a state capital was going to be in his class. He's also a Green Bay Packers fan because his grandmother is a big Packers fan.

34 states down, 16 to go.

If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below. 

Texas

Ahhhh, Texas. Where everything is bigger, a slogan about keeping the state clean transformed in to a saying about how tough the people of the state are, and home to what appears to be my kid's favorite city in the nation for no discernible reason.

For some reason, my son had decided that Houston is the place to be. In the board game Ticket to Ride, he's always excited when he goes to Houston. He's already asked if we can go to Houston this summer to see an Astros game (we're not even Astros fans) and generally seems to like all things Houston. So it was good fortune that the postcard we got was not only from Houston, but featured the city prominently on it.

In addition to Houston, my kid knows Austin is the capital (and I'll likely repeat this story when we get Mississippi, but one of his favorite baseball players is Tigers' centerfielder Austin Jackson because "his name is two capitals"), as well as knowing about both Dallas and El Paso (again, thanks to Ticket to Ride).


33 states down, 17 to go.

If you'd like to help with our postcard quest, please find me on twitter (@lukermartin) or leave a comment below.