America is a melting pot. It’s thousands of cultures at once. Acceptance is America. Texas is part of America. It’s no more American than Washington, Montana, or New York.

Texas is a giant strip mall with football stadiums and megachurches sprinkled throughout.

Texas is a lot more than that, certainly.

Texas can be a lot more than that. There's a lot of culture here, particularly in South Texas. But there's also contention. There's a disdain for that part of Texas. And the washed out, strip mall side of Texas wants very badly to make it seem like they're all there is. The boredom, the normality, the white picket fence, is a plague. It spreads and sucks the color out of everything, like The Wizard of Oz but in reverse.

Very well said.

Florida minus DisneyWorld.

So, like America?

For me, this will always be Las Vegas. Walking the strip my first time while at a conference was enlightening. Seeing all the American tropes that I'd seen in foreign media within a square kilometer and with my own eyes left me speechless.

To be clear, The Strip is nothing like living in Las Vegas. Nothing. Las Vegas, outside The Strip, is basically Phoenix, except there's video poker machines in the grocery stores.

… and the C-stores, and the bars (which are open 24/7).

I've never been to Las Vegas, but I remember my dad saying that there were slot machines in a CVS he went to there once. Growing up in Massachusetts, it took me a bit to get used to pharmacies even having alcohol after moving to New York, so this always amused me.

and all the bars and casinos allow smoking indoors to the detriment of all of their staff and patrons simply because of the gambling lobby.

I loved my most recent trip to the US (it's been almost 10 years...wow) for anything but Vegas.

Something really didn't mesh with me.Too much focus on fakery and "big" I guess. (Especially all that "Roman" and "greek" flair after having just toured the real deal a few weeks earlier)

So we took advantage of the cheap accomodation and visited the stunning places around it.

Las Vegas is definitely something else... It's close enough that I've been in/through there several times over the years. That said, I just don't enjoy it. I used to enjoy a few good meals or a show stopping in on the way through as I like to do road trips. The customer service has sub-floored, the crowds have only grown and it's just far from even pleasant to where the show isn't worth it.

That's just my own take.

I wish we had free public transit everywhere like they do on the strip.

Public transit isn’t free on the strip except during New Years Eve and possibly some other special occasions.

The monorail from Mandalay Bay to Bellagio is free, but it isn’t public transit.

Not only is it not free, but fares on the strip buses are higher than the fares everywhere else. I think this is a result of subsidies for public transit not going to the tourists.