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Pennsylvania always seems to be defined by its Southeastern and Southwestern cities, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, respectively. These metropolitan areas tend to vote Democratic while the rest of the state votes Republican. When a Presidential Election map appears it shows two blue areas with a giant swath of red in the middle and across the top - like the letter T. The derogatory term for this region is "Pennsyltucky" - an attempt to link the backwardness of rural Kentucky with rural Pennsylvania. Another comparison is calling the area Alabama. These comparisons reek of laziness and raises questions as to whether the originators of the comparisons have been to either of Central PA or Alabama.
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The Pennsyltucky and Alabama comparisons fail at the most basic level in that the Pennsylvania T is nice. It's an awesome area. It's not some backwoods Kentucky'esqe area. It's also not a singular block that could be united by stating it's like Alabama. The Coal Country in the Northeast is remarkably different from the "Heartland" or "Middle America" type area in the center - this area would be better compared to an Ohio, Indiana, or an Iowa. Even within the center of the state the northern towns are different than the southern towns. This isn't to mask the reality that Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are significantly different than the rest of the state - neither of the areas are better or worse, I think they are all great...but they are different...and not in an Alabama sort of way.
It's better to embrace the differences and take advantage of the wide range of tourist activities Pennsylvania has to offer. The T area that I am most familiar with is the Lancaster/Lebanon. My ancestors on my mother's side settled in the Lebanon County area in the mid 1700s after purchasing land from one of William Penn's sons. Somebody, somewhere in the family supposedly has the original deed. Whether that's true or not as a 10th generation American I've always felt a connection to Lebanon County as my "motherland". I'm Pennsylvania Dutch, not German. (The Dutch piece is a misnomer...when my ancestors arrived they said said the were from Deutschland, aka Germany, people heard Dutch and thought they were from Netherlands. 300 years later the misnomer has never been corrected.)
The T has a wide range of things to see and do. There's a distinct Amish, Mennonite, and Pennsylvania Dutch subculture that brings with it unique cuisine, clothes, and even methods of travel. There's the Gettysburg Battlefield. There's Williamsport which is home to the Little League World Series. There's a Harley Davidson factory. There's a Chocolate town - Hershey. There's America's oldest brewery, Yuengling. There's waterfalls at Ricket's Glen and Pennsylvania's version of the Grand Canyon. It will take multiple weekend excursions to see and do everything the T has to offer.
It's better to embrace the differences and take advantage of the wide range of tourist activities Pennsylvania has to offer. The T area that I am most familiar with is the Lancaster/Lebanon. My ancestors on my mother's side settled in the Lebanon County area in the mid 1700s after purchasing land from one of William Penn's sons. Somebody, somewhere in the family supposedly has the original deed. Whether that's true or not as a 10th generation American I've always felt a connection to Lebanon County as my "motherland". I'm Pennsylvania Dutch, not German. (The Dutch piece is a misnomer...when my ancestors arrived they said said the were from Deutschland, aka Germany, people heard Dutch and thought they were from Netherlands. 300 years later the misnomer has never been corrected.)
The T has a wide range of things to see and do. There's a distinct Amish, Mennonite, and Pennsylvania Dutch subculture that brings with it unique cuisine, clothes, and even methods of travel. There's the Gettysburg Battlefield. There's Williamsport which is home to the Little League World Series. There's a Harley Davidson factory. There's a Chocolate town - Hershey. There's America's oldest brewery, Yuengling. There's waterfalls at Ricket's Glen and Pennsylvania's version of the Grand Canyon. It will take multiple weekend excursions to see and do everything the T has to offer.