I spent a lot of time near creeks and lakes as a kid and lived an hour from the Gulf of Mexico. As I got older, I got to experience the great lakes, which is the only thing I've experienced that's land-locked and resembles oceans and beaches.
Plus what that means for diet-- nowadays transportation is a bit faster but I met a guy from the midwest talking about how 30-40 years ago they didn't really see much fish if it wasn't frozen and fried.
Where I grew up 30-40 years ago, Red Lobster was good seafood. About as good as you could get at a local restaurant. Of course now, I was surprised to learn that Red Lobster still exists
In the US, the vast majority of all commercially available seafood has been frozen. You are just paying a defrosting fee for the more expensive "fresh fish" in the display case at the market.
I knew all fish for raw consumption had to be frozen but I didn't realize most other fish was as well. Either way, this dude was saying he pretty much only saw fish sticks growing up.
There are occasionally American shows that address this, both serious and comically, and it's always crazy how people are stunned by beaches and the ocean.
That said I live in a country of which half the border is a coastline and half of the land is below sealevel. But still, it seems so normal to have been to a beach at least several times in a lifetime, even if it's distant. For me it's the reverse with mountains and rough terrain though, everything is flat here.
Yeah, but having done both, it's equally weird that people can just...go to the beach? Without making it a whole week trip! But then they can't just go to a farm for fresh cheese and eggs on a Thursday afternoon?
Yeah, more an aspect of where I've lived than everyone. Although I've yet to see a farm on the beach, which is what I really want. Drinking fresh milk while you watch the waves...the dream!
That's not true. Where I live now, the beach is an hour or two away, and an hour or two from farmland. There's all kinds of areas in the southern US like that. And to-be-fair, I'm counting the Gulf of Mexico as ocean lol