I'm a Midwesterner who visited 2 Southern states for the first time. Here are 5 surprising differences I noticed between the regions.

Produced by harvesting curdled milk before it hardens into cheese, cheese curds are a beloved snack in the Midwest thanks to the region's large dairy industry.

During my first visit to Atlanta, a local encouraged me to try cheesy grits, a Southern breakfast staple made from ground corn. I loved the creamy flavor and fluffy consistency, and appreciated the Southern take on cheesy dishes.

For example, "ope" loosely translates as "Excuse me" or "Sorry" and is said when squeezing past someone in a narrow area or accidentally bumping into someone.

Midwesterners are friendly, but I experienced the warmth of Southern hospitality through almost every interaction I had with baristas, cashiers, and locals during my trip to Tennessee.

Midwesterners speak with what's known as a cot-caught merger — they pronounce the vowel sounds in "cot" and "caught" the same way. This results in brands like Costco being known as "Cah-stco." Where I'm from in Wisconsin, people also pronounce the "a" sound in words like "bag" as "bay-g."

I noticed two things about Southern accents during my trips to Tennessee and Atlanta. First, their accents were much stronger than I anticipated — I thought I'd need to go further south to Alabama or Mississippi to hear thick Southern dialects. Second, they spoke much slower than I was used to coming from the Midwest.

Culver's has been named one of America's best burger chains thanks to its famous ButterBurgers and fresh frozen custard. Since the Culver family opened its first location in 1984 in Sauk City, Wisconsin, the chain now has over 900 restaurants in 26 states, but remains largely concentrated in the Midwest.

Waffle House chains are mostly located in Southern states like Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Florida. While driving around Atlanta during my visit, I spotted a Waffle House every few blocks.

Kringle is Wisconsin's official state pastry. Danish in origin, it can feature a variety of fruit and nut fillings.

I've seen Quaker oatmeal at stores across the US, but had never seen Quaker instant grits until I shopped at a Publix store in Knoxville.