Earlier quoted context omitted.
The real US is the mix of both coasts and in-between. If you see the coasts only, then you don't experience real US. Only few cherry picked bits. It's like going to London and Paris and claiming you have seen „real“ Europe. No, it was just few cherry picked non-representative bits.
No it isn't. 40% of the US lives on the coast, which means well over 50% are within 100 miles of a coast. It would be like going to most of Europe, and then someone complaining you didn't see the "real" Europe because you skipped Portugal and Croatia.
And visiting a one-sided 50% is still missing a big portion. That's like saying that if you visit Germany/France/UK, you've seen all the europe. Nordics and East be damned because it's less than 50% of population so who cares. But then you end up with very skewed view of what europe is.