A few days ago I came across a Virginia blogger by the name of Shaun Kenney who issued this challenge:
ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5th, I propose that all interested bloggers post what’s best about Virginia, especially in your neck of the woods. It should be something particularly Virginian, something that makes home what it is.
I first visited Virginia in the Spring of 1984 to play in a soccer tournament in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Having grown up in Wilmington, DE, the first thing I noticed was how lush and verdant everything was, including all along the highways. I ended up going to college in the mountains and then, after graduating, lived in south and central Virginia for about eight years. From there I moved to Northern Virginia to go to law school, and that is where I ultimately have settled.
Since the first time I visited Virginia I thought of it as “God’s own little acre” and to this day, after having travelled all over the world, I still find it to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Living in and around Charlottesville, Staunton and Lexington, straddling the Blue Ridge mountains was truly invigorating. Even today, here in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., the foliage is still quite thick in spite of neverending residential and commercial expansion. As I type this from my Tyson’s Corner office, I have a perfect view down Route 7 West towards Great Falls, Reston, Dulles, through Loudoun County and all the way to the Blue Ridge mountains.
Another thing that I have always loved about the Commonwealth is the friendliness I find everywhere. Most of Virginia is essentially a patchwork of small towns, but even the big metropolitan areas (NOVA, Richmond, Virginia Beach/Norfolk/Hampton Roads) have a small-town feel to them. What I’ve found is that once you meet someone from, say, Danville, you end up knowing everybody from Danville. To be sure, Northern Virginia differs greatly from the rest of the state, but even here people are generally laid back and easy to connect with. And, of course, once they learn that you lived for a spell in Farmville (or Charlottesville, or Richmond, or Winchester, or Harrisonburg, etc., etc.) then the name-game begins and sooner or later you all hit upon a common friend or acquaintance and a favorite corner store and restaurant. Having lived all over Virginia, I am guaranteed hours upon hours of delightfully meaningless conversation. And I enjoy every minute of it.
Finally, I love that Virginia is central to just about everywhere I want to go and everything that I want to do. Not only am I at the epicenter of the free world, I can be at numerous beaches (although I’m partial to the Outer Banks) within just a few hours, New York City is a short train ride away, the mountains are just down the road, and I have access to three major airports and from there the world is my oyster. Moreover, my kids can have their pick of of several top-notch universities and colleges, including state schools such as University of Virginia, William & Mary, George Mason University and Virginia Tech. All of this in a low-tax, high-income, low crime, highly educated and culturally diverse area, smack dab in the middle of the Atlantic Coast.
So there you have it. The things I love most about good ole’ Vir-gin-ee-a. If you come once, you might just stay awhile.