Defend the Indefensible: Virginia

I got nothing.

I mean, you definitely get some

http://www.snpbooks.org/npsphotos_high/shenandoah_national_park_whiteoak_falls.jpg

bump

it's better than west virginia

birthplace of michael vick

Richmond is a pretty cool town.

Yeah, I've heard people mention Richmond before. What's so cool about it?

KING'S DOMINION

What about Charlottesville? I have a cousin that recently moved there and was thinking of visiting

Just a nice mellow city. Good food, some nice shops, easy to bike and walk around. Kinda the poorer less hip East Coast version of Portland, I've always felt.

I've lived in VA twice in my life, as a kid from 1974-76 at Ft. Lee, then as an adult from 2000-2007. I was insulated from the shitty rednecky parts by a) living on an Army base and b) living in Northern Virginia, which has little in common culturally from the rest of the state. Despite the suburban sprawl and crappy zoning policies of NoVa, living in Fairfax was pretty great. Its closeness both to DC and to Shenandoah National Park was a definite plus.

I was insulated from the shitty rednecky parts by a) living on an Army base

wait what

http://edencenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Lion-Gate-from-TRE_sm.jpg

Virginia is like two states in one. There's the southern portion around Richmond, and there's the WashDC suburbs and cities of Northern Virginia (NoVa). Makes for an interesting state politically.

Great Falls and Slippery Rock may be even more beautiful than Shenandoah pictured above.

J0rdan, despite the rampant conservatism of the military, living on an Army base in the mid-70s exposed me to more people of different races and cultures than I would have gotten living in my hometown of Perry, OH which, at the time, was 100% white.

fightin' words here, how's life.

http://www.luraycaverns.com/Portals/10/Photos/DiscoverTheCaverns/LUR_EmpressColumnScan_383x285.jpg

http://www.monticello.org/sites/default/files/uploaded-content-images/westlawn_tulips.jpg

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRaQP7leMJhJVlKtu2EOVT6rLVhLooUdtvrfTdt5NgudFFaNDwrhSGCFjmg

richmond has a lot of nice stuff about it - it's an attractive, affordable city to live in, mainly. but it also has lots of shitty stuff, like almost no worthwhile culture and barely repressed racism. NOVA has pretty intense global dining opportunities i guess? virginia beach is gross. colonial williamsburg is cool if you're into make-believe history. charlottesville is a pretty standard big college town.

i'd say virginia is a solid mid-level state overall.

NOVA has pretty intense global dining opportunities i guess?

McLean and Arlington are home to many of my fave eateries, the kind of places where I know the owners and cooks.

There's lots of real history in Williamsburg too, but the make-believe stuff is what gets commercialized and sold.

Forgot all about Luray Caverns - the only cave i've ever been in.

There were two really good Thai places right near my office in Arlington when I lived there. One was called Sawadtee, in Courthouse Plaza, and the other one was right across Clarendon but I can't remember the name. So, so good.

Probably Rein Tong (sp.?) or Burapa?

I think it was Burapa!

anticipating aerosmith's stone cold steve austin entrance into this thread

xp also in that area, Northside Social whose ambiance i love. And Whitlow's on Wilson which I used to work across from in its earlier DC location

Whitlow's, yeah. And when I was in a band down there we frequently played at Rhodeside.

I knew the owner, Greg Cahill. Hope he's still alive and well. Never played Whitlow's but have seen lots of bands there - the old Whitlow's in DC can be seen on a Fugazi album cover which wowed me since that was the view from my office window.

I was insulated from the shitty rednecky parts by a) living on an Army base

wait what

― lil dirk (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, October 24, 2012 10:13 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Have you ever lived on one? I grew up on one (actually a few). By far the most diverse place i've ever lived.

Grew up in NoVa, vastly different from rest of VA, is home in some ways till, wld never choose to live there again

rest of VA, regularly mock my friends who grew up in southern VA, would not live there if u paid me

eh, as someone said above midlevel state, got good and bad aspects, nothing to work up too much steam on

NoVa is kind of depressing, and the "WE'RE NOT LIKE THE REST OF VIRGINIA! WE'RE LIKE A DIFFERENT STATE!" thing is lame

i mean chicago/the rest of illinois is the same way but i feel like less of a big deal is made about it, i guess because chicago has a stronger hold on the politics of illinois than nova does on virginia?

in illinois / ny it's the rest of the state that's saying 'we're like a different state'

Virginia was named after Elizabeth I, aka The Virgin Queen. My enjoyment of this factoid never flags or wavers.

if one visits Monticello, where's the cheapest low-key place to stay in Charlottesville? (I do not drive btw.)