Virginia

I’ve lived in Virginia since September 1990, and currently call it home: so it’s been almost 20 years, longer than any other single place, including Maryland and Paris.

 Before 1990.  We lived in Maryland before moving to Paris, but it was Montgomery County, which is right across the Potomac from Northern Virginia.  Thus we were familiar with Tyson’s Corner (where the mall is), Alexandria (where my uncle lives), and a trip to an apple orchard and Luray Caverns.  On home leave in 1980 and 1986 we stayed in Virginia.  Note that from Gaithersburg, Tyson’s Corner is closer than Baltimore.

 For Fall semester, first year of law school at George Mason University, in September 1990, I moved into an efficiency in Rosslyn, which is right across Key Bridge from Georgetown, DC.  In addition to growing far more experienced in Northern Virginia, after this time I finally visited southeast Virginia, Richmond, and southwest Virginia.

 Northern Virginia.   This part of Virginia borders on Maryland and DC, is extremely suburban and affluent, ad consists of Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax County, Prince William County (Manassas and Woodbridge), and Loudoun County (mainly Sterling, Ashburn and Leesburg).  This is the part of Virginia I’m most familiar with and the only part I’ve actually lived in.  It’s very green, lots of trees and forests, notwithstanding the malls and urban development.  I can’t actually think of any part of Northern Virginia which could be called run down, poor, or ghetto.

 Richmond.  The capital city of Virginia, and former Confederate capital, on the other hand, has a fair amount of territory which could be called...nasty.  I’ve seen some nicer, mall-y places, but most of what I’ve seen is downtown Richmond.  I visited Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) a few times, which is in the rundown downtown part, close to where the Virginia Court of Appeals and Supreme Court are, plus the General District Court and Circuit Court just a few blocks away.  Richmond is OLD and depressing.  I have yet to take full advantage of the Civil War aspect of it, which is the most redeeming element of this place from my perspective.

 Virginia Beach.   This is down southeast Virginia on the coast, where the ports and Naval bases are, and the beaches: Tidewater, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk and Norfolk.  My best friend from law school, John, lives in Virginia Beach and has law offices in Virginia Beach and Portsmouth.  While there are a few rundown neighborhoods, most of the area I’d qualify as “lower middle class”, the Kid Rocks and their slightly more upscale brethren.  I like this area, and I like visiting John and his family.

 Southwest Virginia.   Harrisonburg (JMU), Roanoke.  I really have very little experience in this part of Virginia, even less than Richmond.  Route 81 follows the mountains along the western border of Virginia, parallel to the border with West Virginia.  It ends in Bristol, which straddles the state line with Tennessee.  For Memorial Day weekend in 1993 my friends Phil and John road-tripped with me to Memphis, TN, where my brother was living at the time.  However, on both ends of the journey, the ride along 81 was at night.  In July 1993 John and I were in Roanoke for the Virginia Bar Exam; in July 2001 I went to Harrisonburg for a court case which I soon thereafter transferred to another attorney.  And in December 2008 I went to Massanutten for skiing.   Driving on 81 on a sunny day is actually pretty nice – when you can see and the weather is nice.  In some ways it reminds me of Germany, and also Brazil – the countryside outside of Rio de Janeiro on the way to Buzios.  But aside from James Madison University (+ Washington & Lee and Virginia Tech) and the Virginia Bar’s mandatory one-location summer bar exam exile in Roanoke, there really isn’t much of major value in this part of Virginia – certainly nothing to compel me to go there on a regular basis.

 Charlottesville.  Home of the University of Virginia.  I’ve been to Charlottesville twice – once to scope out UVa in the summer of 1984, and once to handle a child custody matter far more recently (going nowhere close to UVa itself).  Basically you drive down Route 29 from Northern Virginia for about 1.5 hours.

 Warrenton & Winchester.  Small cities nestled in the mountains, more like due northwest of DC.  Winchester has LOTS of those old early 20^th century houses which are run down, similar to northern New Jersey. 

 Founding Fathers.  George Washington (home: Mount Vernon, up near DC), Thomas Jefferson (home: Monticello, at UVa), George Mason (home: Gunston Hall), James Madison, are all from Virginia. 

 Civil War.  As I’ve mentioned dozens of times, Virginia’s biggest significance is its role in the Civil War.  Several major battles: Bull Run, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Petersburg, and the surrender at Appomatox.  The capital, Richmond.  Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army, and the 2^nd most important Confederate general, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.  The Army of Northern Virginia.  And the funny thing is, I still haven’t been to a single battlefield or museum in Virginia.  It’s like living in Paris and not going to the Louvre until relatives come in from out of town, and same with DC.  I’ll get around to it... eventually.