All About Virginia
I keep getting IMs/emails/comments (the usual anonymous crap that isn’t viewable) that Virginia is not a southern state. You people who don’t believe me, look at what Virtual Tourist has to say:
Many people assume that Virginia is a Mid-Atlantic or even a Northeastern state. Abandon that idea straightaway because that’s not only geographically inaccurate, it’s also culturally wrong. While the D.C. suburbs in Northern Virginia have a distinct northeastern flavour, much of Virginia has more in common with North Carolina and other southern states than it does with Pennsylvania or New York (other Mid-Atlantic or Northeastern states). Virginia is very much a Southern state because Richmond was the capital of the nation called the Confederate States of America and the lion’s share of major battles in that War of Northern Aggression were fought on Virginia soil. I hope these tips will be helpful to you. This is meant to be an overview of things to see and do in Virginia. Also, because the South isn’t yet a VT destination, my Virginia page is a repository for cultural tips that are generically Southern.
So there, my accusations of Virginia being a southern state are shared by a medium-level tourism site that came up in an unrelated search. The 10% of Virginia that surrounds Washington, DC should go join Maryland, we don’t want you here [sticks out toungue].
The preceeding post was intended for entertainment purposes only and was not intended to offend any residents of the region known as “Northern Virginia” or “NoVA” 
[EDIT: The Shenandoah Valley (my home) is considered a "Must-See Activity" by that site, and they called Harrisonburg a "prominent city" in this area. Go see for yourself!]
[EDIT 2: Holy shit, more local mentions on that site! This time it's in their Shopping section, they listed the Green Valley Book Fair, which is a wonderful place to buy books, and it's less than a 15-minute drive from me! They also listed the Dayton Farmer's Market for some reason, that's just on the other side of Harrisonburg on the same road I live on, and there's some other little store I've never heard of that's quite close. Clickie (items 2, 3, and 4 from the top)]
[EDIT 3: Hell, just read the whole thing from the first link. Over half of their travel guide focuses on the Shenandoah Valley. This is a fabulous place to visit, and I honestly haven't found a place I'd rather live, but living here almost 19 years will get you tired of it enough to at least consider moving elsewhere. Most people who grew up here leave for college, but they usually come back eventually, as witnessed by Harrisonburg's recent growth rate of some insane figure like 450%.]
June 30th, 2004 at 6:24:33
NoVA doesn’t want the rest of Virginia attached to it either. Fuck, I’d be pretty happy if the majority of virginia just dropped off the face of the planet, all but NoVA and Richmond. The resulting deaths of the thousands of Rush-spouting dittoheads would be nothing but a service to the world.
June 30th, 2004 at 13:34:22
What are you talking about? Virginia is a southern state my ass.
Wehn the last time Virgnia elected a democrat? Democrats rule the south.
When’s the last time there was a racial lyniching? Yeah.
How much fareming is in Virginia? Hu? Noe that’s what. I can;t remember the last time a tabaco leaf was gron in Virgninia.
Adn why the hell are you talking about the Civil war? That was like totaly 50 years ago or something.
—————————-
Anywyas: “I’m going to go to college at NoVa, where the n stands fo knowledge.”
NoVa (a comunity college) is actuly quite good in all seriosul=ness. IT gives a lto of people orportunities they otherwise would not have.
Virginia is so godf ucking beautifull. It breaks my heat that I cna no longer consider it home. Dispite the people liviing htere.
June 30th, 2004 at 20:13:35
Democrats rule the south? Perhaps Southern Democrats once ruled the south, they’re a whole different breed of Democrats. Fundamentalist conservatives have taken over the Republican party, and they’ve managed to get elected year after year. Southern states tend to be very conservative, Democrats do not.
Not sure what part of Virginia you’re familiar with, but in the 90% that ISN’T NoVA, the vast majority of the economy is agricultural, with vegetable and livestock farms dominating the western part of the state, and tobacco (yes, they grow tons of it still) & peanuts dominate the southern regions, places like Emporia.
To history enthusiasts, Virginia is a key part of the Civil War, and here in the valley, where most of those battlefields are, the Confederate battle flags and “southern pride” paraphenalia are quite common (but not near JMU).
No offense, but for someone who loves this state so much, you sure don’t know squat about it.
June 30th, 2004 at 21:26:14
Umm… I think the fact that I siad the civil war happened 50 years ago and the fact all of my questions were rediculus should have pointed this out as beign sarcastic. Aklso there’s the dashed line seperating my queistions form serious conversations plus our erlier discussions. I’m sorry for the confusion.
June 30th, 2004 at 21:27:00
To be perfectly honest, I never really considered Virginia a southern state, because it was on the border of states that are seen as northern.
But, it IS a fairly large state, and it WAS a member of the confederacy, so it seems logical to classify it as a southern state.
Of course, I’ve had the same problem classifying Florida as a southern state (Although it is, obviously), and it’s very far south.
-Jamie