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| Virginia |
| Virginia is the state where I grew up in and where I live now. I was surprised to find out that Virginia is a popular travel destination among Americans, supposedly in the top states to travel to. The western part of the state is made up of rural mountains that offer many outdoor activities, while the east coast has many beaches along the Atlantic. Some of the most historically important places such as the tomb of US's first president, the former capital of the Confederate States of America, and the first permanent English colony are found in Virginia. |
| These photos are of the area in Virginia where I live, often referred to as Northern Virginia. Above on the upper left is the Masonic temple in old town Alexandria built by the Free Masons. The photo above is the famous US Marine Iwo Jima memorial with Washington DC in the background. On the left is the world's largest office building, the pentagon. The pentagon is the headquarters of the US governments Department of Defense. Many famous places such as the pentagon or the Iwo Jima memorial are thought to be in Washington DC but are actually located in Virginia. |
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| The capital of Virginia is Richmond which is located right in the middle of the state. It is a decent sized city and carries with it a lot of history. The photo on the right is my first panoramic picture, and was taken of the downtown area. Even though it looks like a large city it only has a population of 220,000. |
| Virginia's state capitol building looks much different than the other states. It was designed by Thomas Jefferson and is the second oldest state capitol still in use after Maryland. Thomas Jefferson used this design to represent America's European heritage. On the right is a photo of an old wall in Richmond when Cokes still cost only 5 cents each! |
| When I visited Richmond, St. John's church was being renovated so the best picture I could do is the photo of the gate seen to the upper left. Saint John's Church was the location where Patrick Henry gave the famous speech urging Americans to fight the British for independence. His speech ended with "give me liberty or give me death!". |
| Several other significant colonies existed in other parts of Virginia, one of the famous areas is in Alexandria, Virginia which is just outside of Washington DC. Here is George Washington's mansion called Mt. Vernon, the first president of the United States. George Washington lived in Mt. Vernon well before the Revolutionary War and his presidency. As he fought in the revolutionary war, he was not able to reside in the mansion for about 8 years. After his presidency, he retired back to the mansion where he spent the rest of his life. On the left is a photo of the main mansion that he lived in, on the right is the tomb of George Washington located in Mt. Vernon. |
| Right across from the state capitol building is the old treasury building of the Confederate States of America, or CSA. Richmond is not only Virginia's capital but was also CSA's capital during the civil war. The southern states in the south wanted to seperate from the United States which resulted in America's bloodiest war. Even though this city is very close to the Washington DC which was still under control of USA, Richmond was chosen as the CSA capital because it had so many resources which were used to fuel the war. The world's first Ironclad warship was built and used in battle in Virginia. On the upper right is a photo of a train carrying coal next to the James River. |
| Many other civil war battles where fought in Virginia. On the right is the bed where Stonewall Jackson died after being mortally wounded in a different engagement. The cemetery seen above is called Hollywood cemetery and is located in Richmond. The cemetery has tens of thousands of buried soldiers, mostly from the confederate armies. There are also 3 presidents buried in the cemetery. On the upper right is a statue of Jefferson Davis, who was the president of the Confederate States of America. He believed that the Union had been corrupted and that the Confederate government had to be pure in order to survive. When the war was over, Jefferson Davis was captured and put in prison. He was never charged with treason and was released after two years. |
| Burke Lake above was rated one of the top parks in the country. The ratings were based on how close the parks were to large populations and activities available. Northern Virginia has over two million people, so places like Burke lake give people a good opportunity to go jogging in the morning and relax in their free time. The upper right photo is of Great Falls Virginia which is a small park right on the border of Maryland and literally only minutes from the capital. Great Falls has some good trails and great scenery, as well as some rock climbing and kayaking. |
| The first fighting of the civil war took place in South Carolina, but the first major battle of the war took place in Bull Run which is in Manassas, Virginia. The cannons you see on the left are replicas of the ones that general Thomas Jackson brought with him as reinforcements. It was on that exact location where Jackson was first seen entering the war and this is where he earned his famous nickname, Stonewall Jackson. The stone bridge to the right was destroyed after the battle by fleeing Union soldiers. It has been rebuilt exactly as it was before. |
| The first permanent British colony was built in Jamestown Virginia in 1607. Jamestown is considered to be America's oldest city and in 2007 celebrated its 400th anniversary. The original Jamestown is for the most part destroyed from time, but a replica of Jamestown has been reconstructed in the area and is a major tourist attraction in Virginia. On the left you can see some people dressed up as the original settlers were, on the right is a large replica of a building. |
| These two pictures are of Lake Accotink which is only a mile or two from my house. The best thing about the lake is its 4 mile trail which I usually run when the weather is nice out. In 2007 I went jogging and for the first time ever I brought my camera. I was pretty lucky that day because I caught over a dozen turtles on the same log! |
| These photos are from random parts of Virginia showing different wildlife. Above are common white tailed deer, found in all 50 states. Notice that the deer on the right has white spots, indicating it is less than a year old. White Tailed deer are usually born in the spring, and lose their white spots after the first summer. |
| The white moth with black spots is known as the great leopard moth, and was found in my front yard. The large butterfly on the right is quite popular in the east coast and is called the Pipevine Swallowtail. |
| There are many places to enjoy the outdoors in Virginia, but the state is also home to one of the few National Parks on the east coast. Shenandoah is found along the western border of the state along the Appalachian mountains. Shenandoah is home to large populations of black bear, deer, bobcats, and even the rare flying squirrels. Camping, hiking, and several other outdoor activities are available here; the above photos are from a hike to the top of Old Rag Mountain, one of the best hikes in Virginia. You can see in the background of the first photo that the mountains are completely covered in trees, while on the right, some steeper and rocky sections support only small plants. |
| I've hiked Old Rag almost a dozen times for the purpose of training for larger mountains. These top two photos I took of my dad after I was able to get him to join me. On the left is him looking over one of the view points a few thousand feet above the surrounding land, on the right is my dad on the summit of old rag, at 3,200 feet. Old Rag is a great climb because of its challenging trails and it is a single mountain, not part of a mountain range so you can enjoy a 360 degree view from the summit. The photos from the above trip where in January, and the trail was covered in ice. |
| The northern Virginia population is in the millions, so many people use the subway to commute to DC and around other parts of Virginia as well. On the left is a photo of one of the subway stops in Virginia that actually directly connects to the shopping mall on the right. The mall on the right is called Pentagon City, located in Arlington Virginia. |
| I usually don't keep my camera around me when I'm at home, but I was lucky the one day I saw a huge cloud of smoke coming up close to my house to have my camera in the car. I quickly followed the smoke to find a huge fire engulfing a strip of townhouses in Springfield. The fire was pretty dramatic, and was brought under control by the fire department. Three townhouses were completely destroyed with others receiving significant damage. |
| Northern Virginia is an extremely diverse area, with a large population from countries like Korea, Vietnam, El Salvador, Afghanistan and others from around the world. One Sunday I was casually hanging out at home when one of my Afghan friends called me and asked if I wanted to meet the Vice President of Afghanistan. Opportunities like this don't come very often so we drove 20 minutes up to Arlington Virginia and I was able to have tea with 2nd VP Abdul Karim Khalili. Abdul Karim Khalili was visiting the area to attend a peace conference with Dick Cheney and Condaleeza Rice. |
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| The first settlers travel to what is now Virginia aboard ships owned by privateer Christopher Newport of the Virginia Company. The voyage took 5 months to travel from England to what is now Virginia. Replica's of the ship are docked in the Jamestown Colony and are able to be explored. |
| The Jamestown location was selected because no native tribes were currently living in the area although there were significant populations nearby. The tribe that the settlers first had contact with where the Powhatans, whose capital was about 20 miles from Jamestown. The first decade and a half was peaceful with the Native Americans, but after the natives had concerns with the British settlers expanding colony they launched the an attack known as the massacre of 1622. Above is what a Powhatan hut looked like, and on the right is a fur being dried out in the sun. |
| The early colonists had a difficult time finding more people to move to Jamestown and to get investments. Other workers from different countries such as Italy and Germany also came to the colony in its early years. On the left is a photo of what early homes from Jamestown looked like, on the right is a craftsman. |
| Although George Washington will forever be famous for his accomplishments as a statesmen, an officer at war, and the first President of the United States, he was also considered a great farmer. Before and after his presidency, he spent a lot of time maintaining gardens and farms which are still maintained to this day on his property. |
| I returned to Shenandoah in the summer of 08 and found it to be a whole new world from my winter trips to Old Rag. The forests here now seemed like a jungle in comparison to the dry and lifeless place it had been in the winter. The large bird on the left is known as a turkey vulture and is common all year around and very easy to spot. On the right is a camouflaged moth that looked exactly like a leaf. If i hadn't seen it land I would have never saw it. |
| Lots of insects are found in the mountains during the warmer months of the year. When spring first comes around you'll see hundreds of caterpillars walking around the trees and forest floor. In June they began to make cocoons along the branches and tree trunks like on the left, nasty! On the right is an enemy of the caterpillars, this is a species of ground beetle, specifically known as a caterpillar hunter. |
| Northern Virginia has several million people, but it is not the most populated place in the state. Driving to the southeast of Virginia is where the state's largest cities are found such as Norfolk and Virginia Beach. The area is made up of channels and is connected with several underwater tunnels, some of the longest in the world. Norfolk also has the largest naval base in the world, home to several US aircraft carriers. On the right is WW2's USS Wisconsin at the Nauticus museum. |
| Then southern most part of Virginia along the coast is much warmer than the west and northern areas. Many houses and businesses have palm trees growing on their properties. This is probably as far north as you'll find this many palms growing outside along the east coast. South eastern Virginia does get snow and ice from time to time, but the average the day temperatures are around 50F during coldest months in Jan and Feb. |
| One of the most popular destinations in the state is Virginia beach, located just north of the border of North Carolina. Virginia beach has dozens of attractions in the city plus in the surrounding areas. The statue on the left is of the sea god Poseidon, and was built in respect for the Ocean's power. |
| I went to Virginia beach for the 4th of July weekend so it was pretty packed. On the left you can see hundreds of people in a small area swimming and relaxing along the beach. The large cargo rig on the right stands out a lot while you are at the beach, seems like a strange location to put it but the tourists don't seem to mind! |
| Virginia beach has all the typical beach stores and a big boardwalk like most large beaches in the US. There are also dozens of places to ride bikes along the boardwalk and a bike trail that goes along the shops and beach. |
| Many people know Virginia beach for some of their strange laws. Cussing for example is illegal in Virginia beach and is punishable by a fine. I'm sure cussing is technically illegal everywhere, but in Virginia beach it is strictly enforced and $30 fines are common. Above are a do not cuss sign and a police hummer. |
| For those who don't want to get up close and personal with local wildlife, Virginia beach's aquarium has lots of native wildlife from the local marshes and the ocean. The huge snapping turtle on the left is probably about 3 feet in height while it is standing up vertically and lives in swampy areas of the state. On the right are puffer fish and a shark that are both common in Virginia's ocean. |
| Everywhere in America on July 4th people celebrate our nations independence. The day always ends with fireworks once the sun goes down. In Virginia beach ships out in the ocean launched hundreds of fireworks while people crowded along the boardwalk and beach to watch. On the upper left an unseen ship launches dozens of fireworks at the same time, almost looking like missiles. Some of the fireworks looked like galaxies from space I thought. |
| After the firework celebration, everyone goes out to party and continue the celebration. The above photo is one of a few free concerts in Virginia beach on July 4th. On the right are people crowded in a bar getting drinks. |
| Above is another butterfly seen out in a field, it was one of several that were attracted to the plant it is feeding on. The spider on the right is called the barn spider, and was the same type of spider as in the book Charolette's web. These spiders usually come out during the fall time when the temperatures just start getting cool. |
| Here are some rare wildlife from Virginia, at least I don't see these very often. The yellow bird on the left is an American gold finch. I haven't seen one for years, but someone I work with claims he sees them all the time. I took this photo with my new Nikon D80 so it came out blurry since I am still learning how to use it. The black squirrel on the right is pretty rare in Virginia. From what I understand black squirrels are actually more popular farther out west, but on the east coast I usually only see one every few years. |
| Above are two more photos from the city of Arlington. Arlington is split up into different districts such as Crystal City or Roslyn. The downtown area of Roslyn is seen on the upper left. On the right is a photo on the edge of Roslyn for a company that is contracted with the US government. Many people living in Arlington either commute to Washington DC for work or work in Arlington itself with government jobs. |
| Above are some examples of typical homes in northern Virginia. The townhouses on the left are what I originally grew up in, just not in Arlington or nearly as nice as the ones above. On the right is an apartment building. |