Sweet Virginia
I've been a bit "off schedule" lately when it comes to HIVE. About a week ago a series of circumstances unfolded that saw @mrsbozz and I on the road for the better part of the weekend. I did my best to stay active on Friday and Monday, but things needed to be sacrificed, so HIVE didn't get my full attention.
I'll actually be writing a series of posts about our trip, but for today, I am just going to give you a taste of our weekend.
Looking back, it was an absolute whirlwind, but this recent drive from Michigan down to Virginia was quite memorable and after visiting for just a short amount of time, I can't wait to get back and explore more of the state.
One thing that made this trip wholly unique for me was the fact that I didn't do most of the driving. I'll probably mention this again in a future post, but my brother in law was more than happy to make the drive from Columbus, OH down to Virginia with us in tow, so as a simple passenger, I was able to take a lot more photos than I normally would.
In fact, between my wife and I we had a crazy 219 photos from this trip. When you consider it was only about a two full days, that is pretty impressive.
I started thinking last night about what I could write my #threetunetuesday (sponsored by @ablaze) post about today, and it was pretty clear that Virginia should be my focus. So, with a little bit of research on the Internet, I have hand picked for you three songs either about Virginia or with Virginia in the title.
I'll be honest, I don't believe I have ever heard "Virginia Moon" before. However, this little song by Dave Grohl and Norah Jones is pretty nice. It has a great melody and it is a significant departure from what we have come to expect from the lead singer of the Foo Fighters. It appears to come from a collaboration album that Norah Jones did where she sings a number of songs with other famous people.
I'm going to have to dig into that and see what the rest of the album sounds like. I am a fan of Norah Jones even though I feel "I don't know why" was horrendously overplayed. With a voice like hers she should have had more mainstream hits than just that one.
Of course this list would not be complete without "Meet Virginia" by Train. I remember when this song first came out. Along with "Drops of Jupiter" it was much of the worlds first introduction to the band Train. I have had the chance to see Train live once or twice in my life and they always put on a great show.
I think what impresses me the most about Train is the fact that they were big, then they kind of went away, then they came back with "Hey Soul Sister" and were suddenly big again. Then they kind of faded off a little bit, but somehow put together another string of hits that made them somewhat relevant.
If their music wasn't so good I would compare them to an STD that you just can't seem to shake.
Obviously, "Meet Virginia" is about a girl named Virginia and not the state, but I feel like it still fits pretty well for today's theme. I hope you enjoy it!
Finally, I am going to go a little "off book" here and share "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver. While the song specifically says "West Virginia" (which we also drove through), I have seen the argument that he may have actually be referring to "western Virginia" in the song due to the fact that the Blue Ridge mountains and Shenandoah River are more commonly associated with Virginia versus West Virginia.
In fact, it's only a small portion of the Blue Ridge Mountains that are in the state of West Virginia. Additionally, it's only a small blip of the Shenandoah river that actually flows through the tiniest portion of West Virginia, so I guess the assumption that he was talking about the western portion of the state of Virginia makes sense.
Unfortunately, since he is no longer with us, we can't ask him, so we may never know.
Either way, I an carrying with me some amazing memories of our time in Virginia. There is a good chance we are going to be heading back that way this Spring and I can't hardly wait to be honest.
As much as I love my neck of the woods in Michigan, there is something about the south that just kind of draws you in. It's a whole different vibe.
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I had never heard that combined effort of Norah Jones and the Foo Fighters either. Such a different feel that you would expect, but good. Norah really got a raw deal, the one big hit and faded away despite producing more good music, she has a great voice!
Train... What a great band. Nice pick there, they kind of appeared and went away to return again. Kind of the hallmark of a great band, they managed to stay relevant for as long they did. I never did see them live though!
John Denver... What else can you say? Such an amazing artist with such timeless music that is relevant even today. "Take Me Home" was such a huge hit, it is interesting that it might be referring to the west part of Virginia rather than the state of West Virginia. But now that he's gone we'll never know... He started out east, headed to Colorado, and ended his journey in California. Talk about a life well lived.
I hope you make it back to Virginia next year, I love the state as well. When I lived back east I loved going down there and when I had even more time to go to Charleston, South Carolina. Such awesome places!
Have a great Tuesday!
I visited Charleston when I was a kid because my parents used to live there when my dad was in the Navy. I think they also had a place down in Jacksonville for a time while he was overseas. It's a beautiful area. I've been talking about hauling the trailer down that way sometime. We saw a lot of campgrounds along the mountain roads.
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STOPA beautiful state. Mountains in the west, coastline in the East. I took my kids to Hungry Mother State Park, Blue Ridge Mountains years ago, and used to attend the US Open (Pool) in Chesapeake. That state literally has everything to offer.
I have a feeling we will be back a few times as long as our niece keeps attending school there!
That’s insane 😲 I feel like I could never take that many pics without my phone dying. Virginia looks super pretty though, I totally get why you’d want to go back
It's honestly crazy how many photos I take these days. Mostly for HIVE, but also for myself!
I just finished a road trip myself down to North Carolina, and around the Blue Ridge Mountains, passing through West Virginia a bit along the way. Really beautiful country down that way. I have to say, I played that Country Roads song at least a dozen times on the road haha it really hits different when you are actually passing through that part of the country. There really is a romantic nature to those rolling mountains and open roads, and it is easy to see how it might inspire such a song.
We traveled through West Virginia as well on our way to Virginia. It's beautiful countryside. I haven't been down that way in quite some time, so it was nice to revisit it with older eyes! I hope you had an amazing trip!
Its cool you had the previous experiences to look back on. Seeing a place years later, and with a fresh perspective adds a deeper potential for appreciation. This was my first time really spending much time in that part of the country, and it was really a nice trip. Has much changed since you were last there? I noticed a fair bit of new construction off of some stretches of the highway.
I was probably in elementary school, so I can't really say. That's been more than a few decades ago now!
This one read familiar too! Too much work lately... I am slowly going crazy. Or suffering from a bout of severe deja vu.
I've never heard that small contention about Take me Home, Country Road. I also don't know that I have ever heard Virginia Moon before. That's a great tune!
Thanks! It felt like a given that I should choose this as the theme after my road trip!