Thursday’s column: Virginia’s more wonderful than weird
The Blue Ridge Parkway where it passes over the James River, about an hour's drive north of Roanoke. | Thea Ganoe | Wikimedia Commons
Dear Graham Smith in Massachusetts,
In my effort to help you with your fourth grade project on the state of Virginia, my column on Tuesday ended by noting there is lots that’s “weird” and “wonderful” about this commonwealth.
Regrettably, I ran out of space after I got done listing the weird, (except for the landmark Texas Tavern restaurant in Roanoke, which of course is wonderful).
So here is a postscript about lots of good stuff.
We will start with the Blue Ridge Parkway, a gorgeous ribbon of asphalt that grazes the beautiful mountaintops of the southern Appalachians. It’s the most wonderful road I’ve ever bicycled on. Alas, it’s open to flatfooted drivers in cars and RVs, too.
The parkway has scores of scenic views and overlooks, and it’s only five miles from downtown Roanoke. It’s also a national park that draws 20 million visitors a year; of those 3 million are schoolchildren.
It is 469 miles long, and 217 of those miles are in the outstanding commonwealth of Virginia (the rest is in western North Carolina, which we Virginians look down upon).
McAfee Knob, along the Appalachian Trail, outside Roanoke, Va. | Matthias Manske | Wikimedia Commons
There isn’t one permanent stoplight or stop sign for that entire distance, and that is remarkable, if you despise stop signs and stop lights like I do.
The Appalachian Trail is another national park that stretches from Georgia to Maine. It’s 2,178 miles long. Of that, 544 miles are in the incredible commonwealth of Virginia (and 90 miles are in western Massachusetts).
McAfee’s Knob, which you can see from Roanoke, is reputedly the most photographed vista along the entire trail.
The trail is only about 10 miles from downtown, which means that we Roanokers cross paths with a fair number of interesting through-hikers — the people who walk the entire distance.
The parkway and the Appalachian Trail are merely two of the amazing outdoor recreation venues you can visit in superb Virginia.
As one of original 13 colonies (like Massachusetts), Virginia is loaded with history.
Portrait of George Washinton by Gilbert Stuart | Wikimedia Commons
I’m sure you know that our nation’s first president, George Washington, was a Virginian. So was the third president (Thomas Jefferson), fourth (James Madison); fifth (James Monroe) and four others — the most prominent of those is Woodrow Wilson, No. 28. He created the League of Nations, forerunner to the United Nations.
Considering that this nation has 50 states and there have been only 44 presidents, the fact that eight were Virginia-born is another extraordinary tidbit about our amazing state.
It would be nice if they made Virginia leaders like that nowadays, right? Sadly, there are few except maybe for U.S. Sen. Jim Webb and he doesn’t count because he’s a transplant from Missouri.
There’s one glaring deficiency about Virginia that I will dare mention, even if it does get me in hot water with some Roanoke-area newscasters.
It concerns major league sports. We have no major league pro teams in Virginia. Many of us follow the Washington Redskins, who actually play in Maryland.
So you could say that Virginians are a bit jealous of Massachusetts in that respect, and your Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots and Bruins.
However, in Salem, a city next-door to Roanoke, we have a Red Sox farm team, the Salem Red Sox.
Going to their games is a lot more fun (and economical) than driving to Washington to see the Nationals (which few Virginians will admit to following anyway).
I’d like you to keep in mind that some of your future Red Sox stars are coming from the great state of Virginia.
There is much more to tell you about our wonderful state, but I’m out of room again, so I’ll leave that to able readers of The Roanoke Times. Many of them have informed me they will be sending you their own packages.
All of us wish you, and the other fourth graders in Ms. Collins class at Upham School in Wellesley, the best with your projects.
April 14, 2011 - 6:00 AM
Now you are talking.
Did my first spring bike ascent of Mill Mountain yesterday. If there’s another city that has this kind of experience for its citizens, I don’t want to know about it. In a way, it’s a microcosm of the beauty this state has to offer.
Dan you out did yourself with this very excellent article….very good indeed!
And just one more thing. Virginia, and Roanoke specifically is full of very weird people who pretent to be journalist. People who have an attitude that they are paid to make you think. Why I bet you and your fellow 4th graders mistakenly thought your teacher was paid to make you think. Bet you’ll be surprised to learn that down in Virginia, specifically Roanoke, the city fathers have given former teachers the task of just being “sitters” through the day while they are looking for the newspaper, specifically the Roanoke Times, to deliver education to your young brains.
Nice change of heart, Dan. This is the kind of information the boy was asking for.
Again, never underestimate the power of a few well-placed phone calls by a few well-placed people.
Al,
On behalf of all of us, I want to thank you for all the thought you put into that comment.
MikeScott, I totally agree with you. I was driving home yesterday evening and just looked around at how we’re surrounded by mountains on all sides…it’s just beautiful.
This was a nice piece Dan and probably exactly what Graham and Ms. Collins had in mind. Is it too late to add it to his packet?
Al, Dan couldn’t possibly be paid enough to try and make YOU think. So don’t take him so personally.
Talk about being sent off the slumber land. See if you can identify the three sleeping people in this clip. Hint: Dan is not there.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/13/joe-biden-sleeping-asleep_n_848862.html
LOL, if Dan or anyone had the power to make some of the closed minds here actually “think” instead of respond like a shark to stimuli, he would be way more than a journalist.
Here we go again with the implied threats: “power of a few well-placed phone calls by a few well-placed people” indeed. I remain unconvinced you are a mover, shaker or well-placed at all Suzie, except in your mind, where I am certain you are ten feet tall and bullet proof.
A much better response considering this child’s age Dan. However, I must take umbrage with this part of the column “I’m sure you know that our nation’s first president, George Washington, was a Virginian. So was the third president (Thomas Jefferson), fourth (James Madison); fifth (James Monroe) and four others — the most prominent of those is Woodrow Wilson, No. 28. He created the League of Nations, forerunner to the United Nations.
Considering that this nation has 50 states and there have been only 44 presidents, the fact that eight were Virginia-born is another extraordinary tidbit about our amazing state.
It would be nice if they made Virginia leaders like that nowadays, right? Sadly, there are few except maybe for U.S. Sen. Jim Webb and he doesn’t count because he’s a transplant from Missouri.”
Yes, he was prominent all right, but I for one am damn glad they aren’t making Virginia leaders like that lately. Woodrow Wilson despised most things that Washington and Jefferson stood for. He wasn’t an advocate of the system of checks and balances built into our form of government,he once said “I cannot imagine power as a thing negative and not positive.” This statement reveals his fascist nature.
He was no fan of individual liberty, either: “No doubt a lot of nonsense has been talked about the inalienable rights of the individual, and a great deal that was mere sentiment and pleasing speculation has been put forward as fundamental principle,”
He rejected the principles of “seperation of powers” and those of “checks and balances” writing in The State
“Government does now whatever experience permits or the times demand….”
In an 1890 essay he wrote “The competent leader of men cares little for the internal niceties of other people’s characters: he cares much–everything–for the external uses to which they may be put…. He supplies the power; others supply only the materials upon which that power operates…. It is the power which dictates, dominates; the materials yield. Men are as clay in the hands of the consummate leader.” So much for individual liberty, huh?
This statement he made sounds eerily like the policy of our current “leader” :“While we are followers of Jefferson, there is one principle of Jefferson’s which no longer can obtain in the practical politics of America. You know that it was Jefferson who said that the best government is that which does as little governing as possible…. But that time is passed. America is not now and cannot in the future be a place for unrestricted individual enterprise.”
Wilson created an official “department of propaganda” during the war, urged the suppression of the “Sedition Act” which advocated throwing journalists or even Joe Blow on the street in jail for criticizing the government during time of war: citizens could not “utter, print, write or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the government or the military. So much for freedom of speech.
There is so much about this man not to like, I could go on, but I don’t want to create such a wall of text that nobody reads it. I just hope this 4th grade kid doesn’t take your word for it that Wilson was an admirable example. Hopefully, he’ll be curious enough to do a little research and decide for himself. And again, thank goodness Virginia hasn’t produced another like him. Yet.
Correction to my earlier post: urged the ADOPTION of the Sedition Act, not the suppression of it.
This one is definitely going in the packet.
“Regrettably, I ran out of space after I got done listing the weird, (except for the landmark Texas Tavern restaurant in Roanoke, which of course is wonderful).” – Haha, yeah and I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell ya!
I remain unconvinced you are a mover, shaker or well-placed at all Suzie, except in your mind, where I am certain you are ten feet tall and bullet proof.
Oh, I didn’t mean me. I wouldn’t undermine the Danster. But I do have many friends with strong opinions and a lot of influence. No telling what they might do.
I don’t know if anyone made a “well-placed call.” If they did, it has not been mentioned to me. Writing the second column was my idea and my idea alone. And on camera, that TV news shot, where you see my fingers typing, I was beginning to write it exactly then.
The cameraman said, “I hope that’s not anything sensitive on that computer screen.” And I said, “Nope.”
Great column, Dan. I am sure that Graham will love it!
Mike & Kristen – I was driving home the other day and Tinker Mountain was looming large in front of me. I looked around at our mountains and marveled at how lovely our valley is.
Dan, Virginia was also the site of the first Civilian Conservation Corps camps. This would be Camp Roosevelt in the George Washington National Forest.
http://www.ccclegacy.org/camp_roosevelt_history.htm
#5 Yeah, that Al guy in one real powerful thinker. Fortunately, our Mass. 4th grader won’t ever be meeting him.
There’s dozens of other great sites and things to do in this wonderful Commonwealth. Having grown up in Hampton Roads, there’s things like the Virginia Marine Science Museum, Nauticus & the USS Wisconsin, Virginia Air & Space Museum, Chrysler Hall & the Chrysler Museum of Art, the Life Saving Museum, First Landing State Park, Back Bay NWR, The Great Dismal Swamp, Harbor Park (one of the finest AAA baseball parks in the country), the historic triangle of Williamsburg-Jamestown-Yorktown on the Penninsula, Colonial Downs, Bush Gardens, the Virginia Beach oceanfront & boardwalk, great fishing in the Chesapeake Bay, one of the greatest engineering accomplishments in the past 50 years in the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, and more…and that’s just one region.
Good stuff. Much better than the original. Good job Dan.
For goodness sakes, Dan, at least make sure those Massachusetts kids know how to say Appalachian? Would you, please? Let them know that ‘ap-uh-lay-shun’ is not the phonetically correct way to say it. I don’t give a rats ass what any dictionary says. It is “a-puh-lah-chun” mountains.
If you live there, you know how to pronounce it, and he who lives there determines how to pronounce it. This is, perhaps, my biggest pet peeve in the entire world.
Just ask people in Nevada how to say their state name. Most everybody gets it wrong.
And, Rick H, if you ask a Floridian how to pronounce Miami, you’re as likely to hear “My-am-ah” as anything else.
In Binghamton, N.Y, where I was born, my relatives call “apple pie” something that I would approximate as “eApple Peyeuh.” (They pronounce it this way in Birmingham, Mich., too).
“If you live there, you know how to pronounce it, and he who lives there determines how to pronounce it. This is, perhaps, my biggest pet peeve in the entire world.
Just ask people in Nevada how to say their state name. Most everybody gets it wrong.”
Ok Rick…in your first paragraph place pronunciations are determined by those who live there…and in the second, Nevadans don’t know how to pronounce their own state. Which is it?
#19 Gotta agree with you on the Appalachian pronunciation.
Re: #20
You forgot Balmer or BallTeeMore — depending on the part of the city.
My favorite pronunciation of all time is what certain folks in Balmer say when they’re heading off to Ocean City.
They’re “gawn-don-ee-oshun” (but you gotta mash it all together).
Al & Company, Inc. Paying the social security benefits of folks like gramps for going on three generations. Hey gramps, does your check come in tomorrow?
Al made a decision to go into business knowing he’d have to pay SS taxes for his employees.
Now it sounds like’s regretting that. Perhaps we should all cry a river for him ;;;
Let me ask you this Al: Do you wish you had never become an employer, given all the money you’ve had to fork over to SS on behalf of your employees?
Al made a decision to go into business knowing he’d have to pay SS taxes for his employees.
Now it sounds like’s regretting that. Perhaps we should all cry a river for him ;;;
No, but you should damn well appreciate Al and all the other employers who carry the SS frieght. And really, businessmen like Al have the only opinions on the subject that should matter.
#25 Wonder who Al’s talking to.
“No, but you should damn well appreciate Al and all the other employers who carry the SS frieght. And really, businessmen like Al have the only opinions on the subject that should matter.”
Oh good grief. Another person — who didn’t go into business but married into one — who is now regretting the choice she made.
We should cry triple rivers: Suzie and hubby, who fly to NYC for lunch, despite the unbelievable burdens Social Security imposes on them, and poor Al who doesn’t fly to NYC “for lunch” ;;;
What on earth makes you think I “regret it”. It’s all baked back in to the cost of products and services and as long as employees deliver the goods it’s fine with me. Never a moment’s regret dannie boy but I do regret so many typical workers and grandpaws have never tasted the other side of life, occupationally speaking. That includes you as well. Say, why not strike out on your own…go rogue so to speak. See what your talents (snicker snicker) will get you as an independent. Why you may be able to afford that house in Penn Forrest and and even a new Subaru. Probably not….on the Subaru. You strike me as one who would go for one of those little Smart cars.
“What on earth makes you think I “regret it”. It’s all baked back in to the cost of products and services and as long as employees deliver the goods it’s fine with me. Never a moment’s regret dannie boy but I do regret so many typical workers and grandpaws have never tasted the other side of life, occupationally speaking.”
Here is what made me wonder if Al regrets paying Social Security payroll taxes for the workers he chose to employ, after he chose to go into business. Al wrote earlier:
“Al & Company, Inc. Paying the social security benefits of folks like gramps for going on three generations.”
Perhaps Al doesn’t resent those workers stealing their pay (in return for their hard work) from him.;;;
Perhaps Al doesn’t resent having to pay, on top of the unGodly amount those workers were stealing from him as wages, a 7 percent SS payroll tax for the privilege of employing them.;;;
But wow, it sure sounds like it. It sounds like Al believes the entire SS system rests on his shoulders. And it sounds like he resents that — even though he CHOSE to go into business knowing the rules of the game.
It sounds like Al wants to change the rules, in a way that’s to his advantage, after the game already has started.
The self-pity game is unbecoming. Poor Al.
Dude, if i can ever pay cash for a new Subaru, I will be all over it. They are hands down probably the best built cars ever made and definitely hold their value the best.
I’ve owned a Subaru, a BMW,2 Fords, 2 Dodges, a Buick, and, most recently, a bunch of different Volvos. I would recommend the latter, but ONLY because of Boxy Swedish Car Repair on Salem Ave. The guy who owns it, Walter Williams, is a prince. He is in the top .01 percent of mechanics I’ve ever dealt with (and I have worked for them, too).
Mark…Subarus are great. Father-in-law has a 96′ Outback, with more than 210K miles on it…thing is like a tank, and great in the snow.
I’ve had 4 Fords (3 Rangers and an Escape), a Jeep Cherokee, a POS Chevy Cavalier, an Acura Integra, and a Dodge D100 (Ram). The Escape and Ram have been by far the best, and had the guy before me not tricked up the Integra and raced it, could have been a better car for me…damn thing fell apart. The Cavalier was simply the worst car ever. Everything broke on it except for the thing never quit running. AC crapped out, leaked madly, blew fuel injectors and alternators…but would not die. Cherokee was ok, but it ate through exhaust manifolds and had no horsepower…dropped the exhaust in the middle of South Main Street in Blacksburg one day, that was fun collecting and tossing in the back. But, it was a beast in the snow and ice…could climb a hill covered in ice without slipping once. Also loved the Rangers…best little trucks ever made. The 4×4 extended cab one was my favorite…but I bent the frame 4-wheeling it. The 5-speed 2×4 was pretty excellent too. Got 27 MPG out of it, and it could tow nicely too. I wish I had kept it when we got our Escape instead of trading it, that was a mistake.
We have owned Volvos for the last 20 years. We also take our car to Boxy. Walter is terrific for any regular repairs but will admit that any less common repairs would probably be better taken elsewhere. He is honest and dependable and that is hard to find.
Imagine that, Al has joined Suzie in the class warfare language of “you can’t touch this” because of where you live, your income, what you drive etc. Continuing to give Conservatives a bad name. Let’s just start calling them TPers because that kind of caste system is so TEA Protest, anti-American drivel that tries to drive the wedge deeper. As if it was even needed. Keep it classy Al, you are bound to be as peachy as a boss as Suzie is.
Al’s right about one thing, once you’ve worked for yourself it’s unthinkable to go back. What he doesn’t get is that everybody has to be good at something, and homes in Penn Forest are going for a quarter-mil.
Gosh Dan, Suzie doesn’t fly to NYC for lunch either, Dan. She said on here one time, that she usually packs sandwiches for their jaunts. She may go there to buy something, but lunch is rarely it.
Oops, I had changed my comment and didn’t notice that I forgot to take the second “Dan” out until I’d hit submit. Iguess that’s what I get for being snarky.
Sadly, a good many people do have to go back to work for someone else; these days especially.
Since all businesses have to meet the same “burden” the only river is denial.
Given the set asides and carve outs for small business, veteran owned business, women and/or minority owned business and the subsidies, incentives, rebates, deductions, pass-thru benefits and a myriad of other ways that business is “assisted” by the rigged game of Capitalism and commerce, it is pretty cheesy for anyone making a living on their business to complain about having to contribute to the society that is benefiting them. But, I expect no less from some of them. I am sure any failures would be the government’s fault too.
Imagine that, Al has joined Suzie in the class warfare language of “you can’t touch this” because of where you live, your income, what you drive etc.
No, sweets, it’s because we pay the frieght. Why should you people who sit on their brains get a say?
Al’s right about one thing, once you’ve worked for yourself it’s unthinkable to go back. What he doesn’t get is that everybody has to be good at something
Yes, Poodle got to where he could average five newspapers delivered a minute. He was also a whiz and slipping them into those transparent green plastic bags on rainy days. It’s such a damn shame he went that a bender and demolished six mailboxes and damaged two parked cars.
What is it about liberals and Volvos?
Big lib status symbol: wipers on the headlights. The definition of dopey.
Considering my mental image of Al trolling reststop bathrooms for “hot times”, the idea of him engaging in “class warfare” is pretty funny. Not too worried about how I’d fare in that particular battle.
One more thing (among few) not to like about Virginia:
Too many people from Massachussetts move here!
Given the set asides and carve outs for small business, veteran owned business, women and/or minority owned business and the subsidies, incentives, rebates, deductions, pass-thru benefits and a myriad of other ways that business is “assisted” by the rigged game of Capitalism
Interestingly, the “set-asides” for minorities and women you are bitching about have to do with big-government socialism and NOT capitalism.
As for tax breaks, I wonder how many times I have to say it: The government stealing less from a company or individual than they normally steal does not constitute a “gift” or a “benefit”. This is yet another liberal semantic game, a false premise pretending that all wealth should belong to the government.
“It is “a-puh-lah-chun” mountains.”
Thanks Rick!!
Considering my mental image of Al trolling reststop bathrooms for “hot times”, the idea of him engaging in “class warfare” is pretty funny. Not too worried about how I’d fare in that particular battle.
Amazing since Al is a conservative, comments to him devolve into this other junk, and not to the issue being discussed. This is how liberals in here operate, then they scream about civility. But the moment a conservative gives it back to them, they want to take their ball and go home.
$48 Guess you don’t pay much attention, toots, we’ve been bashing Al for inane posts for a long time.
God, she does not even realize how she has so often been “Hoist with her own petard”!
No you do not think you are superior because you “pay the frieght“, the freight is paid by your customers. How many times have you folks admitted that in a tax discussion? And by your employees, they MAKE you more money than they cost you or you would not have them. You think you are superior because that is the arrogance that is your essence, and Al’s. You came by your husband’s business through marriage and whatever fiefdom Al has “built” was probably because he is so far outside the norm and cannot control it, that it was a necessity or starve. Neither of you, nor the other TEA protesters are examples of the noble small business owner that built this nation. Whiners like you would have never withstood what it took to do so.
I have no doubt that you are stupid enough to believe that the “set-asides” for minorities and women are all about “big-government socialism and NOT capitalism” but that is not true either. It is a well played joke how many men run “women owned” businesses and how many non-minorities “back” minority business. The whole program has been so polluted by Capitalism at it’s lowest that it is a stinking joke and a huge waste of tax dollars. Which is of course why Capitalists got involved!
I do not know how many times I have to refute your lies but I will continue to do so. If you do not like the price of doing business so you can live in a free society, move on up and out. Your duty is to pay the taxes required; the tax breaks and other kick backs are among your rewards and we all know you are not employing people for charity or out of the goodness of your missing heart. You reap the benefits of a business and complain because you are then asked to pay your share of the tab. Typical!
It never ceases to amaze me the hypocritical lengths Suzie will go to for a post. The absolute undisputed queen of “other junk” boorish insults and name calling that “devolve” a discussion, then has the audacity to complain about it. There is not a mirror strong enough in all of Disney for that delusion.
You might want to note dearie that the only place we are “taking it”, is to your sorry self (and Al’s) by returning the fire! Can’t stand the heat, stop posting trash, lies and insults.
“No, but you should damn well appreciate Al and all the other employers who carry the SS frieght. And really, businessmen like Al have the only opinions on the subject that should matter.”
I damn well appreciated my employees that made my business successful for many, many years. To begrudge paying SS taxes for your employees is nothing more than greed. The payments can become substantial, but rather than complain, I looked upon them as a measure of the success of the company. The complainers only solidify the need for unions to protect workers rights.
Beware the Yellow Pages, Butch. We look forward to your call.
Good post, Blue John. You sound like an employer I’d be happy to work for. Let’s not forget that businesses and corporations aren’t the only ones who pay SS. As clergy, I’m considered self-employed so I pay both federal income tax and social security. I file quarterly like just about every self-employed American does. When we lived in a parsonage, we had to pay social security taxes on the fair market rental value of the house since it is considered a benefit.
Excellent point Blue John. Most employers consider that in the pay scale and consider it the price for employees that contribute to the success of the business. I am willing to bet that if the taxes stopped, the payments would not simply be added to their employees pay because unlike you and most honest business owners they consider that “their money” not wages the employee earned.
To begrudge paying SS taxes for your employees is nothing more than greed.
Nope. SS is a sink hole. Wasted money frittered away by the government. We would prefer paying our employees a salary or wage, then let them decide how to invest it or plan for their retirement.
Someone’s out of weekend detention. What are you in for Butch, impersonation?
Poodle,
Why don’t you try impersonating a sober man for once?
#57 I heard there was a break at the regional jail yesterday.