Virginia travel facts and trivia
Lexington, Appotomax, Fredericksburg, Jamestown, Shenandoah Valley
Information on the Frontier Culture Museum, the first Thanksgiving, JFK's grave, Foamhenge, Richmond Money Museum, Mt Vernon, Arlington, PETA & Norfolk naval base.
The US state of Virginia is home to many historical attractions, and some strange sights. Here are just a few things that visitors on vacation in the state can see:
- The Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton is like taking a short trip around the world, and it explores the culture of those who live on the cusp of unknown lands across the world.
- The University of Virginia in Charlottesburg was founded by Thomas Jefferson, and it is World Heritage listed.
- The first ever official Thanksgiving was celebrated in Berkeley. So, if any militant turkeys want somewhere to blame, that’s the place to head to for a bit of sweet revenge.
- The grave of assassinated president John F Kennedy can be found in Arlington
- Appotomax is the place to go to for Civil War buffs. This was where General Robert Lee of the Confederate States officially surrendered. Lee’s house can also be found in Arlington.
- Arlington’s cemetery also hosts a memorial to the astronauts who died in the Challenger space shuttle disaster.
- Don’t go wearing a fur coat around the streets of Norfolk, as the town is home to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). They get notoriously tetchy about that sort of thing.
- The world’s largest musical instrument – a natural pipe organ in a cave – can be found in the Shenandoah Valley.
- John Smith, of Pocahontas fame, visited Fredericksburg as early as 1608.
- If you discount Russia, then the town of Norfolk is home to the world’s biggest naval base. Here you can find a lot of very, very big ships with a lot of deadly weaponry.
- The first British settlement in the Americas was at Jamestown. These days, it is a huge tourist draw, with plenty of attractions aimed at those interested in the United States’ colonial past.
- If the thought of money – and lots of it – gets your tongue drooling away like Kirstie Alley’s outside Krispy Kreme, then head to Richmond. Here you can find the Money Museum, which traces the history of currency and has notes and coins from all over the world.
- Clearly if the UK can make plenty of tourist money out of a load of old rocks put together, then Lexington can do it to with a slightly novel take on Stonehenge. Foamhenge, which can be found in the town, is exactly what you’d expect it to be. Very Spinal Tap.
- Those wanting to pay their respects to America’s first president, George Washington, should head to Mt Vernon. You can find both his grave and the home that he lived in here.
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