We live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Although I grew up in the Midwest, I've fallen in love with Virginia, especially the central and Western parts of the state. This page introduces some of my favorite things in the area.

For a good listing of Virginia-based resources, check out the open directory project's Virginia directory.

Events & Media

Virginia Festival of the Book is a wonderful literary event featuring local authors and those who write about Virginia from other parts of the world.

Green Valley Book Fair is the best book sale on the East coast!

WVPT is our local PBS station with terrific programming including Garden Views and The Farm Report.

With Good Reason is Virginia's only state-wide public radio program.

Not your typical event or media, the falcontrak project tracks the events in the lives of a family of falcon's on the James River Bridge. Incredible.

Arts, Sciences, and Humanities

Shenandoah Shakespeare, an internationally acclaimed theatre company that performs Shakespeare's works under their original staging conditions—on a simple stage, without elaborate sets, and with the audience sharing the same light as the actors—has built the 300-seat indoor Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, Virginia. I attended a show this winter and was overwhelmed by the cast, the theatre, and the quality of the performance. If you're ever within 100 miles of the area, this is well worth your time.

The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities promotes lifelong learning, literacy, and civil public debate for all Virginians. The fund and produce exhibits, conferences & teachers' institutes; book discussion series; film, video & radio programs; and other public programs that draw upon the rich resources of the humanities.

Art180 is a nonprofit that gives young people living in different circumstances the freedom to express themselves, to discover themselves, to tell their stories, to create change through art.

Artist Suzanne Crane creates stunning pottery from her studio in Earlysville, in Central Virginia, north of Charlottesville and east of the Blue Ridge. Each of her botanical pieces begins with a walk in the mountains and woods where she gathers wild plant specimens to use in decorating the pots.

Science Museum of Virginia offers educational resources for kids and grown-ups with links to museums in Richmond and around Virginia.

Frontier Culture Museum in Augusta County provides a wonderful glimpse of society through the years.

Food

Agnes' Very Very organic bake 'mmm bagels, made in Augusta County, Virginia, were voted one of the top ten New York bagels in the country by Willard Scott of NBC Today. Agnes' extraordinary, patent-pending process stabilizes traditional kettle-boiled bagels in their original plump shape, without being baked, yet without any artificial preservatives, and without loosing their distinctive New York delicatessen taste. What's more, they're wholesome, nutritious, organic, and fat-free. If they're not already available in the frozen food section of your grocery store, ask them to carry this mouth-watering bagel experience today.

Sports and Outdoors

Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine features outdoor sports and activities in the surrounding area.

Literary Notables

Authors from this area (or who have moved to the area) include:

Nikki Giovanni
Rita Mae Brown
David Baldacci
John Grisham [bio]
Patricia Cornwell
William Safire

Willa Cather
Booker T. Washington
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison

James River Writers Festival

Libraries

The Library of Virginia
The Valley Libraries
The Staunton Library
Pamunkey Library System
Henrico Library System
University of Virginia Library [Virgo]

Favorites

Nesbit Salon 2311 W. Main St., Richmond VA 804-355-8775
Glave & Company: 113 S. Railroad Ave., Ashland VA 804-798-1969
White Swan Gallery 107 E. Beverly St., Staunton VA 540-886-0522

Local Areas

Commonwealth of Virginia offers information on Virginia arts, sciences, education, business, government, family services, jobs and training, travel and tourism, press releases, and links to Virginia state agency web sites.

Staunton, VA Visitor's Guide

Official Site of Staunton, VA

Narrative History of Charlottesville, VA

Discover Richmond

News Sources

Facts about Virginia

Officially designated the Commonwealth of Virginia

Familiarly known as the Old Dominion.

One of the 13 original states of the United States, 10th to ratify the Constitution (1788).

Southernmost of the Middle Atlantic states, roughly triangular in shape.

Bounded on the north by West Virginia and Maryland, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, on the south by North Carolina and Tennessee, and on the west by Kentucky.