The state bird is the Cardinal of which there weren't that many. Texas has the Mockingbird and those beasts are everywhere! Therefore, subsequently, Texas deemed superior.
Fun facts:
1) 8 U.S. Presidents came from Virginia. Four of the first five, in fact. Granted, there weren't all that many states to hail from in the early days so this fact is skewed. Texas has two (Eisenhower and Johnson). But we aren't 400 years old, now are we?
2) The capitol is Richmond. It's hilly, and residential with cobblestone streets and a canal that used to run ships in and out and is now used as a tourist trip (it was not as grand as I anticipated, but the information was still fascinating). The capitol building itself looks like the White House to me.
3) Richmond was the "Capital of the South" for the Confederacy. The city was partially burned as retreating Confederate soldiers fled the city, setting it ablaze as they ran, after the surrender at Appomattox by Robert E. Lee on, survey says, April 9, 1865.
4) Patrick Henry gave his "Give me liberty or give me death" speech at St. John's church in the heart of downtown Richmond. His was the voice of the beginning of the American Revolution. Bold man.
5) In Richmond, there is a minor league Double A baseball team associated with the San Francisco Giants that goes by the moniker Flying Squirrels. I do not jest. The emblem emblazoned on their paraphernalia is that of said flying squirrel, but it's shaped so that if you get real imaginative and stretch your mind you can see the state of Virginia. Again, not kidding.
6) The first permanent settlement in the New World was Jamestown in 1607. They have reconstructed what the Fort and nearby Indian Village of the Powhatan tribe looked like and you can walk on replicas of the original ships bearing the first people to the settlement.
Question: Did you know it was not John White but rather John Rolfe who married Pocahontas? Her baptized Christian name was Rebecca (great name) and they were married in April 1614.
Despite Disney's best efforts (they worked so hard, I'm sure), the true story of Pocahontas is quite different from theirs (but good gracious the music is great). She probably did marry Kocoum (so there goes Just Around the Riverbend) and certainly saved John Smith's life when he was captured. But there was no love, no marriage between them and while she did eventually go to England to live (and die in her early 20's) it was as Rebecca Rolfe, not Pocahontas Smith as Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World would have you believe. And the music wasn't even any good in that one. Shame, shame Disney.
7) There's a university that spreads throughout the entire city with numerous campuses and buildings set far apart. It was actually pretty cool. Dorms on one street, History class on another, gym across the way...VCU was the city, it seemed.
8) There are two Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives in Richmond: The Village Cafe and Dot's Back Inn. Do it.
The visit was spectacular, the sights unique. It's thrilling to be in a place filled with so much history. I nerded out. You should too sometime.
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