If you're reading this you know that one year ago this weekend, I took the leap and left New England (I toggled back and forth between New Hampshire and Massachusetts which are pretty much the same place) for the promised land that is Fairfax County, Northern Virginia. And while I by no means know the area, the past year has given me the chance to at least make an educated first impression. So with one year's experience here are my initial observations of Northern Virginia.
It isn't "home", not sure if it's anybody's "home"- The first thing I realized is that just about everyone here is from somewhere else and while diversity is beautiful it makes it tough for everyone to form the same kind of community that most people left for here. On the flip side however, living in a transplant region allows for meeting new and interesting people from all parts of the country and world.
The food here is fantastic!- I thought I knew this after Josh introduced me to a place that just sold burritos in downtown D.C., but in addition to Chipotle (and every town has at least one, like Dunkin Donuts back home) there is Chick-Fil-A, which I cannot drive past and takes 90 cents of every dollar I spend on fast food, Bonefish Grill and their amazing "Bang-Bang" Shrimp (only $5 on "Bang Wednesdays") and a plethora of small chains which are exclusive to the area. While challenging to the budget and the waistline, the amount of good restaurants here makes living here delicious.
The sports teams suck- While everyone in New England has a Red Sox hat, people here go to Nationals game hoping they'll see Teddy Roosevelt finally win the Presidents Mascot Race. The Wizards are rebuilding and boring. The Redskins are by far the most popular team here but they are a collection of overpaid jokes. The "Caps" are by far the best team here but their fans and their goofy red sweaters (oh YOU'RE the one with the Ovechkin jersey), just look foolish. Truth be told, the only sporting event I went to in my year's time here was the Syracuse-Georgetown game and I sure as shit wasn't rooting for the Washington team in that one.
Traffic is worse, but it doesn't have to be- Now I'll admit, I drive my car once every three days, so I'm not the foremost expert on traffic, but I heard so much about the infamous "Beltway Traffic" that I feel the need to say something. Yeah it sucks and adds hours to a commute and takes years off a commuters life but every time I've been stuck in traffic here it's because two people got into a fender bender and feel the need to argue it out IN THE SAME LANE THEY GOT INTO THE ACCIDENT, or a real accident occurs and Fairfax County feels the need to bring a fire truck to park across three of the lanes on I-66, or its near that construction clusterf--- near Tyson's Corner that isn't due to be done until 2020, probably because you never see anyone doing any work there. People here complain about the traffic, not because it's so bad, but because it's so nonsensical.
It is not "The South"- I've had fried pickles but it was at Hooters which are everywhere. There's a good college football team here but it's Virginia Tech which is three hours away. I went to the Kenny Chesney/Zac Brown Band concert last weekend at FedEx Field but the girls there were wearing cowboy hats and boots they hadn't worn since the last country music concert they went to. I drive on something called Lee Highway but you're more likely to find a Korean restaurant on it than anything having to do with the Civil War. The only place you hear "Yes Sir", "Yes Ma'am", and "My Pleasure" is at Chick-Fil-A. I live in a suburb of Washington, DC not in Virginia or any former part of the Confederacy. If you think just by moving south of the Mason-Dixon line, I've become any more a redneck, you've got another thing comin'.
So overall, I dig the new place and am still excited to lead a new life, it has its character and I am enjoying getting to know "NoVa" and all it has to offer, and whenever I get tired of it, all I do is drive towards a Chick-Fil-A.
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