Monday, July 19, 2010

Virginia

I get a lot of junk mail - who doesn't? - but occasionally a letter or flier will include something interesting.

Today I received a brochure listing local businesses and their services and wares, but on the front was a list of official Virginia stuff.

The state beverage is milk (Sure. Try ordering a glass of that at Phat Boyz in Hopewell).

The state bird is the cardinal (it's also the official bird of, I believe, a half dozen other states).

The state boat is the Chesapeake Bay Deadrise (State boat? Well, here's ours, at any rate).

The state dance is the square dance.

The state dog is the American fox hound.

The state fish is the brook trout.

The state flower is the American dogwood.

The state fossil is the Chesapecten jeffersonius (a mussel shell; I guess you have to live out west to have a cool state fossil like Triceratops or Allosaurus).

The state insect is the tiger swallowtail butterfly.

The state shell is the oyster.

The state tree is the flowering dogwood.

The state Chuck Norris fact is: "Chuck Norris sleeps with a pillow under his gun".

Ok, ok, that last one isn't actually official, but it ought to be.

3 comments:

mojo said...

North Dakota:

State Bird: Arctic Mosquito
State Flower: Pabst Blue Ribbon
State Tree: Telephone Pole

Anonymous said...

Mojo, you beat me to it - but the state in question would be my home state of Montana, and the beer would be Lucky or Oly.

Kinda thought more than one state had claimed skeeters as their official bird. They are insidious.

RebeccaH said...

Ohio state flower: the orange traffic barrel