When our niece was trying to decide which university she wanted to attend, I remember she had two very big stipulations. The first was that it had to be somewhere warmer than where they live in central Ohio. The second was that she didn't want to be in the same conference that her sister was. After years of living in her shadow she was ready to spread her wings and make a name for herself. I can respect that. Of course, academics and all that stuff were important too, but for now she really seems to have found a home in Virginia.
I also remember at the beginning of the year I was talking to someone about how my wife and I were going to be visiting Virginia for spring break. They asked me an interesting question as soon as I mentioned it that has stuck with me ever since then.
"Mountain side or water side?"
I had to stop and think about it for a bit before I realized what they were talking about, then I quickly responded with "mountain side". Virginia is one of those interesting states along the coast of the southeastern US where if you stick to the west part of the state, it's pretty mountainous due to the Smoky Mountains being right there. However, like North Carolina right below it, if you head to the eastern part of the state you are greeted with spectacular ocean views and a bustling maritime culture.
One of the things I really love about Virginia is the fact that it has both amazing natural beauty and a rich history that makes it a place I always want to return to. We won't be able to make it back there this fall, but I have a feeling once the softball schedule for the spring is released, we will be planning our next trip.
With a new coaching staff in place at the university, it sounds like our niece is going to be getting a bit more playing time than she did last year, but I am really looking forward to seeing her out on the field living her dream of playing Division I softball.
In case you haven't figured it out yet, the theme this week for #threetunetuesday sponsored by 
The good news is, there are a nice handful of states that start with W, so we aren't quite finished yet!
As you might expect, there are no shortage of songs with Virginia in the title or lyrics. To be fair, many of them are talking about a person named Virginia versus the state, but I am not going to be too strict about it this week. The song "Meet Virginia" by Train is most surely about a woman, but it was probably the first song that came to mind when I started thinking about the state.
I remember when this song came out and it led to a great string of hits by this band who always seemed to find a way to reinvent themselves. I've seen them perform live twice and they really do put on a good show. In addition to that, the lead singer has a long running show on Sirius/XM called Train Tracks.
It's pretty good stuff if you ever get a chance to listen to it.
While I probably prefer the song "Drops of Jupiter" over "Meet Virginia" when it comes to Trains earlier stuff, I still like this song and I will probably be singing it in my head the rest of the day.
Next up, we have this great song from The Rolling Stones called "Sweet Virginia". I don't know as though I have ever heard this song by them, but as soon as I saw The Rolling Stones I knew I had to include it. Plus, it appears to be vintage Stones, so you have to love that right? It's interesting how anytime I think of the Rolling Stones I am immediately reminded of the long standing argument over which band is better, The Beatles or the Stones.
I don't know if I can answer that question personally, I think they are both great and I think they both have some very strong arguments going for them. The fact that The Stones are still making music could be enough to push them into the lead, but who knows what might have happened with The Beatles if it hadn't been for Yoko.
Paul proved that he still had a lot of life left in him with Wings. Just "imagine" would might have happened. See what I did there?
Finally, in a bit of a departure, I am going to include this last song called Virginia Avenue by Tom Waits. The truth is, I don't know a ton of songs by Waits, but I know he was a very influential figure in the music scene.
So influential in fact, that I really feel like I need to take a deeper dive into some of his stuff. I feel like he did a really good job of reinventing himself when it became necessary for him to do so as music and musical tastes changed. Though he may have not seen the same popularity he did with his earlier career, I still think he is an artist that everyone should be familiar with. Including myself!
Actually, you might laugh, but for some reason, I always get Howard Jones and Tom Waits mixed up. I really thought Tom had more mainstream hits, but that actually isn't the case. He did however write "Downtown Train" which is an absolute banger!
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