Weird Virginia

Virginia is for lovers, as everyone knows. But did you know it's also for psychics, devil monkeys, happy artists, mystery lights, and the world's oldest ham, among other odd but fascinating people and places? If you include our nation's capitol in the geographic mix, the possibilities for weirdness become almost too many for one book. To capture the unique peculiarity of our state and its environs, we needed three experts in Weird to scour Virginia's hidden corners of the odd and offbeat. With apples for sustenance and notepads and cameras in hand, our authors left their domains for the Old Dominion State. It's called that because Charles II of England honored Virginia for its loyalty to the crown during the English Civil War. We've got so much to offer, from our state beverage, milk—which we love so much we constructed a building with not one but three giant milk bottles attached—to a museum dedicated to death masks. From there on, things just get weirder. The ghost of Abraham Lincoln has appeared in the White House to no less reliable a witness than President Teddy Roosevelt, while pirate spirits roam the Chesapeake marshlands looking for treasure. And that's just the beginning. Check out the Octagon house, all six (yes, six) haunted sides of it. Boost your self-esteem with a visit to the Compliment Man, or catch a Lucha Libra wrestling match (don't let the loco masks scare you). Look for Bigfoot in the Great Dismal Swamp, or come face-to-face with a mountain lion, an animal not officially seen in the state since the 1900s but rumored to be stalking the swamp. Drop by Foamhenge, a full-scale replica of Stonehenge rendered in Styrofoam. Swing past Miniature Graceland in Roanoke, complete with a tiny Elvis. For a change of pace, listen to the Grand Stalacpipe Organ in the Luray Caverns, and find out where you might bump into the backward jogger in D.C. The latest entry in the best-selling Weird U.S. series, Weird Virginia is packed with things that other guidebooks won't tell you. So read on to begin your own weird journey into the little known parts of the state. We promise it's a journey you'll never forget.