Leesburg, Virginia - a quaint and historic town located in Loudoun County, filled with expensive cars, huge houses, and the perfect blend of the city and the country.
Whether you were born and raised in Leesburg, or you have only lived here for a few years, you still feel the same amount of pride, passion, and connection to this perfect little town that you are happy to always call home.
You know you are from Leesburg when these 10 things mean something to you.
1. Ciabatta from South Street Under.
No other bread compares. We aren't sure if that is actually salt sprinkled on top or just pure crack, but whatever it is, I cannot stop pile-driving it into my mouth as if I have never had a meal before. Thank you, bread God's for blessing Leesburg with the most incredible thing to put chicken salad on, or eat the whole loaf in one sitting.
2. Walking Around Downtown.
Before you could drive, you exercised your little sliver of independence by getting your parents to drop you off downtown. You had $10 in your pocket (thanks mom and dad) and you could meet up with all 30 of your friends to go see a movie no one really cared about seeing. Summer days were spent aimlessly walking around, getting slurpees from 7-11 or laying in the fields of Ida Lee. There really is no better view than sitting on top of the parking garage watching the sunset with your friends. Going to Leesburg Diner to get a chocolate milkshake and carving your name into the booth is truly a right of passage. Once you got your license, you lost touch with the little shops of downtown, but somehow you still find yourself at Payne's Biker Bar.
3. The Beach.
Thank you MacDowell's for giving us a mini vacation from the NOVA norm in the summer, and an unplanned reunion spot in the winter. There is no better escape in Leesburg then to grab a beer and listen to island music with your feet in the sand, while running into a quarter of the people you graduated high school with. Would Thanksgiving break even be worth it if you didn't attend the best Leesburg reunion that has never been scheduled? Cheers MBK, we locals will forever love your craft beer, endless Fireball shots, and catching up with old friends in your great atmosphere.
4. Battle of the Burg.
I was a freshman in high school when the Raider Riot was formed and the Chaos Crew formation soon followed, starting one of the loudest and most intense rivalries over the ownership of "The Burg" we could have ever anticipated. The Loudoun County school system exploded, quickly going from the 5 original high schools, to an incredible 15. Leesburg then welcomed the Huskies to our competition over who truly owns the town. We may all be friends off the field, but when it comes to volleyball, basketball, or football, our student sections show no mercy. County has won eight volleyball state championships in the last nine years, but who's counting.
5. Blue Ridge Grill.
True Leesburgers aren't even sure how we survived without the perfection that is BRG. As I write this post, I am just drooling over the thought of the crispy fries, the ribs, the pasta, the brunch, the ever-so melted parmesan on the broccoli, and please do not even get me started on the spinach and artichoke dip. SOS, need an IV of BRG spinach and artichoke dip ASAP if I am planning on making it through the rest of this work day. Whether it is a casual lunch or a birthday dinner, Blue Ridge Grill is always the first destination, and has never let us down. We are so grateful that this restaurant of the Gods is expanding to other locations so the locals can have the first seats in the booths. Never change, BRG, never change.
6. Your high school has an assigned McDonald's.
Whether it's before the bell rings, after school, after practice, or after games, McDonald's was the spot to go to. All of your friends would pile into cars and make their way to their local golden arches. County's Mcdonald's is close to downtown, and Heritage's is near Walmart, and that's just the way it is and always has been. It was only on the nights that County and Heritage would play each other that we would find common ground at Taco Bell.
7. Kobe.
You could not WAIT for your birthday to roll around so you could go to Kobe. What's better together than dinner and an onion volcano for entertainment. It may have took years to be able to catch that piece of shrimp thrown from the chef in your mouth, but you did it; look at you doing big things! The shrimp sauce gave you so much life that you wish they would have given you a straw, or a full pitcher of that magic. You would eat until you had to be rolled out of there, but not before they would take your picture with a polaroid camera and post it on the birthday wall. Kobe needs a drive through, how can we make a GoFundMe page for that?
8. You tell people you are from D.C.
If anyone ever asks where you from, you say D.C. automatically because it's easier. I am not sure anyone is actually from D.C., but we needed to make the point that we are not from the rest of Virginia.
"What part of D.C. are you from?"
- Oh, well, I actually live about 30 minutes away from the city.
"Oh really where?"
- Uh, Loudoun County... like have you ever been to the Leesburg Outlets?
"OHHHHHHH YES! I LOVE IT THERE! YOU LIVE THERE? WOW! YEAH! THATS GREAT."
I don't know if we are just spoiled because we live so close to the outlets, but we are never phased by them. We also avoid the outlets like the plague on any holiday or weekend. We are also VERY passionate that we are in fact from NOVA. Just something about saying you are from Virginia makes people thing you live out in the middle of no where and you are married to your cousin. NOVA is a way of life, you just wouldn't understand.
9. Roy Rogers.
Have you ever, in your entire life, seen another Roy's Rogers anywhere else but Leesburg? I mean, not only do we have ONE of them, we have TWO! Why do we have two? Why do we even have one? Roy's is really the only place in Leesburg people get their cars washed from high school clubs. I am not sure if there are any other Roy's in the entire state of Virginia, but Leesburg has two locations if anyone really needs that roast beef sandwich.
10. You complained about how boring Leesburg was.
Growing up in Leesburg, we thought it was so boring to live there. Despite the fact that our little town is in the midst of being Fairfaxed, you wouldn't want to call any other place your hometown. We really love Wegman's, our abundance of movie theaters, our favorite places to eat, and the W&OD. We go to wineries, concerts, horse races, and sporting events. We can't even imagine what our lives were like before Target, Costco, Chick-Fil-A and Chipotle graced our town (but really, what did we do?)
We love you, Leesburg. Thanks for always being so good to us, for the lifelong friends, the amazing memories, and for always being our hometown.
