WA Washington, a US state in the Northwest, historically abbreviated Wash. It’s often referred to a Washington state, to delineate it from the national capital on the other side of the country. Capital: Olympia. Largest city: Seattle.
The 2006 Olin International Reunion was in August in Kennewick, the eastern part of the state. My wife and I briefly considered going, but with a two-year-old, who wailed on an hour-long car ride, we decided a transcontinental flight at that time was not in our plans.
WI Wisconsin, a state in the Midwest US, historically abbreviated Wisc. Capital: Madison. Largest city: Milwaukee, a city I associate with beer. The TV sitcom show Laverne & Shirley was based there.
The major sports franchise in the smallest city metropolis is the Green Bay Packers, which won the first two Super Bowl NFL championship games.
The one time I was in Wisconsin was 1988. I was working for FantaCo, the comic book store/publisher. I was accompanying Mario Bruni to the Capital City Distributors trade show in Madison. We were there to promote some Mars Attacks cards which Mario had designed and FantaCo was publishing. This was in a period before Diamond had become the only player in the comic book direct market.
Madison was a beautiful city, located on a couple of lakes. It seemed like a place I could live if ever I were to move.
Mountain State
WV West Virginia, a state in the Appalachian region of the southern US, sometimes abbreviated W. Va. Capital and largest city: Charleston.
I always had an odd affection for the state, which broke off from Virginia during the Civil War, and joined the Union in 1863. As a kid in Binghamton, I could pick up the country music powerhouse WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia late at night. The station apparently abandoned the format in favor of talk radio in 1997.
When my family used to drive from Albany, NY to Charlotte, NC, where my parents lived, we’d almost always stay in Martinsburg, West Virginia, which was about halfway. We had been there enough times to identify the restaurants and hotels, practically from memory.
WY Wyoming, a state in the US Rocky Mountains, sometimes abbreviated Wyo. Capital and largest city: Cheyenne.
Although the state is the 10th largest by area, it is the least populous state in the country, with fewer than 600,000 people. It’s also the second most sparsely populated state, behind Alaska.
Thus ends our run of the 50 US states, and related geographies.
The who, what, when, where, why of ABC Wednesday
