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Jennifer Garner is a proud West Virginian. The actress was born in Houston, Texas, but spent her childhood and teenage years in West Virginia. To commemorate the 161st birthday of the state, Garner shared an adorable reel on Instagram where she encouraged her followers to visit while sharing some of the state's best activities and things to do.
The reel shows Garner driving around West Virginia, looking happy and excited to be home while the song "Close To You," by Gracie Abrams, plays in the background. "Happy birthday, West Virginia!" she wrote over the clip. "Yay, West Virginia!"
Garner stopped by some tourist locations and her favorite places, including the bookstore Taylor Books, the baseball stadium, and plenty of natural sights made out of hills, greenery, and the state's gorgeous architecture. "One of my favorite places in Charleston, West Virginia!" she says, wearing a blue sweater. "Capitol Market! My mom always says the best hot dogs in Charleston are sold here."
"West Virginia is 161 years young today, my favorite place with my favorite people," she wrote in the post's caption. "Drive through and explore for a day or two—she’s so beautiful, you may never want to leave."
Garner has long been open about her love for West Virginia
Jennifer Garner has long been open about her love for West Virginia, a place where some of her family still live. In an interview with Southern Living, Garner revealed that she still visits often. "I'm happy to be anywhere in the state," she said. "There is nothing better."
She's also shared that she needs to impart the values that she learned from her family and her youth to her kids, even if they're growing up in Los Angeles. "It's really important for my kids to see that everyone doesn't have the lives they see in Los Angeles," she said. "That doesn't reflect the rest of the world. I want them to grow up with the Southern values I had—to look at people when they say hello and to stop and smell the roses. If I could do half as good a job as my mom did, I'd be pretty happy."
