2/ Alaska, AK
Vast, wild and cold, Alaska is also, to put it crudely, absolutely huge.
The great Aleutian Arc archipelago that spans outwards of the Gulf of Alaska to the Bering Sea crosses the 180Β° meridian, and means that Alaska is the northernmost, westernmost, and easternmost state all at once!
The state capital, Juneau, isn't reachable by road, due to surrounding mountains. As the locals say "only three ways to arrive in Juneau: plane, boat, or birth canal"
3/ Alabama, AL
There is a fascinating connection between a 100 million-year-old coastline and modern AL voting patterns. Build up of plankton and chalk formations created rich soil known as the βBlack Beltβ, perfect for cotton. This lead to large slave populations, which in turn affects local demographics and voting patterns to this day.
https://deepseanews.com/2012/06/how-presidential-elections-are-impacted-by-a-100-million-year-old-coastline/
#geoweirdness