Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My old man is an iron worker and he spent 3.5 years in DC back in the mid-late 80s. We drove down every other weekend to visit and would spend all summer with him. I guess it was great that we got a chance, while growing up, to see things like all the Smithsonians and monuments and regional battlefields, but aside from that... I hate that place. I get calls from DoD/Aerospace contractors all the time trying to get me out to the DC Metro and I'm at the point now where I just have to hang up on them. I don't care how much money you throw at me, I won't live there and I wouldn't put my family there.
Back then, though, it was easy to tell who was from (or at least spent a lot of time there) DC because they'd always be driving around listening to tapes of The Grease Man that they recorded off the radio (DC101, I believe).
If there is anyplace that reminds me of driving in the Philipines...its that DC beltway on a Saturday morning...and I literally hate nas-car...one foot on the pedal...the other on the horn...I wonder if those Saturday drivers are from Manila?
I like how HL described the youthful endorphins wearing off. Having been on the West coast, been to DC/Balto, I may never leave WV now. Where I was once boldly inquisitive and adventurous, craving the excitement, the high energy, the edge, I have become more like my Dad, who used to say he literally wouldn't walk across the street to see the Beatles. Me neither, for whoever is big now. I would probably leave town to avoid the traffic.
I like how HL described the youthful endorphins wearing off. Having been on the West coast, been to DC/Balto, I may never leave WV now. Where I was once boldly inquisitive and adventurous, craving the excitement, the high energy, the edge, I have become more like my Dad, who used to say he literally wouldn't walk across the street to see the Beatles. Me neither, for whoever is big now. I would probably leave town to avoid the traffic.
I will be age 51 this year so I understand; trust me.
Did the Calif thing and now in Arizona (but the Phx area is getting on my nerves-----too big).
I actually like to occassionally take a drive out into the country by myself just to escape the city before it drives me crazy. Weather permitting I'm planning to do something like that on Thursday, driving up Maryland 28 to Point of Rocks then up through Brunswick in Frederick County and then through Virginia (the Lovittsville area) and then into West Virginia. I'll be avoiding Interstates and freeways and will go back into Maryland near Sharpsburg. I'm not sure if I'll be going through Charles Town or just bypassing it. I'm thinking maybe taking Route 9, 230, or 340 in West Virginia.
Those of y'all from WV btw, is this a good idea? I've practically heard the entire state is pristine rural and beautiful with wonderful scenery. Are there any special places to eat around Charles Town/Berkeley County? Are most of the towns really friendly and nice or are people sometimes not very welcoming to outsiders like a few peopel have posted here in the WV forum. I'm wondering since not only do I have a Maryland license plate but I'm a minority (Asian American) so people will automatically know I'm not from there.
Sounds like a lovely drive, you will enjoy it.
The Eastern Panhandle is full of friendly, sophisticated people--most of them are originally from DC and Maryland! So no worries about getting the cold shoulder. We love tourists because they often end up as neighbors.
Be sure to check out Shepherdstown (off of 230, and also just across the river from Sharpsburg), a great little one-street town with a disproportionate number of excellent restaurants! Yellow Brick Bank, Press Room, Stone Soup Bistro and the Blue Moon are my favorites.
To answer the original post--I have no choice but to enjoy my trips to DC--since I go there every day for work, OY!
PS, one of my close friends, 3rd generation WVnian, is Japanese American...
I like how HL described the youthful endorphins wearing off. Having been on the West coast, been to DC/Balto, I may never leave WV now. Where I was once boldly inquisitive and adventurous, craving the excitement, the high energy, the edge, I have become more like my Dad, who used to say he literally wouldn't walk across the street to see the Beatles. Me neither, for whoever is big now. I would probably leave town to avoid the traffic.
The older I get, the more I appreciate ammenities! lol
I still have my sense of adventure, but I'm not willing to sleep on bare ground. My bones can't take it. I've learned enough to know that pastoral scenes consistently ommit any mention of chiggers or bears.
I can handle a city to visit, I just can't imagine living that pace ever again in my lifetime. I had to force myself off a mtn to go back to ny & button up business there for 3 yrs. That's how complicated my life was once upon a time. Good riddence!
Beltway was just like NY. 6 lanes of traffic in both directions screaming 'let me outta here'. Why did I do this to myself? Illusions of what is neccessary.
Zentropa....actually got too tired driving but I did see the area aroudn Charles Town. The Shenendoah river crossings were amazing...and I did stop by at the racetrack. Thanks for the suggestion about Sheperdstown, Ill probably visit there in conjunction with Antietam Battlefield in the future.
Wow its quite a commute to DC! I live in Rockville which is now a mix of suburban-urban (the local gov't never cares what we think before buildings everything over!) and I think it takes a long time to get downtown. But WV was beautiful though and so were a lot of the little towns in MD close to the border like Brunswick. Its surprising how you can have miels and miles of farms but then a subdivision in the middle
Places like West Virginia and rural exurban Maryland/Virginia kind of hold me back when I think about moving South after grad school. I do know that Rockville/Gaithersburg isn't for me.
Its really unfortunate how WV is stereotyped so much in popular culture I indeed found it very lovely and friendly. At the same time the intense DC culture dissipates somewhat outside the District and the government/federal/interns scene since suburbia is suburbia to a certain extent though its overpriced which probably contributes to the high stress levels.
Zentropa....actually got too tired driving but I did see the area aroudn Charles Town. The Shenendoah river crossings were amazing...and I did stop by at the racetrack. Thanks for the suggestion about Sheperdstown, Ill probably visit there in conjunction with Antietam Battlefield in the future.
Wow its quite a commute to DC! I live in Rockville which is now a mix of suburban-urban (the local gov't never cares what we think before buildings everything over!) and I think it takes a long time to get downtown. But WV was beautiful though and so were a lot of the little towns in MD close to the border like Brunswick. Its surprising how you can have miels and miles of farms but then a subdivision in the middle
Places like West Virginia and rural exurban Maryland/Virginia kind of hold me back when I think about moving South after grad school. I do know that Rockville/Gaithersburg isn't for me.
Its really unfortunate how WV is stereotyped so much in popular culture I indeed found it very lovely and friendly. At the same time the intense DC culture dissipates somewhat outside the District and the government/federal/interns scene since suburbia is suburbia to a certain extent though its overpriced which probably contributes to the high stress levels.
Definitely true 30+ years ago-------the demarcation line (heading south) was (literally) where I 95 crossed the Beltway @ Springfield. And; the 'vibe' got better and better till at least Fredericksburg. That city was a whole different world vs. DC.
I loathe Dc , not love, Loathe :P I live in Charlestown Wv, which is in the very eastern part of WV.
I have to go to Washington dc every 4 months or so to the Va Center . I hate the drive every single time.
WHen i get there, they take my blood pressure, its always so high like 158 over 115 or something.
they always ask why is it so high.. Well for one i jogged up the steps, 2, I hate this place, and just being here, makes my BP sky rocket.
They take it again before i leave, its nornally back down around 120 over 70 . hehe.
Ya when i am on a 5 lane high way and the traffic is stopped, and you see it for miles ahead, I can stop shouting, how, and why would people want to be crammed like sardines ?
I could be offered a 200k dollar job a year , and i still would NOT live, nor commute there.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
