A Whole Year

I can’t believe it, but we’ve officially been on the East Coast for over a year now. We left the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2012 for that loooong ass trek across the country. Just me, Mike, Tuffy, and Gizmo. Oh man did that truck stink like dog sweat and cheeseburgers by the end of the trip. Not really a lot has happened since then even though it feels like it should have. We live here now, we both have new jobs here, we live in a new apartment…and that’s about it. no big news, no big life changes. Just living in another town with the same ole’ stress and the same ole’ lives. Except, you know, we’re super happy that we’re in a bigger area and close to one of our favorite cities in the world.

Since I don’t have anything important or deep to write about our first year here, instead here are some things I’ve learned in the last year:

1)      People in Southern Maryland cannot drive. California drivers may be intense, but at least they know what they’re doing.

2)      People in Southern Maryland don’t know what double yellow lines mean. Alright, that’s pretty much what #1 was saying, but  oh man half the accidents in this town are because of those damn double yellows.

3)     People this close to DC/Baltimore/Annapolis/Alexandria really don’t appreciate it. When people here talk about how far a drive it is to Annapolis (1.5hrs) I always laugh. It was 1.5 hours to the nearest Target where we moved from. We have no problem driving that far to be in a beautiful, water-side town filled with great restaurants and shops.  Worth it!

4)     People here think their commute is bad and I find that funny. You can take the metro. It may be late or suck sometimes, but at least you’re not stuck in LA rush hour traffic!

5)      People don’t take their kids into DC even though it’s so damn close. The museums are free, the zoo is free, and your kids are an hour and 45 minutes away from so much culture…take them dammit!

6)     Just because you’re on the East Coast doesn’t mean they know how to handle weather. The schools here close if they THINK it’s going to snow. Apparently that’s not a California thing like I thought it was.

7)     The East Coast makes me fat. Okay not really, but not running as much because of the cold and laziness has made me fat. And I blame the East Coast.

8)      Taking a red eye from CA to here is way easier than going the other direction.

9)      It’s windy here too, it’s not just a Ridgecrest thing (dammit).

10)  FIVE GUYS IS BETTER THAN IN N OUT SUCK IT CALIFORNIA.

11)  Being near the water makes me happy. I never knew this about myself, but working near the water and being able to look out at it whenever I want brings me this weird happiness and peace I never experienced before.

12)  Not having to put on moisturizer at night because I no longer live in the desert is weird.

13)  My hair is huge here. Just huge and dumb and huge.

14)  Mike hates rain. Who knew?

15)  People who live in Maryland have an accent. A very distinct accent that I had never heard before.

16)  Old Bay apparently goes with everything.

17)  Living somewhere where people take great pride in their industry and their town is really nice. Watching people cheer wholeheartedly for the oyster shucking competition at the Oyster Festival kind of melted my icy little heart.

18)  Whoopy pies?! I mean come on. Those things are gooood.

19)  If you live in the second story apartment of a three story building, you never ever have to turn on your heat and it’s kind of awesome.

20)  The only road kill here is deer and it’s way more depressing than other kinds.

21)  People here can tell if the crab in their crabcakes is local or not.

22)  You’ve never had a crabcake until you’ve had a locally-sourced one in my town. Holy hell.

 

 

And that's about it for now even though I'm sure there could be a lot more deep and important things I've learned. I do love you Maryland, you weird little place.

 

(Photo by Earl P. of the Drum Point Lighthouse)