A Weekend in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (Guest Appearance by Frederick, Maryland)

Last weekend I traveled to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I took the MARC commuter rail from Union Station to Frederick Maryland to meetup with my best friend to tote me to Lancaster.

Frederick is a small Maryland city about 40 miles outside of the city. Frederick is a wonderful town with a beautiful walkway and path on either side of the creek. The path leads up to the downtown area and there are fountains that shoot water around the creek and in path-side fountains.

After arriving in town I had some time to kill, so I went to one of the three local records shops. After lounging around for a bit, I headed over for some coffee, and finally met up with Ona. We had a lovely dinner at a local restaurant and then headed for Lancaster.


Ona booked us an Airbnb in Lancaster, and we pulled in around 10 or so. Thankfully, the door was a keyless entry, which was pretty neat. Just type in a code and ta-da! We were were in! The house was a beautiful old mid-rise rowhouse, with narrow stairwells leading up to our second floor landing room. The buildings in Lancaster were all so historic and magnificent. All having their own stories tucked into their recesses and alcoves.

On the day of the wedding we headed out for an early start. We got coffee and a wonderful breakfast at Commonwealth on Queen in the heart of downtown.

One thing I was not suspecting Lancaster of having was the amount of diversity; one could see the range of people simply walking around town. For a town that I had only thought of as Amish country and a small hamlet, the city held much more than I was expecting. I saw an "ethnic hairstyles" salon, and a Latin@ shop/grocery on our walk to breakfast. Later that night we would get pizza at a place that offered a "Spanish" menu as well. I had to start looking up the demographic numbers for Lancaster, and I was taken aback by the percentages. A little over half of Lancaster city proper is white.

The wedding came, and I found myself wondering if I had dressed well enough for the occasion. I hadn't been to a wedding since I was a child basically, so I was curious if I had the right clothes. Thankfully I fit right in, and the ceremony and celebration was fairly informal (the first portion had taken place outside of Portland a week earlier with a much bigger crowd).

Marriage brings with it the "traditional" idea of "settling down". I've been out of college for tw- three years now, and the idea of taking a position somewhere permanently and setting up shop for...ever really terrifies the hell out of me. Ever since I left college I've been on "assignments" that were only slated to last a specified amount of time. I'm on an assignment now, slated to go until November. Sure, it's not ideal for the future, but more than simply gaining experience, I really do not like the idea of picking a point on the map and calling it a day for the rest of your life. I don't want to call Columbus Ohio home for the rest of my life. I don't want to call Vancouver or Portland my home for the rest of my life. There are too many places to see to simply settle down. Consistency is for the birds.

It tears at me. Resisting what's been bred into you through your Midwestern upbringing is tough.

Thinking about this brings up memories on conversations I've had before. There's always mention of "when I get a permanent position". I know that it makes me terrible for job applications (henceforth why I don't share this blog directly with potential employers), but I feel much more comfortable seeing positions that have defined timelines rather than an opaque mystical "you will work for us forever." Especially if I want to see a new place. What if I don't like it there? Can I ever learn to like a mid-sized city again? How about rural areas? I seem so happy to be in Washington D.C., our nation's capitol, with it's tons of stuff to do, see, and experience. But I don't know if I want to stay here forever either.

It's easy to get wrapped up in these thoughts, especially when there is such a close horizon date. But I have to just slow down and remind myself: I'm here until November. That's three months more than the usual intern. Think of all the time I'll have to enjoy the city and discover myself a little more. With that I just go to sleep and dream of where the Metro will take me tomorrow (if it is even working), and enjoy what I have right now.

A Hike on the Mall

Yesterday I took an adventure onto the National Mall. That large strip of open space (sort of) that is filled with museums, and takes up the entirety south of Downtown DC.

I titled this section as a "hike" on the mall because if any of you have ever been foolish enough to think you would be able to dart around and pop your head in the museums, I'm sure you were proven wrong with the first attempt you took at wayfinding your way to your destination. The sign posts and directions make it look easy. But layer on a half a mile walk with blistering hot sun and little shade, and by the time you walk to your destination, it feels much more like a hike.

Needless to say, the National Mall is a wonderful place. There is such a concentration of history, art, and monuments to fill a lifetime of simple wandering, let alone one day if you have that. Actually, my advice for the Mall if you have a limited amount of time during a day (say a couple of hours): Pick one museum you want to explore, and explore only that museum/place. If it is a longer amount of time half a day or over 5 hours, make it a dense museum (American History/Air & Space/Natural). If it is shorter (2-5 hour layover) make it an art gallery. And for the love of goodness use this wonderful bus called the DC Circulator. It drives up and down the Mall with 10-20 minute frequencies, and hits all of the high points, and only costs a dollar. And it's air conditioned, which you will want for visiting DC in the coming months. (Much better than hoofing it with whatever you are lugging around.) Keep in mind too: Certain Smithsonian museums have lockers that you can use for free to stow larger bags (and smaller ones!) so you don't have a heavy companion with you around the museum the whole time. Use them.

Anyways. Enough of Nick's tips. Back to the Mall hike.

After work I shored up and decided to walk to the Washington Monument and the Constitutional Gardens. I strolled over to the White House and partook in some great people watching for a bit. Then I commenced the hike down the ellipse and onto the grounds of the Monument. Rolling up, I came upon a realization: The things in DC are much, much bigger in real life than they look in pictures.

Those specks at the bottom of the monument, right under the flags, are people.

I really had no aim for the afternoon, so I decided to head westward towards the Lincoln Monument and the associated gardens and landscape features there. It ended up that the Constitutional Gardens were under construction (like so many things on the Mall are right now) and off limits. So I walked to the World War II memorial. There were giant fountains, and tall marble pillars with each state and territory etched on them with a giant steel wreath commemorating the people from each state who lost their lives in the war.

There were also lots of people here, especially school aged kids, running around, taking selfies in front of their state memorial, and blatantly not really getting the point of the area. I have a lot of feelings about this, especially since memorial day was the day before. There were flower wreaths and handmade memorials in place from the ceremonies the day before, and it seemed like the memorial was more of a hangout space rather than a space of... memorial and reverence. Later on I walked passed (did not look up close) at the Vietnam memorial, and there the guides were saying to their school children to be quiet, do not disturb people, and respect the space. But here there was no control. It's weird how time works isn't it?

The area with the fountains and the star memorial was way too loud for me to hang around for very long, so I headed off towards the Lincoln memorial and the reflecting pool.

The closer I got to the Lincoln Memorial, the more and more people there were on the steps. It was like tour groups galore. I also saw the many tour buses carrying said people, all lined up in their select spots, and I thought to myself: Ohh. This is a gathering spot for tourists to return to their buses...

Once I hung around the Lincoln Memorial for a bit, saw the Washington Monument in the reflecting pool, I decided it was time to call it a day and head home. Except I didn't really want to walk back to a metro stop, so I searched for the closest Circulator stop. There is one at the Lincoln Monument, but it's not where Google Maps says it is. Beware, it's on the Southwest corner of the building (exact opposite of the above shot), and it's kind of hidden away, so give yourself plenty of time before you go to catch the bus back.

While I was waiting, I saw people on the back of the Lincoln Monument sitting and looking out over the Potomac. Oh yeah! The river! And when I looked back to see what they were looking at, I caught a glimpse of the sun setting behind Rosslyn, and I thought to myself: What a wonderful view: