well, i'm back. i've been back in the US of A for a few weeks now and i must admit it hasn't been that jarring. i know what to expect here and so far i haven't had much difficulty transitioning back into the american lifestyle. though the abundance/diversity of food and the almighty (ha) dollar are making it quite a bit easier.
my friend courtney thought i might start to miss france and all the traveling after the first few weeks home. and, truth be told, i do. so some time ago we had started planning a little road trip for memorial day weekend. we had initially planned a night in annapolis and a night at assateague with a pit-stop for pie (pie-stop?). but when the couchsurfer fell through and the campsites were full we had to improvise. the pie remained a cornerstone.
our trip, now a day trip, started early saturday morning as we headed out to our first destination: bowie, maryland. it turned out to be just a 40-minute drive but a very important stop. we were a bit early to pick up our pies (we ordered ahead of time) so we explored bowie (pronounced boo-ee). or the particular interstate exit somewhere near bowie. we found a marsh with wildlife - in the form of a heron and a turtle. after getting some ice and preparing the cooler (the newly-bought pie-specific cooler. oh yes) we were ready to pick up our delicacies. the man at best pie company was very friendly but insistent that we were somehow related. 'are y'all twins?' 'sisters?' 'y'all from the same hometown?' 'aw, so you were in the same sorority.' fine, sure.
we left happily with our pies (courtney was rather protective) and once they were safely nestled in the backseat, we were back on the road. we drove on for another hour until we hit the small town of easton. purportedly voted the 8th best small town in america. this claim seems rather dubious; it never seems to say when or by whom. at any rate, it was very cute/charming/quaint. we arrived in time for the highly touted farmers' market which ended up being about 10 stalls of produce and handcrafts BUT had live music (a nice little folksy band made up of senior citizens). everyone was very nice, asking us where we were from and even if we were professional photographers. i suppose the locals don't wear cameras around their necks to the farmers' market.
we continued on down the main street window shopping along the way. from the looks of the store windows you'd think the town was made up entirely of middle-aged women. think knitting supplies and embroidered activewear. we passed a few bar/restaurants and cafes but were looking for more authentic (and less expensive) place to enjoy our easton lunch. then we passed an old pharmacy with a small diner in the back. jackpot. we sat at a booth and had a hamburger and patty melt respectively. it was my first patty melt, greasy and delicious. it would be the first of many firsts that day.
we continued walking and mused, 'wouldn't it be great if we found a local ice cream shop to accompany our pie?' and what do we find but the olde towne (yes, with e's) creamery. the girl working there, who couldn't have been more than 17, put up with us explaining our pie-accompanying requirements and even went to great lengths to find us bigger containers for our pie-eating needs. also, we learned the secret to being left alone to run an ice cream store: she's lactose intolerant.
then it was pie time. we went back to the car for our much-anticipated dessert. courtney had mixed berry (raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry) and i opted for the lemon chess (another first). as you can see courtney was pretty excited about the pie. i'd have posted a picture of her enjoying the pie, but they border on obscene. after thoroughly enjoying our dessert we continued on to a bookstore where the featured book was entitled, "the sweetness at the bottom of the pie". we walked on a bit farther to our last stop in easton, the academy art museum. it was free (but only until august?) and included a small exhibit, selections from the local schools and two rooms of donated landscapes. it wasn't as exciting a collection as had been promised, but a pleasant enough half-hour.
after this bit of culture, we hopped in the car and headed on to our big destination, assateague. we were hoping to a) see some wild ponies and b) that the place wouldn't be overridden with bikers (many of whom come to the dc area for memorial day). we encountered, among other things, lots of roadkill. all in all we counted 20 items (specimen?). though i suppose #16 wasn't technically roadkill until after it flew into our windshield.. and bounced on the road behind us. on a more pleasant note, we also stopped for a photo op with a field of yellow flowers. they looked like buttercups but guessed they were perhaps mustard? i remember seeing fields of this same bright yellow in france.
after crossing a few more bridges and getting onto smaller and smaller roads we could start to smell the salty air. in a little less than two hours we had reached assateague. on our way to the park entrance we saw our first pony! he was on the side of the road and we hastily pulled over for a better look from the car window. pretty soon he moved on and so did we. a little farther on we entered the assateague island national seashore for a rather hefty $15. (good for seven days. great.) we were hesitent but holding out for more pony sightings.
after driving the length of the park it became clear to us that the park seemed to have little more than a few beaches, lots of camp sites and three trails through the marshes. we parked at the end and checked out the beach. we dipped our toes in the cold water and i realized it was the first time i had been on this side of the atlantic in a long time. we played a little (american) football, finally! it was so nice to play again. even if more of our time was spent trying to choreograph touchdown dances or stage dramtic catches.
soon we moved on to our main goal, tracking down ponies. we thought we may have better luck on foot and tried out two of the main trails, named 'life of the forest' and 'life of the marsh'. (we never did find 'life of the dunes'.) the trails were largely loops that took you around woodsy or marshy areas on wooden gangplanks. they were each only a half-mile long but all claimed to be thirty minute walks. we couldn't figure out how they would take that long even if you tried. they also seemed to be full of large, numbered stops with no signage or information. it wasn't particularly picturesque but we had some nice walks.
as we were out on the main road driving back through the park we came to the sad realization that the only horses we might see that day was the one we had seen before we even entered the park (and forked over the 15 bucks). this was a rather sobering thought and so the drive back was a little quiet.
until.... we spotted a horse! this time we wasted no time in pulling over and getting out of the car to explore on foot. the horse retreated into the brush but we followed him. he led us to a clearing where we found even more horses, including one baby (foal?) grazing. we took lots of pictures trying to capture them looking roaming free and looking like the wild ponies they are. but mostly they seemed to be interested in eating. not very inspiring, ponies. at any rate we were very happy to have found some wild horses and once we had driven them back towards the road (you're welcome, other tourists) we got back in the car and left the park. but much more satisfied.
our very last stop for the day was the town of berlin (apparently pronounced ber-lun). in between assateague and ocean city, we had heard it was a charming little town. its most recent claims to fame is that it was featured in the movies runaway bride and tuck everlasting which are still prominently featured in the town's video store. which also happened to be the only store opened past 5pm which is when we happened to visit. the main street (since that seemed to be the entirety of the town) was bordered by almost identical stone churches on either end, leaving a mile of brick antique stores and diners in between. it did seem like it would have been a cute town if a little livelier. we decided to crack open our picnic basket and enjoy a dinner of hummus, pita, chips and salsa on the side of the road. from our stretch of curb we had a nice view of the little theater/concert hall and big hotel at the center of town. during our meal we overheard that the hotel was haunted though the only thing that seemed strange about it to us was the way the outdoor diners stared at us as we walked by. apparently they don't get many visitors. or at least after 6pm.
from there we had a three hour drive to get back home. we had to stop for a view of the sunset, a lovely end to our day. we really enjoyed our little trip into small-town america. everyone was friendly, we got some exercise and had beautiful weather. and our main objectives had been fulfilled. the wild ponies, and, of course, the pie.
my friend courtney thought i might start to miss france and all the traveling after the first few weeks home. and, truth be told, i do. so some time ago we had started planning a little road trip for memorial day weekend. we had initially planned a night in annapolis and a night at assateague with a pit-stop for pie (pie-stop?). but when the couchsurfer fell through and the campsites were full we had to improvise. the pie remained a cornerstone.
our trip, now a day trip, started early saturday morning as we headed out to our first destination: bowie, maryland. it turned out to be just a 40-minute drive but a very important stop. we were a bit early to pick up our pies (we ordered ahead of time) so we explored bowie (pronounced boo-ee). or the particular interstate exit somewhere near bowie. we found a marsh with wildlife - in the form of a heron and a turtle. after getting some ice and preparing the cooler (the newly-bought pie-specific cooler. oh yes) we were ready to pick up our delicacies. the man at best pie company was very friendly but insistent that we were somehow related. 'are y'all twins?' 'sisters?' 'y'all from the same hometown?' 'aw, so you were in the same sorority.' fine, sure.
we left happily with our pies (courtney was rather protective) and once they were safely nestled in the backseat, we were back on the road. we drove on for another hour until we hit the small town of easton. purportedly voted the 8th best small town in america. this claim seems rather dubious; it never seems to say when or by whom. at any rate, it was very cute/charming/quaint. we arrived in time for the highly touted farmers' market which ended up being about 10 stalls of produce and handcrafts BUT had live music (a nice little folksy band made up of senior citizens). everyone was very nice, asking us where we were from and even if we were professional photographers. i suppose the locals don't wear cameras around their necks to the farmers' market.
we continued on down the main street window shopping along the way. from the looks of the store windows you'd think the town was made up entirely of middle-aged women. think knitting supplies and embroidered activewear. we passed a few bar/restaurants and cafes but were looking for more authentic (and less expensive) place to enjoy our easton lunch. then we passed an old pharmacy with a small diner in the back. jackpot. we sat at a booth and had a hamburger and patty melt respectively. it was my first patty melt, greasy and delicious. it would be the first of many firsts that day.we continued walking and mused, 'wouldn't it be great if we found a local ice cream shop to accompany our pie?' and what do we find but the olde towne (yes, with e's) creamery. the girl working there, who couldn't have been more than 17, put up with us explaining our pie-accompanying requirements and even went to great lengths to find us bigger containers for our pie-eating needs. also, we learned the secret to being left alone to run an ice cream store: she's lactose intolerant.
then it was pie time. we went back to the car for our much-anticipated dessert. courtney had mixed berry (raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry) and i opted for the lemon chess (another first). as you can see courtney was pretty excited about the pie. i'd have posted a picture of her enjoying the pie, but they border on obscene. after thoroughly enjoying our dessert we continued on to a bookstore where the featured book was entitled, "the sweetness at the bottom of the pie". we walked on a bit farther to our last stop in easton, the academy art museum. it was free (but only until august?) and included a small exhibit, selections from the local schools and two rooms of donated landscapes. it wasn't as exciting a collection as had been promised, but a pleasant enough half-hour.
after this bit of culture, we hopped in the car and headed on to our big destination, assateague. we were hoping to a) see some wild ponies and b) that the place wouldn't be overridden with bikers (many of whom come to the dc area for memorial day). we encountered, among other things, lots of roadkill. all in all we counted 20 items (specimen?). though i suppose #16 wasn't technically roadkill until after it flew into our windshield.. and bounced on the road behind us. on a more pleasant note, we also stopped for a photo op with a field of yellow flowers. they looked like buttercups but guessed they were perhaps mustard? i remember seeing fields of this same bright yellow in france.after crossing a few more bridges and getting onto smaller and smaller roads we could start to smell the salty air. in a little less than two hours we had reached assateague. on our way to the park entrance we saw our first pony! he was on the side of the road and we hastily pulled over for a better look from the car window. pretty soon he moved on and so did we. a little farther on we entered the assateague island national seashore for a rather hefty $15. (good for seven days. great.) we were hesitent but holding out for more pony sightings.
after driving the length of the park it became clear to us that the park seemed to have little more than a few beaches, lots of camp sites and three trails through the marshes. we parked at the end and checked out the beach. we dipped our toes in the cold water and i realized it was the first time i had been on this side of the atlantic in a long time. we played a little (american) football, finally! it was so nice to play again. even if more of our time was spent trying to choreograph touchdown dances or stage dramtic catches.soon we moved on to our main goal, tracking down ponies. we thought we may have better luck on foot and tried out two of the main trails, named 'life of the forest' and 'life of the marsh'. (we never did find 'life of the dunes'.) the trails were largely loops that took you around woodsy or marshy areas on wooden gangplanks. they were each only a half-mile long but all claimed to be thirty minute walks. we couldn't figure out how they would take that long even if you tried. they also seemed to be full of large, numbered stops with no signage or information. it wasn't particularly picturesque but we had some nice walks.
as we were out on the main road driving back through the park we came to the sad realization that the only horses we might see that day was the one we had seen before we even entered the park (and forked over the 15 bucks). this was a rather sobering thought and so the drive back was a little quiet.
until.... we spotted a horse! this time we wasted no time in pulling over and getting out of the car to explore on foot. the horse retreated into the brush but we followed him. he led us to a clearing where we found even more horses, including one baby (foal?) grazing. we took lots of pictures trying to capture them looking roaming free and looking like the wild ponies they are. but mostly they seemed to be interested in eating. not very inspiring, ponies. at any rate we were very happy to have found some wild horses and once we had driven them back towards the road (you're welcome, other tourists) we got back in the car and left the park. but much more satisfied.
our very last stop for the day was the town of berlin (apparently pronounced ber-lun). in between assateague and ocean city, we had heard it was a charming little town. its most recent claims to fame is that it was featured in the movies runaway bride and tuck everlasting which are still prominently featured in the town's video store. which also happened to be the only store opened past 5pm which is when we happened to visit. the main street (since that seemed to be the entirety of the town) was bordered by almost identical stone churches on either end, leaving a mile of brick antique stores and diners in between. it did seem like it would have been a cute town if a little livelier. we decided to crack open our picnic basket and enjoy a dinner of hummus, pita, chips and salsa on the side of the road. from our stretch of curb we had a nice view of the little theater/concert hall and big hotel at the center of town. during our meal we overheard that the hotel was haunted though the only thing that seemed strange about it to us was the way the outdoor diners stared at us as we walked by. apparently they don't get many visitors. or at least after 6pm.
from there we had a three hour drive to get back home. we had to stop for a view of the sunset, a lovely end to our day. we really enjoyed our little trip into small-town america. everyone was friendly, we got some exercise and had beautiful weather. and our main objectives had been fulfilled. the wild ponies, and, of course, the pie.
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