By: Arielle Ash
It was not love at first sight. In fact, it was skepticism, and, if I may add, it was also a judgmental demeanor which engulfed my thoughts leading up to my trip to Frederick, Maryland. The way I see it is that before we meet someone, or before we travel to a new destination, there is seemingly blank canvas; ready to be permeated with an abundance of colorful adventures. However, as important as it is to play on imagination and creativity, we must also consider logic.
The logic is that we never truly have a blank canvas for any part of life, except for when we first enter this world. Yet, that does not make our canvas any less worthy of being filled with color on top of color; adventure on top of adventure. We have our own perceptual lenses that help in creating memories, but can also hinder our judgement when we enter anything new. I never realized how much my lenses needed a good cleaning before I embarked on a girls’ trip to Frederick.
Having only lived 55 minutes away from Frederick, it now feels absurd that I never traveled there. I’m aware that in the past, I had accepted, and somehow adopted the notion that Frederick was not terrible, but thinking that it was also nothing special. I feel quite embarrassed now, having spent time there, that this slight perception had once influenced my unconscious decision to find out for myself.
Well, eventually the trifling trepidation, along with my thirst to uncover anything even remotely thrilling, became the final factor in my decision to visit Frederick. Nervously, I felt my vision for an adventure was foggy; my canvas was certainly not blank.
I thought about making this trip alone, but I decided to bring my friend, Raven. Being in Raven’s presence almost always solidifies comedic relief to any situation, and a charismatic nature that can turn just hanging out, into a full-blown party. Therefore, I was hesitant to ask her to accompany me for a weekend in Frederick.
Although I was aware she hadn’t spent any time in Frederick either, I knew that she shared similar assumptions about it being, well, less than exciting, to say the least. Nevertheless, I asked Raven (via text) if she would accompany me for two days girls’ trip to Frederick. Within seconds, she was on board.
I spent the night before our trip packing only the essentials: three pairs of jeans, five flannels, two sweaters, three leggings, four pairs of shoes, two “going out” outfits, two handbags, bras and undies. Two days, and a suitcase packed for a week is how I like to travel. What can I say? I like options. I did, however, later realize that I forgot my toothbrush.
When I pulled up to Raven’s house the following day, I honked my car-horn, and watched as she walked out of her house and towards my car, holding one bag (I had my biggest piece of luggage I owned hiding in my trunk). I let out a sigh of relief when Raven put her small bag in the backseat, where she wouldn’t find my rather large suitcase
“Ready?” I asked.
“Let’s do this,” Raven replied with determination.
Driving through winding roads and colorful fall trees, I slowed down and told Raven to start taking pictures; it was all too beautiful to just drive past. Although Raven did a great job capturing the essence of that moment, I think that the vivid memories of how the trees came together in an arch, on top of us, is imagery that will stay with me for some time.
Once we arrived at the hotel, I parked my car and opened my trunk. As I pulled out my suitcase, Raven looked at me with one eyebrow raised. We both started to laugh, and Raven began documenting her new “findings” to Snapchat.
“Only you,” Raven said.
“Yep, I plan on hibernating here for the winter,” I replied.
Once Raven and I checked in and got settled in our room, we read through brochures and pamphlets that we found in the lobby, and highlighted certain restaurants and activities we wanted or were interested in going to. We also asked the receptionist at the hotel for any suggestions for places to go.
Eventually, we concluded that we would never be completely comfortable in a new city; no amount of reading could take us from tourists to locals. So, we changed our clothes, put on some shoes, headed out the door and drove all the way (approximately five minutes) to downtown Frederick.
I never realized how something as trivial as finding an affordable and easily accessible place to park could change the attitude of the beginning moments in a trip.
“Does that sign really say $1 per hour?” I asked.
“Uh, yeah…but that seems strange. Maybe we are reading it wrong,” Raven replied.
We quickly realized that Frederick’s downtown parking was not some big mystery for us to figure out; it was just simple…and cheap. A small city perk that left our wallets thankful.
As Raven and I started walking, we chose to ditch any activities that Frederick had planned beforehand, and instead we would just experience the unexpected adventures that I hoped would find us. By doing so, I opened myself up to all the possibilities of the day.
While walking down the street, Raven and I looked around, wondering what shop to enter first. On our right, we noticed a winery, and looked through the big glass windows. Inside the store was a sign that said, “Free Wine Tasting!” Raven and I locked eyes and were simultaneously on board. Inside Raven and I got to talking to some of the locals, and instantly felt at home.
The man to my right asked where we were considering eating tonight. We laughed because we had an idea of an Italian restaurant that we read about, but we were having trouble pronouncing the name. I had been reading the name as, “Two Porto,” because it seemed as if there were two roman numerals in the name, “II Porto.” However, Raven said that she read it as “ill Porto.” When the man agreed that Il Porto would be a good dinner spot, he pronounced it as “ill Porto” and we then knew who pronounced it correctly.
We left the store with a slight buzz, and new knowledge that it is apparently normal for taste buds to shift between liking red and white wine; a somewhat fascinating fact, I felt at the time.
After our adventure at the winery, Raven and I continued to walk down Market Street, the main thoroughfare of Frederick. We noticed a couple taking engagement photos, and we figured it would be the perfect opportunity to also showcase our love for the white wine we had just purchased.
As we were walking past stores, barber shops, and restaurants, I noticed a record store whose front door was seemingly underground. The steep steps to the front door from the sidewalk were intimidating, since falling-down normal steps is a daily occurrence for me anyway. Worries aside, Raven and I headed down, and entered the store; it was like we traveled back in time.
Not only was the aesthetic of the shop intriguing, but classic albums on vinyl filled the atmosphere with a heavy, nostalgic scent. It was nice to see a store like this still up and running regardless of the current technological world we live in today. Nevertheless, a woman in the store was buying albums to decorate her apartment, with no intention of listening to them. To each their own, I suppose.
It was not long before Raven and I became famished, and decided to walk towards II Porto for dinner. When we arrived, a sense of relief drifted over me, for we had gotten lost quite a bit before our arrival. The free wine tasting might have hindered our directional skills a bit, too.
II Porto was packed with people so I was a tad afraid that we may have to wait a while for a table. The host asked about my camera and seemed a bit concerned with me having it inside the restaurant. I explained that I had my camera with me to take photos for an article I was writing, which was to be about Frederick. “Ah, well, come right this way,” the host said seemingly concerned, as he motioned for us to follow him. We were seated immediately
.
Raven noticed II Porto’s impressive drink menu, and urged me to look as well. I’m not the biggest “drinker,” but alcohol was quickly becoming a featured act in my Frederick experience. Most of the drinks on the menu I had never tried, so I was skeptical to order. Luckily, Raven was well versed in Alcohol 101, so I let her take the reins on this one. “You like apples, right?” Raven asked, with a smirk. After some deliberation, our waiter, Jose, walked over to our table and asked, “anything to drink?” with his cool, Spanish accent.
I ordered the apple martini for myself, and Raven ordered the mango. So far, our girls’ trip was proving just how untamed Raven and I could be.
The service at II Porto was impeccable. Still, I found myself wanting to ease the server’s minds by telling them that my article was just for school, and to not feel pressured. Yet, at the same time, I was curious in finding out what dining like a “well-known” journalist might feel like. After a few sips of my super green, apple martini, I finally understood the concept behind, “it’ll take the edge off.” I concluded that the service at II Porto was great, and kept it at that.
When we arrived back at the hotel later that evening, we kicked off our shoes and turned on the T.V. Our stomachs were full and happy after our delicious dinner.
“Maybe we can just rest up tonight, and that way we can leave and start the day early tomorrow morning,” I said to Raven. I was nervous that she would want to check out the nightlife of Frederick; I did not want to bore her, but I was tired.
“Yeah! That’s fine!” Raven replied. My eyes widened, surprised at her answer. I thought to myself how this trip was continuously pushing me to notice my prejudgment on everyone, and everything surrounding me. Maybe Raven was not under the impression that we were going to have wild night after all.
As we got ready for bed, I pulled down the sheets of my bed, and got into it. Raven, however, was taking her time doing so. I noticed her hesitation to enter her bed as she carefully looked down at it.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I just found a bug…wait, no, I just found two bugs,” Raven said.
There was a short pause where I let her words sink in before I said, “You found a what?”
“A bug…” Raven stuttered, as she tried to keep her composure, “I mean, ugh, two bugs. I found two bugs!”
I jumped out of my bed so fast that I could have certainly passed for a ninja. We began to have a serious meltdown, especially when the reality of these bugs being part of a bed bug convention became a reality.
We zipped up our luggage. Okay, I zipped up my luggage and Raven picked up her small bag and we headed towards the lobby. Not only was I determined to get the hell out of there, but I was also angry at the hotel.
I explained the unsettling situation to the woman at the desk. Somehow, my persuasion skills kicked in to full gear, and not only did I get my money back, but the woman looked just as terrified as we were…if not more.
We drove back to Baltimore at around midnight, and headed back to Frederick the following day around 1 p.m. I thought about how different this drive would be compared to yesterdays. Yesterday, we were nervous, not sure what to expect; we let bugs literally drive us out of a city. But now, we were new and confident women who were ready to take on downtown Frederick (again).
We decided to head straight to Taco Daddy’s, a Mexican restaurant that many locals told us we had to try the day before. The décor of Taco Daddy’s embodied a traditional Mexican fiesta. So naturally Raven felt it fitting to order a margarita.
I asked our waitress for her name, and she responded, “It’s J little t.” Raven and I chuckled, as we quickly realized she was someone worth talking to. As we got to chatting, I mentioned that Raven and I were new to the area.
She was excited to tell us her positive thoughts on Frederick, and how it always has something going on, and how nice the locals are. She had this simplistic, yet original free-spirit aura, which made Raven and I want to be best friends with her instantly. She insisted that Market Street is the place to be though, even referring to it as “The Major Babe.”
Before leaving a superb lunch to say the least, she said, “Oh! By the way! You guys should keep an eye out for the cartoon-like art around downtown Frederick. Goodloe Byron, the artist, creates these really cool murals.” I assured her that we’d keep an eye out.
After our meal, Raven and I walked down The Major Babe, and I noticed a sign coming up in front of us; a crystal store called Earthy Elements. As we made our way closer to it Raven said, “This is your kind of store.” At home, I collect crystals for their healing properties. In addition, I like to use them as a foundation source for meditation.
I wanted to talk to the owner, or anyone who worked in the store, to find out the shop’s history, and what it’s like being around all the beautiful crystals all day; I was stoked to enter this shop.
As we walked in, the crystals glistened from every angle, and the air felt clean and light. Sitting at the cash register was a man with long grey hair, who fit the earthy vibe of the store, but seemed like he would be reluctant to talk to me. He kind of resembled an 80s rock legend; completely and utterly unfazed by the people around him.
I was hoping to find out about the shop, so I started walking up to the man slowly, looking around as to not scare him away. “Hi there!” I said, “This shop is awesome! Would you mind telling me a bit more about it? I collect crystals, and I’m beyond fascinated by them.”
He replied by saying, “Yeah, I uh, I don’t believe in this stuff. I believe in science. But, this is my friend’s store. I’m Tom*, by the way,” he said.
Tom explained his background of being a scientist, and how he firmly believed in hard evidence, with data and explanations that he could sink his teeth into. I was waiting for him to say something along the lines of, “I don’t believe in this, hold a crystal to yourself, and hope for peace, crap.”
It was obvious that while working at Earthly Elements, Tom must put on some sort of façade, since most people walking in the door do believe in the healing energy powers of the crystals.
Raven was busy bringing in her full attention to the crystals. I, however, was captivated by Tom’s award-winning performance in, “Man Who Doesn’t Believe in This Stuff,” a comedy. Honestly, Tom’s grin and elevated stance as he greeted customers who were only interested in the healing properties of the stones was stellar.
I felt thankful that I had gotten to know the “real Tom,” as it was a treat to watch him in his element…pun intended. Still, I felt for him, so I decided to put my pride aside and be the customer who was genuinely interested in the science of the minerals. Also, Tom desperately needed a minute or two to come back to earth. I figured we could help each other.
Truth be told, I was interested in knowing about the biggest crystal (mineral) that was propped up so stunningly at the front of the store, so I proceeded to ask him about it.
I watched how Tom’s eyes began to smile before he leaned in and said with great excitement, “It’s a volcanic air bubble, and it starts out…”
“Oh…I’m scared, I don’t want to break it,” Raven interrupted as she leaned in to get a closer look.
“You can touch it,” Tom continued, “but yes, so it starts out as a volcanic air bubble, and it starts to crystalize and form after millions and millions of years…it starts out as silica dioxide, which is quartz. That’s about one third of the earth’s crust is made from. Then it mixes in with magnesium and iron, and that’s what turns it purple. The more magnesium in there, the darker the purple is.”
“Wow, that’s amazing,” I replied.
“Yeah, it’s just not a precious mineral,” he said.
“Not precious?” I thought to myself, I was screaming internally. I shook my head in agreement as to not bring any negativity to what I was hoping would be a blissful moment for Tom.
Here I was though, again, placed in a moment where I judged a store, and the way it looks, to how the person inside working would be. It did not cross my mind even once that whomever was working inside would be “science based.” Frederick was holding a mirror up to me.
Before heading home, Raven and I stopped at a bar to relax after walking for hours, and talking to locals. Sitting outside of Brewers Alley, which most locals just call, “Brewers,” I noticed a mural on my left.
“Raven! Is this the cartoon artwork J Little T was talking about?”
Raven turned around, looked at the art, and said, “It must be! That’s sick!”
The mural was painted on the side of a community garage, and it portrayed the dinosaur kingdom. It wasn’t difficult to necessarily see, but I had a feeling that I just may see more if I photographed it with my flash. Once I did, the colors popped, and they fell into a beautiful contrast with the night sky; the dinosaur kingdom had surely come to life.
Isn’t that the lesson that continued to follow me throughout my journey, though? If I had not opened my camera, I may have left Frederick thinking of the mural as just interesting or funky, but not magnificently divine (which it proved to be).
Frederick taught me to look deeper into people, into art, and into the world, for it will undoubtedly prove to be, “A Major Babe.”
*Name changed for privacy.
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