11 November 2011

Welcome to Bethesda!

I am now a resident of Maryland!  I arrived in Rockville, my new home, on Thursday afternoon.  I was planning to sign in right away in Bethesda but after talking to one of my friends, Julie, who also lives here (2 floors above me, actually) and arrived a week and a half ago, she said it was best to wait until after hours so I didn't get stuck doing excess paperwork right away.  Instead, I found my new apartment complex, got my keys, and unpacked my car.  My new apartment is really great, brand new appliances in the kitchen!  I have a dishwasher AND washer/dryer.  Two things that were on my 'must have' list when I was searching for my new home.  (I will post pictures once I have the whole place put together and unpacked)  After I unpacked my car, I met up with Julie and her boyfriend, Tim, for a tour of Rockville, the Navy base, and some dinner.  There is so much right in the vicinity of our apartment complex, it's crazy.  Restaurants, grocery stores, Target, you name it, I can walk there. 

We had also made plans for a trip to Arlington in the evening to see the new Warren Miller movie, "Like There's No Tomorrow..."  I discovered it was playing at the Arlington Draft House Cinema earlier in the week and didn't think there was any way I could miss it.  Because it was my first night in town, we took Julie's car, as they have a little more knowledge of the area than I.  The movie was great...despite starting almost a half an hour late.  We got out of the movie at 12:30 and walked back to the car.  Except the car wasn't there anymore.  It was no where to be found.  Welcome to Bethesda!  A few quick phone calls later, we found it had been towed...thankfully...and not stolen.  I guess just because we parked in a spot that didn't have a tow sign on it doesn't mean it's not fair game.  We hailed a cab, climbed in and said we needed a ride to A-1 towing.  The cabbie said to us "did you bring your GPS?"  I guess I had always thought it was their job to know where they were going but not this guy...Julie was able to pull up directions on her phone and after some U-turns, he finally got us to the tow lot.  (He only charged us $10 instead of the $14 that the meter read...good thing too because I'm pretty sure all three of us would have gone off on him).  By 0130 we were back on the road and headed for home, and the tow company was $125 richer.  On our way back I caught a glimpse of the Washington Monument as we were crossing the Potomac!  I can't wait to get downtown DC!  Julie and Tim dropped me off at the Navy lodge for the night.  I had made a reservation because I had anticipated getting my apartment keys on Friday; not to mention I had no bed or anything else in the apartment and figured a room with a real bed and TV would be pretty nice. 

Friday: Happy Veteran's Day!  Today was a day for errands...lots of them.  We started off at lunch at the Silver Dollar Diner (it's right behind our apartment building), very good!  Then we hit up Class Six (which is what the military calls the liquor store), Target, Giant foods grocery store, and Trader Joe's for some much needed essentials.  I spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking things and organizing my apartment before relaxing for the evening with a beer.  I am borrowing Julie and Tim's internet right now as I don't have mine set up yet and hopefully my household goods will be delivered next Friday.  That's the plan anyway.  Julie also loaned me a twin mattress for the week so I don't have to sleep on the floor, what a nice friend! 

Tomorrow we might attempt to ride the metro and who knows what else is in store, I'm sure something entertaining will come along.  It seems to be a city on the move, plenty to do and see all the time. 

Welcome to Bethesda!

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