In my head I wanted to have this done the day we moved. Missed that deadline by, uh, a lot. I don't want to dwell too much in the past but this was always a post I was going to do. There will be probably other snippets from our east coast odyssey too, though I can try to spread them out.
Before we moved to Frederick, Maryland my wife and I had never even heard of it. Our friends and family thought we were essentially moving to Washington DC because, well, that's also how we understood it at the time. It definitely worked out for us that, while Frederick gets grouped with the nation's capital, it's a place all its own.
About 50 miles, and ~an hour or less, from both Washington DC and Baltimore, Frederick is the gateway to the gradually more mountainous western part of Maryland. If you drive north from DC on I-270 about half the trip is through the fairly high-density suburbs of Bethesda, Rockville and Gaithersburg. After Germantown you're in country and forest land until you hit Frederick. If you drive west from Baltimore there isn't a ton along I-70 except the cool sign displaying destinations thousands of miles away. As a result, Frederick feels separate from both big cities even if they aren't that far. In this respect we lucked out. I had originally wanted to live in northern Virginia but it would've added too much drive time to my wife's day. We wouldn't have wanted to live any closer to DC, because it's so busy and expensive, and we wouldn't have wanted to live any closer to Baltimore, because there's so little in between. Our decision to settle in Frederick turned out to be a great one and we loved it far more than we thought we could.
Frederick is surprisingly big. The city proper has a population of more than 78k (per the 2020 Census), making it the second biggest incorporated city in the state, but that doesn't really capture how many people live there. The county's population is more than 270k (up from 235k in 2010), with the bulk living immediately in or around the city of Frederick. This initially blew my mind because where I grew up, in the Minneapolis/St. Paul suburbs, basically all land is incorporated. Frederick County is largely unincorporated, meaning many people live outside defined city limits. This included our neighborhood, which, though it was not within Frederick City, still had Frederick listed on the address. On one hand we didn't need to pay the higher city property taxes. On the other it was a drive to get basically anywhere. Because Frederick is somewhat sizable, there's more than enough in terms of shopping (it has a Target, Wegmans, etc.), as well as restaurants and activities. But it's also not too big to become overwhelming or lose its charm. An ideal size.
The incorporated town of Frederick is old for an American city, not as old as a few others on the eastern seaboard but much older than any place here in Minnesota. Founded in 1745 as 'Frederick Town,' it would become the county seat of newly formed Frederick County in 1748. An important stop on the road west, Frederick saw a great deal of immigrants settle in the area or pass through starting in the 18th century, including Pennsylvania Dutch and Scots-Irish. From way back Frederick has been known for its churches, both a variety of denominations and the steeples that regularly defined the town. A desire to protect these 'Clustered Spires' resulted in the city cutting a deal with the Confederate Army during the Civil War in 1864, paying Gen. Jubal Early $200k to leave the town intact. The steeples on a number of very old buildings are still prominent on the city's (purposefully short) skyline today and are beautiful against the backdrop of the nearby mountains.
If you ever visit Frederick, I'd recommend going downtown. There are a bunch of great restaurants and shops on the two main thoroughfares, Patrick Street and Market Street. A few blocks away is Baker Park, a massive urban green space with several playgrounds, a big amphitheater and a lovely old clock tower. Connecting downtown and Baker Park is Carroll Creek Park, a flood control project that's extremely cute with fountains, interesting bridges and artwork. A number of the businesses near Patrick Street back to the Creek, as does the main library. During the winter season, approaching Christmas, a bunch of lit and decorated boats are put out and it was a highlight for our son the last couple years. Also downtown is the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, if you're into that sort of thing. The old downtown is just a cool piece to check out and it's not all that big or crowded.
Or you could get out of the city center and explore the rest of the county. Play a round of golf. Go see the Frederick Keys. Traverse the small Civil War battlefield south of downtown, named Monocacy National Battlefield. There are plenty of places to go hiking. During the fall especially there are tourist farms and outdoor markets with activities for kids and a plethora of produce.
If you're looking for a great church with good people, check out Mountain View Community Church near Urbana. We loved the size and makeup of the church body, the worship, the bible-centered focus and, most of the all, Pastor Guy Kneebone. He balances humor with informative teaching and he's unafraid to challenge himself and his congregation. My wife volunteered in a few different ways. I played on the softball team. We're still searching for a replacement church and the comparisons we're making internally probably aren't fair.
Other places of ours:
south of downtown
- Roasthouse Pub - tiny spot with good food and constantly rotating taps
- May's Seafood - go-to for seafood
- Chaps Pit Beef - Baltimore style barbecue, was so happy they opened in Frederick
- Padmini's Curry Grill - delicious and cheap Indian food
downtown
- Boxcar Burgers - fave food truck, now a storefront on East St.
- White Rabbit Gastropub - Detroit-style pizza and more, huge beer/wine list
- Juliet's Italian Market - great sandwiches and Italian goodies
- Pistarro's - Neapolitan pizza
- Olde Mother Brewing - fave local brewery, wrote up one of their beers
west/north of downtown
- Wonder Book and Video - great used bookstore
- Crisp & Juicy - Peruvian chicken
- Wok In Wok Out - Asian stir-fry
- Black Hog BBQ - several locations, went to one on north side most often
east of downtown
- Beef 'n Buns - ice cream, they make food too
- The Derby - American grill in New Market, nice outdoor space
- Gaver Farm - massive tourist farm with a ton of activities for kids in the Fall
I think I only have a few things to add (please let me know if I missed anything). The windy, up and down backroads of rural Maryland. The mountains. All the history and interesting locales within drivable distance (that I've tried to cover elsewhere). We miss all that and more, especially the friends made along the way. Those seven plus years ended up flying by. Crazy how life does that.
Bye Frederick. I hope we meet again.
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