Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On The Road – DavidC – In My Neighborhood, Frederick, MD

On The Road – DavidC – In My Neighborhood, Frederick, MD

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On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

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David C

My adopted home is Frederick, MD, which makes a lot of “nice places to live” lists and we have some sites that might be worth mentioning. We have a picturesque downtown and a linear park that follows Carroll Creek and serves as a flood basin. During Covid I had the opportunity to take walks instead of commuting and managed to take some snapshots on my walks.
On The Road - David_C - In My Neighborhood - Frederick, MD 8
Baker Park, Frederick, MDMay 11, 2021

The park has a lake (Culler Lake) with fountains and I managed to catch some early morning pictures.

On The Road - David_C - In My Neighborhood - Frederick, MD 7
Baker Park, Frederick, MDDecember 9, 2020

Many of the earliest settlers in Frederick were from Germany, including (for a time) my ancestors. At one end is an old German farm house, Schifferstadt, which is now an architectural museum.

On The Road - David_C - In My Neighborhood - Frederick, MD 6
Carroll Creek, Frederick, MDNovember 7, 2015

At one point is a concrete bridge over the creek, which is a large trompe l’oeil mural (this is only one section). Yes, this is all painted.

On The Road - David_C - In My Neighborhood - Frederick, MD 5
Downtown, Frederick, MDDecember 1, 2021

Downtown Frederick is very walkable, with many small shops, churches, and restaurants. In winter lights are put on the trees.

On The Road - David_C - In My Neighborhood - Frederick, MD 4
Carroll Creek, Frederick, MDDecember 8, 2020
In winter the creek features various scale-model boats sponsored by local firms and community organizations. The boats here feature Van Gogh and our state flag, to which Marylanders have an obsessive attraction (along with Old Bay seasoning).
On The Road - David_C - In My Neighborhood - Frederick, MD 3
Carroll Creek, Frederick, MDDecember 8, 2020

This boat is sponsored by our (no longer) local brewery, Flying Dog.

On The Road - David_C - In My Neighborhood - Frederick, MD 2
Frederick, MDJanuary 1, 2022

My fairly new tradition is to take a walk on New Year’s Day before the sun comes up (yeah, I don’t stay up late the night before). On this walk I explore alleys and sidewalks that cut between houses. Really a quiet time.

On The Road - David_C - In My Neighborhood - Frederick, MD 1
Frederick, MDJanuary 1, 2021

This is where I start my walk back to my house. Frederick has some seriously old houses.

On The Road - David_C - In My Neighborhood - Frederick, MD
Baker Park, Frederick, MDFebruary 10, 2010

OK – one more from a snowstorm almost 14 years ago. Being from Buffalo (shout-out to Betty Cracker’s hubby) I get to flex a bit, but here in MD we get nor’easters, which is the mid-Atlantic’s version of lake effect storms. Maybe som eBuffalo pictures next time (seriously – it’s a great place).

Reader Interactions

30Comments

  4. 4.

    waspuppet

    I love Frederick! We always hit Shab Row Tea when we’re there.

    The Maryland flag looks like they had a contest to design it and it was a tie. I mean that in a good way. Old Bay, on the other hand, is just non-spicy Cajun seasoning.

  6. 6.

    Marleedog

    I love the fieldstone architecture of the farmland of that region.

    Western MD, south central PA and northern WV.

     

    @waspuppet:  MD is the only state flag based on heraldic tradition. It is largely based on the Calvert crest.

  8. 8.

    David_C

    @HinTN: Everything you see (except the manhole cover on the ground) is painted. They paint individual rocks on the concrete and have windows, vases, and all kinds of Easter eggs. Some more pictures here:

    https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/43511

    The entire creek is a flood control project. There’s a decorative channel (with boats in the winter and plants in the summer) but underneath is a series of storm water conduits. the green part of the linear park is also a catch basin.

    https://www.businessinfrederick.com/220/Carroll-Creek-Linear-Park

    I do have some flood pictures, but not of the big one in 1976.

  9. 9.

    Aunt Kathy

    Nice to see a neighbor on here! I’m over the mountain in H-Town. Good pics. Sometimes I forget how lovely (and historical) it is around these parts.

  10. 10.

    Nina

    We love Frederick! I make it out to Wonder Books at least once every couple of months.  Love the linear park, and that ruined building they made into an outdoor theater.  One of our favorite day trips from Baltimore is to ride out to see Grotto of Lourdes early in the morning, then stop back for lunch in Frederick and walk the linear park to work off the calories.

  11. 11.

    KimK

    Love the pictures!  My husband grew up in Frederick and that is where we met.  I was in nursing school, he was in law school and we met at Bushwallers in the summer of 1985.  He was a bartender, I was a waitress.   I always say good things can happen in bars!  Anyway, Frederick is every bit as lovely as these pictures show.

  12. 12.

    David_C

    @Marleedog: The picture I took is of the back side. What’s interesting about the stone walls is that the stones on the front are evenly spaced but on the sides and back, the stones are fit however.

  13. 13.

    dimmsdale

    Back in ancient times, I was a dj at the local radio station, WFMD, located at the top of the main street in a big white Victorian mansion. It was my custom back then, when I was feeling expansive, to treat myself to a meal at the Francis Scott Key Hotel, a wonderfully fusty, old-school kind of place where all the vegetables were overcooked, and had bits of bacon floating in the juice. One evening, waiting for the dining room to open, I observed a bunch of good ole boys with shotguns, spreading out in the park. They pointed their shotguns up in the air and commenced firing into the trees for a good five minutes or so, accompanied by the soft thuds of pigeon bodies hitting the ground. THAT was ‘animal control’ in Frederick. It was a lovely little town, unquestionably southern in character (I believe that whole area went for George Wallace in the ’68 presidential). And you almost literally couldn’t turn a corner of the highway in that area without seeing a sign advertising “Barbara Frietchie Candy!!” I’m glad to see from your photos that so much of the character I remember survives. Lovely place!

  14. 14.

    David_C

    @dimmsdale: Great memories! And of course they tore the Groff mansion (old WFMD headquarters) to build – a parking lot.

    With recent migrations and growth, Frederick has become less “Fredneck,” but current WFMD is happy to carry on the tradition.

  15. 15.

    frosty

    Several years ago we had old friends who lived in Winchester VA and we would meet in Frederick for dinner, since it was about an hour away for each of use. We got to try a lot of good restaurants!

  17. 17.

    dimmsdale

    @David_C:  Well, since you know the area, here’s one more for ya–the WFMD transmitter was located up a winding mountain road, up in the hills, so the over-the-air signal had more coverage. The transmitter bldg. was originally intended to house studios as well, and my memory of it is as a very “moderne” (in a 50s-60s architectural style) structure, but vacant and unused, . Station management found that the location became inaccessible in wintertime due to icy roads, and therefore unsuitable for studios and offices. I wonder whatever happened to that building? I’ve looked online for pictures, but no luck. I’m assuming there’s no way you’re familiar with the structure, but … maybe you are?

  18. 18.

    S Cerevisiae

    Great pictures! We were just in Fredrick over Thanksgiving weekend and it’s quaint and lovely. It’s starting to be a strange Balloon Juice coincidence that when I visit a place within a few weeks there is an On The Road post from the exact same place. 3 or 4 times it has happened over the last couple years.

  19. 19.

    Miss Bianca

    Love the photos! That first one looks like a painting to me.

    Bittersweet seeing photos of Frederick, tho, that’s where my sister was thinking about relocating to be nearer to her niece and her family, who live in Laurel. Then came the terminal cancer diagnosis, so that never happened.

    But I got to walk the streets of Frederick not long after she died and I remember thinking, “yeah, I can see why Sis dug this town.”

  20. 20.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    I live in Takoma Park, MD – been in the DC area for about 22 years now. Frederick is great. The Mrs. and I are considering it for a retirement destination – still close enough to DC to visit friends here on the regular but a little cheaper and easier to manage. Truth be told she’d probably prefer the Eastern Shore because her dream is to be on or near water. But Frederick gives us a jump on holiday traffic if we’re headed West to visit family.

    Of course, we’re also considering West Michigan (I grew up there) which has plenty of water and is also nice. But Frederick is a nice small city and has South Mountain right there so hiking practically at your doorstep.

  21. 21.

    David_C

    @dimmsdale: Don’t know about the transmitter location offhand, but I’m guessing was up on Catoctin Mountain, which has its share of windy dirt roads. Also, I hear that snow removal in the past was pretty spotty.

    Thank to all for the comments! Here I thought I needed some place exotic!

  22. 22.

    stinger

    What a lovely set of photos — and comments, too! I especially like the geese and fountains picture. Now I must visit Fredrick!

  24. 24.

    PAM Dirac

    Yaaay for Frederick. We’ve lived here for almost 17 years and love it. If anyone wants a glass of wine, just drop by the house with a vineyard in the front yard (although I guess technically we are just a few feet outside the city limits.)

  25. 25.

    luc

    … and Frederick is pretty close to the Shenandoah river and Harper’s Ferry – for some bigger nature experience.

    Thanks!

    I used to live in Frederick for 8 years working in the not very scenic NCI/Fort Detrick.

  26. 26.

    RSA

    @David_C: What a coincidence. I’m planning a day trip to Frederick this weekend. You’ve shown a couple of nice places I now want to see. Thanks!

  27. 27.

    Dan B

    It’s interesting to me to see the old, for the USA, buildings.  I remember great old buildings in Cincinnati in KY college years – third biggest city in the US in 1850.  Stone and brick buildings in earthquake prone Seattle are rare and becoming more rare with each quake.  I guess that brick and stone will have to be Trompe l’oeuil here in the future.

  30. 30.

    David_C

    @mvr and @Miss Bianca: Thanks. The first pic was on a cloudy day walk and the sun came up and shone on the high school (on the right side) and I thought it looked really neat with the clouds and took a pic, and then saw a flock of geese getting into view and had to snap another.

    This gives an idea of what my Zoom backgrounds look like. I may post volume 2 some time.

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