Anyway, what is indisputable is that we live in Maryland, which has the coolest flag of any state, including Hawaii which has the Union Jack as part of theirs and California which has a bear:
The Maryland flag. Don't stare at it too long.
As previously mentioned, Wheaton Metro station has the longest escalator in the Western hemisphere, something that Hannah has come simultaneously to hate for the time it adds to her commute and love for the ad-hoc cardio/leg workout she gets on the way home.
But what else does this Washington DC suburban oasis have to offer? Well, there's a massive regional park that has a train, an ice rink, a butterfly house, and a giant playground. You can also ride dinosaurs there. Our library is also the bookstore for every ex libris book in Maryland. Yes book lovers, come to visit us with empty suitcases - they claim to have 100,000 books for sale at any one time, most of them 25c each. It's actually quite scary.
Then there's our local volunteer emergency department that's very happy for you to come and sit in their vehicles (this was a special event, I think, although given they're volunteers maybe you can turn up and ask to drive a fire engine any time you want! Cool).
What else? Well, we have the French supermarket Géant, except they call it Giant which makes it sound far less classy, and in there they have a shelf of British food in the "ethnic" aisle. Ethnic!? It's all the rest of the food that should be classed as "ethnic"! Sadly a large downside is that we don't have a Trader Joe's within walking distance, but a MASSIVE downside of Maryland in general is that you can't buy alcohol in supermarkets! Yep - only licensed liquor stores, which do not offer the cheap plonk that Safeways can. Thank you, puritanical forefathers. Lucky that we're so close to Virginia.
We thought we'd left muddy puddles behind in Vancouver, but no. High humidity = apocalyptic thunderstorms every few days. This keeps someone happy.
There's no minimum age to volunteer at our local rescue squadron.
You drive, I'll take the radio.
It's not ethnic, it's British! Ooo, hang on - Wine Gums...
Plenty of cycling opportunities around here as well.
Our local Jewish bakery, with gigantic muffins.
And you get to ride a dinosaur, which fits in with a number of scientific theories popular in these parts. Wheaton - can any other town offer so much?
