1 week internship in Salisbury...want authentic Eastern Shore experience (Baltimore: fit in, real estate)

[Tom Lennox 70]

I'm a first year pharmacy school student and I'll be doing a one week internship (we call it a "rotation") in Salisbury in a week. I'll be getting housing for that week in Cambridge and commuting to Salisbury. I look forward to getting that professional experience since I've never been in a hospital pharmacy before (this will be at Peninsula Medical Center). IN addition though, I also see a week on the Eastern Shore as an opportunity to experience something completely different culture and one that I've taken an interest to in recent years. I've never really been TO the Eastern Shore, only through it on the way to Rehoboth Beach or Ocean City.

Having spent most of my life in Montgomery County and now living in Baltimore City for school, going to the Eastern Shore is kinda like, if you will, a trip abroad to the "authentic real America" you only see on TV or hear about in music. Many people say the Eastern Shore is culturally very Southern. Here in Baltimore I also recently saw a real estate guide that described the Shore as being similar to "the heartland" despite its proximity to Baltimore and Annapolis.

So....I really want the local experience away from the chains and suburbia that can be found anywhere else. I know Salisbury is a sizable city so I'm also wondering the surrounding area including Cambridge since I'll be housed in Cambridge. Are there any nice cheap local small town diners or soul food palces? Any place famous for seafood (being by the Bay and ocean) or fried chicken (I know Perdue Chicken is based in the area)? Any drive-in movie theaters, cool little towns with bustling Main Streets, or any county fairs during this time of year? (October 19-25)

Also....sounds really weird but I also really want to find time to hang out at a bar or a truck stop where local rednecks and cowboys go to, like the one in Sweet Home Alabama where its all locals and they have country music playing. Its supposed to be the archetype of small town USA the way people go to a teashop in London or a pizzeria in Rome. Are there any such places that y'all can suggest? Now I hope nobody is offended by the this part...I'm only repeating the opinions of others and I don't have my opinion yet. I'm Asian American, and some of my friends here who are black, Asian or Indian are trying to discourage me from doing something like that, saying that small town friendliness is a myth and that people, especially "rednecks" will be racist against me.

I'm not sure if these people know what they're talking talk. Some of them are from out of state places like California. One guy said he's been to Alabama before and was uncomfortable because he saw a car with a Confederate flag on it, but that driver is not necessarily racist. He might just be proud of being southern, or of his family history. A lot of people, especially from large metro areas in the Northeast or West Coast just naturally believe that small towns or mostly white areas are racist and I really question the truth of this.

I've only had one racist encounter in my 23 years and it was from two black kids in Baltimore City. My cousins lived in Idaho for years and fit in very well. I've always just felt like an ordinary American and never thought much of my skin color at all. I was a Toby Keith concert in Virginia once where I was literally the only minority and met some guys with Confederate flags on pickup trucks and they were wonderful people who was glad I was interested in their culture. So I didn't expect to be asking this, but would my experiences be impacted because of my race? Again I'm sorry if anyone is offended....I'm just bringing up what other people have said. Some of them are just completely afraid to leave the big cities unless its a resort area. Especially Asian and Indian guys from the West Coast. This seems incredibly ignorant and misformed in its own way.

Now as for more practical stuff....how hard is the commute from Cambridge to Salisbury in the morning? Is there a lot traffic heading into Salisbury from the surrounding areas? And the tourist stuff....is Assateague Island/Chincoteague worth a visit? Do I actually have a good chance to see the wild horses? In Wyoming and Idaho you have to be lucky to see a bison or a bear, is that the way it is with the ponies?

I am really looking forward to going to the Shore and seeing a lot of different things and broadening my horizons. Having grown up in the burbs, living in the big city now and having traveled abroad in the past, this kind of thing is like the last frontier for me....funny its only a couple hours from Baltimore! Also I do think about where to settle down after school and I'm sick of the rat race, materialism, unfriendliess, high prices, liberal politics, crime, etc of Montgomery County and to a lesser extent the Baltimore area. I knwo there is a shortage of health care professional on the Shore and other more rural parts of Maryland and other states.

[Shadozer]

i'm not too sure about the other stuff since i've only visited briefly to those areas. but as far as assateague you will most certainly see ponies, theyre everywhere, and beautiful too! have fun!!!

[Tom Lennox 70]

Thanks shadozer thats good to know, sounds like I should definitely go to Assateague. I have some friends who are going to the Shore too that week and Assateague might be a side trip, I know Ocean City definitely will be despite it not being the tourist season anymore.

[westsideboy]

I don't think you will have to go looking for authentic Eastern Shore culture in Salisbury and Cambridge. You will be immersed in it by what you are doing. Just talk to the people around you. I like OC in the fall. Not as crowded, nice weather, not too hot, not too sunny.

A general piece of advice in any town is not to randomly pick some dive bar to saunter into. Really sketchy things go in some bars and outsiders are not very welcome. I would go with some of your coworkers to where ever they are going or pick a nice looking place in the business districts. I am sure you will have a great time!

[bunky3301]

Tom,

It really sounds like you have a great idea and I hope you get to at least half of what you set out to accomplish. I would go to Assateague for sure and see the ponies....just watch out for the huge HORSE FLYS while there.

Ocean City is great this time of year like another poster wrote , but you might be surprised at how many people and things will still be open these days. When I was a kid (I'm 41 by the way) Ocean City was almost a ghost town after Labor Day thru the winter till Memorial Day opening. Times have changed and I think better for OC and the local businesses.

I do have one question though, why would you stay in Cambridge if your internship is in Salisbury? Thats about a 45 minute commute each way and I would think that there are just as many places to stay in Salisbury. Just wanted to throw that out there.

But if you are going to be staying in Cambridge and have time you might want to check out Taylor Island to the Southwest of Cambridge. Its been years since I've been there and it seemed to be mostly a fishing type area, but everyplace is changing and might interest you if your looking for an old Eastern shore experience.

Good Luck and fill us in on your trip....bunky

[Tom Lennox 70]

Originally Posted by bunky3301

Tom,

It really sounds like you have a great idea and I hope you get to at least half of what you set out to accomplish. I would go to Assateague for sure and see the ponies....just watch out for the huge HORSE FLYS while there.

Ocean City is great this time of year like another poster wrote , but you might be surprised at how many people and things will still be open these days. When I was a kid (I'm 41 by the way) Ocean City was almost a ghost town after Labor Day thru the winter till Memorial Day opening. Times have changed and I think better for OC and the local businesses.

I do have one question though, why would you stay in Cambridge if your internship is in Salisbury? Thats about a 45 minute commute each way and I would think that there are just as many places to stay in Salisbury. Just wanted to throw that out there.

But if you are going to be staying in Cambridge and have time you might want to check out Taylor Island to the Southwest of Cambridge. Its been years since I've been there and it seemed to be mostly a fishing type area, but everyplace is changing and might interest you if your looking for an old Eastern shore experience.

Good Luck and fill us in on your trip....bunky

Bunky,

The thing is that the school arranges for housing not myself and that's the closest they have available. THey also have students who do the rotation/internship in Easton and their logic is that Cambridge is halfway in between Easton and Salisbury and commutable to both places. While to a certain extent its frustrating having to commute 45 minutes, I do understand that's about the average commute time nationwide, and I rather drive 45 minutes nonstop on Route 50 and spent 45 minutes in bumper to bumper traffic on I-83 or 495.

Again, my only reservation is that it will be obvious I'm not a local and how that will impact things, but I am going into it with a very positive mindset.

[Tom Lennox 70]

Also, are there any nice places to eat on or near Route 50 on Kent Island or the Eastern Shore on the way to Salisbury? I mean Stevensville, Easton, Cambridge anywhere around there? Seafood/crabs???

[ljd1010]

Originally Posted by Tom Lennox 70

Also, are there any nice places to eat on or near Route 50 on Kent Island or the Eastern Shore on the way to Salisbury? I mean Stevensville, Easton, Cambridge anywhere around there? Seafood/crabs???

I'd definitely recommend veering off of Rt 50 in Easton, head into St. Michaels. It's a lovely small town on the water with a wide variety of great restaurants. Try The Crab Claw - best in warm weather to sit outside by the docks, messily eating crabs!

[Tom Lennox 70]

Thanks ljd maybe I'll take a detour into St. Michael's. I remember going there once way back in elementary school and there was a lighthouse. Don't remember much besides that!

[doctorjef]

Just a slight correction -- people in London don't go to a teashop. They go to a pub. Or more correctly, down the pub. I can think of one teashop in Piccadilly and a bakery in Hampstead that one might call a teashop, though they're really more a continental patisserie-***-cafe. I'm afraid you must be thinking more of Yorkshire if you're thinking of anything as quaint as tea being something more than a bevie you consume at the office using a cheap mug, a teabag and an electric kettle.