moving to Frederick soon, need various recommendations (Baltimore, Williamsport: insurance, house)

[inkybrown]

For anyone following my other thread, I am moving from Texas to Frederick in 2 weeks and I have a house and a job now! But this leaves me with a lot of questions.

1) Does Amazon Prime have free 2-day shipping to Frederick? Where I live now we have same-day delivery.

2) What is a good veterinarian (near the Baker Park area preferably)? I also anticipate needing a 24 hour/emergency vet at some point, ideally these vets would be the same if possible.

3) Vegan options. I am used to shopping at Whole Foods, but there isn't one near Frederick. Will Wegman's have vegan meats and cheeses, etc? Or has anyone found luck finding these things at regular grocery stores up there? Occasionally my Target will have stuff like that.

4) I have long dreamed of having solar energy at my home. I read about Sunrun but it is not available in Frederick. If someone here has gone through the process of having solar panels installed in their home, can you give me the positives/negatives and who provides this in Frederick?

5) Must-see's or must-do's in Frederick for a new resident? I know there are a couple of museums and I have joined some Frederick Meetup groups.

6) Transportation to DC. I anticipate wanting to go to DC for sightseeing and museums, as well as restaurants. I understand it doesn't run 24/7, right? So how late would you recommend staying in DC before needing to catch a train back to Frederick? I looked at a MARC timetable but it was like Greek to me! Is the MARC station in DC convenient to monuments/museums or will I need to Uber to those from the station?

7) My job will be in Williamsport (I know it's a 30 minute commute, but I couldn't find a full time offer in my field in Frederick!). I will be living near the interchange of 15 and 40 (on the east side), but need to take 70 to Williamsport. How bad is morning traffic heading south on 15 to 70? If it's really bad I could just take 40 all the way to 70, but deal with stoplights along the way.

Whew! Thank you in advance for recommendations. I'm sure I will have more questions once I move.

[LesLucid]

Frederick County resident here.

1. Yes
2. For cats, The Cat Vet on rt. 26 is outstanding. They are cats only and we will not take ours anywhere else. For emergency care there is an excellent 24 hour facility on rt. 40 (so called Golden Mile) near the Aldi store. CVCA has offices there for cardiac specialty care also.
3. Mom’s and The Common Market are both nice stores with Organic. My wife recently went through cancer treatment and is very conscious what she eats. Other local stores have organic sections. There are also some good farm markets that will tell you how they grow things. Many could be classed as organic but they will not advertise as such because of regulations.
4. Don’t know off hand but I see solar all over the place so it must be easy to come by.
5. Civil War medical museum, the train museum in downtown Frederick (right across from Good Juju-vegan/vegetarian), Baker Park concert series, also the C&O canal, Cunningham falls, Gambril Park are nearby. Lots of stuff since DC and Baltimore are only 40 some minutes away.
6. Visiting DC. We always drive to the nearest subway station, park and use the subway to get around. It hits almost all the high points.
7. Don’t know about your route’s traffic. I was always several backroads to I-270 and then in towards DC. My route was a royal beeoootch.

I personally don’t like the state of Maryland but I think Frederick is hard to beat. BTW, fair warning, since you’re coming from Texas which has very liberal gun laws. If you are a gun owner, you need to check into which of your guns you can legally bring into the state. Maryland has myriad strict and confusing laws about firearms.

[inkybrown]

Thank you! Don't worry, I am not a gun owner.

[LesLucid]

I also meant to mention that Leesburg, Va is not that far either and is worth exploring. Also, Frederick has “In the Street” an annual street festival and “First Saturday” is monthly year round I think. Stores stay open late, many eateries offer sidewalk tasting, etc. there is also a terrific knife and dart shop right on the main drag downtown, called Edgeworks., also lots of really good restaurants.

[inkybrown]

Does anyone have a vet recommendation that also takes dogs? I have dogs and cats.

[seethelight]

Originally Posted by inkybrown

For anyone following my other thread, I am moving from Texas to Frederick in 2 weeks and I have a house and a job now! But this leaves me with a lot of questions.

1) Does Amazon Prime have free 2-day shipping to Frederick? Where I live now we have same-day delivery.

2) What is a good veterinarian (near the Baker Park area preferably)? I also anticipate needing a 24 hour/emergency vet at some point, ideally these vets would be the same if possible.

3) Vegan options. I am used to shopping at Whole Foods, but there isn't one near Frederick. Will Wegman's have vegan meats and cheeses, etc? Or has anyone found luck finding these things at regular grocery stores up there? Occasionally my Target will have stuff like that.

4) I have long dreamed of having solar energy at my home. I read about Sunrun but it is not available in Frederick. If someone here has gone through the process of having solar panels installed in their home, can you give me the positives/negatives and who provides this in Frederick?

5) Must-see's or must-do's in Frederick for a new resident? I know there are a couple of museums and I have joined some Frederick Meetup groups.

6) Transportation to DC. I anticipate wanting to go to DC for sightseeing and museums, as well as restaurants. I understand it doesn't run 24/7, right? So how late would you recommend staying in DC before needing to catch a train back to Frederick? I looked at a MARC timetable but it was like Greek to me! Is the MARC station in DC convenient to monuments/museums or will I need to Uber to those from the station?

7) My job will be in Williamsport (I know it's a 30 minute commute, but I couldn't find a full time offer in my field in Frederick!). I will be living near the interchange of 15 and 40 (on the east side), but need to take 70 to Williamsport. How bad is morning traffic heading south on 15 to 70? If it's really bad I could just take 40 all the way to 70, but deal with stoplights along the way.

Regarding#1 Mostly I get two day delivery, however there are times where it's only one day. I love Frederick and I hope you will too.

Whew! Thank you in advance for recommendations. I'm sure I will have more questions once I move.

Regarding #3. Wegmans is better than Whole Foods. They have a large organic section and they bake their own stuff. I can't think of anything that I can't find at Wegmans that I need at Whole Foods. From Baker Park, it's a 10 minute drive. Regarding #1 I get most of my deliveries from Amazon in two days, however there are days when my order is delivered the next day. I love Frederick, and I hope you will too.

[MidValleyDad]

Originally Posted by inkybrown

Does anyone have a vet recommendation that also takes dogs? I have dogs and cats.

Yellow Springs Vet has been ours for years. Excellent staff and facility. We have gone through several pet life cycles with them. Their 'end of life' support is excellent when that time comes.


https://www.yellowspringsveterinaryclinic.com/

[MidValleyDad]

Originally Posted by inkybrown

For anyone following my other thread, I am moving from Texas to Frederick in 2 weeks and I have a house and a job now! But this leaves me with a lot of questions.


7) My job will be in Williamsport (I know it's a 30 minute commute, but I couldn't find a full time offer in my field in Frederick!). I will be living near the interchange of 15 and 40 (on the east side), but need to take 70 to Williamsport. How bad is morning traffic heading south on 15 to 70? If it's really bad I could just take 40 all the way to 70, but deal with stoplights along the way.

Whew! Thank you in advance for recommendations. I'm sure I will have more questions once I move.

It may all depend on exactly where you are in that area. You can go west on 40 then take the ramp to westbound 70 to go to Williamsport. Or go to Butterfly Lane and MD 180 and take the ramps to Westbound 70 there. Or take Norva Ave to the backside of Prospect Plaza shopping center come out at the traffic light go left on Jefferson and follow the ramps for 15 to 70 west.

[inkybrown]

Thanks again. As for groceries, it's not so much organic produce I am looking for, it's vegan foods like Tofurkey and Daiya, that type of meat and cheese substitute. I can find it at Whole Foods in Texas, but not other places. I guess I'll find out soon!

I asked about Amazon specifically because my friend in Mississippi, where she lives, doesn't even get Amazon Prime delivery!

I thought of another question. Can anyone recommend a family practice doctor that takes Blue Cross? And a good dentist (insurance doesn't matter there).

[inkybrown]

Originally Posted by MidValleyDad

It may all depend on exactly where you are in that area. You can go west on 40 then take the ramp to westbound 70 to go to Williamsport. Or go to Butterfly Lane and MD 180 and take the ramps to Westbound 70 there. Or take Norva Ave to the backside of Prospect Plaza shopping center come out at the traffic light go left on Jefferson and follow the ramps for 15 to 70 west.

I will be just on the east side of 15 off of Patrick St/40. Do you mean there's a ramp where I would go from westbound 40 directly to westbound 70 and skip 15? That sounds great.