Is Lynchburg very Southern and unique? (Norfolk, Arlington: fit in, section 8, transplants)

[Tom Lennox 70]

Hey y'all. I'm a pharmacy student at the University of Maryland grad campus in Baltimore and have the option of doing a summer internship in Lynchburg. My alternative would be do to a similar program at the pharmacy where I currently work part time in Dundalk, MD, a blue collar suburb of Baltimore centered around our steel mills and auto assembly plants. I am seriously considering the option of spending the summer in Lynchburg since I am all for diverse experiences and something different than how I grew up and went to college.

I am 24 and originally from Louisiana but lived in Maryland since I was 7. I went to middle school and high school in Montgomery County which is generally not seen as the real Maryland, the way Fairfax and Arlington are not the real Virginia since these places are mostly ppl who moved from elsewhere, mostly northern states like NY and NJ and some like my parents from other countries. I don't have much personal memories of New Orleans but I did a rotation on Maryland Eastern Shore in Cambridge and Salisbury and going to those towns which Baltimoreans say are authentically Southern. People there do have a twang, restaurants do have nice sweet tea (which is sorely lackign on the Western Shore). Despite being from Montgomery County and being Asian American I felt I fit in with people there much more than back home. Though I've never gone 4 wheeling or hunting before (these are things I hope to do though), I prefer a laid back, friendly lifestyle away from the city, where neighbors all know each other and have a sense of community, etc. I love down home and country cooking and southern food. I have not been to church in years but I am more and more drawn to evangelical Christianity and am also a conservative Republican who hates our current President and the direction he wants to take America.

I'm wondering if Lynchburg, being in southern VA is the "real South", even more so than the Eastern Shore or Dundalk and if by going there and working in that internship I will be experience a culture and lifestyle completely different from the Baltimore or Washington DC metro areas. Is Lynchburg the kind of town where they play country music in all the stores and church is a major part of life? Aside from the Eastern Shore, a Toby Keith concert in NOVA with Confederate flags, and memories my folks have of Louisiana (the Creole and French culture of New Orleans probably not typical either), my main exposure to the South has mostly been country music and CMT which I watch regularly. I'm almost desperate to experience a culture different from the Baltimore-Washington area. Dundalk where I a couple times a month does have a blue collar, small town feel but it is being threatened by Section 8 housing and people moving there from the inner city as the ghettos are revitalized. More and more transplants are going to the Eastern Shore. It seems like what little we have worth protecting in Maryland is being threatened.

After graduating with my PharmD I would prefer to relocate to either the Eastern Shore or the south. So another thing actually, in Virginia do pharmacists have the right to not dispense medications like the morning after pill or refer patients for abortion if it goes against their morals? Are independent Christian pharmacies common in Virginia? I read something in the Washington Post about a place in Winchester but I'm not sure how widespread that is. Maryland is run by a liberal elite out of Montgomery County and Baltimore City and is being more and more stifling as a result. It is impossible to fit in in the DC area unless you are a liberal elite, a ghetto type welfare recipient, or an illegal immigrant.

Do a lot of people move to Roanoke or Lynchburg for the Southern lifestyle? Do newcomers fit in well and become part of the community easily if they respect and adapt to the local culture?

I posted on this forum since Lynchburg seems close to Roanoke to you folks probably would know more about it than someone from perhaps Winchester or Norfolk. Thanks for any feedback!

[Mr_Jonas]

Yep, Lynchburg is southern.

[sregorat3]

My cousin, born and raised in Philly (summers in Nantucket, college in New Haven), spent two post college summers working at a camp in the Lynchburg area. He loved it, much to my surprise. I assumed that being from the Mid-Atlantic Metroplex he would find it too slow, southern, and boring. I appreciate Lynchburg for it's outdoor recreation and scenery more than anything else, as he did, but he also enjoyed the Southern feel that Lynchburg had in pace and attitude. It isn't Savannah, but it is probably Southern enough for you to appreciate. You would like Roanoke, as well, and between the two, you might find some good job potential.

[Diamond Dave]

I refuse to answer. Anybody who needs for his summer internship location to pass a long and difficult litmus test need to lighten up and live a little.

Jump in with an open mind. You may learn something.

[sweetpotater58]

I grew up in Maryland and now live in Virginia, and travel a lot through it. Lynchburg will be a more enjoyable experience than sticking around Dundalk, Maryland. Lynchburg is a southern city, it has a lot nearby-especially the Blue Ridge mountains not far off-go there and experience something new. Virginia is a great state.

[headnsouth]

You're seriously overthinking it. It's a summer internship.

Also your treatise has listed pretty much every cardboard-cutout stereotype there is about southerners (and your idea of their opposite). You might be surprised to find that not everyone in the "real south" hunts and rides four-wheelers. Also, sorry but Lynchburg has section 8 housing too.

[Diamond Dave]

I just read the original post again, and it's even more absurd the second time around.

[LAHUNT]

[quote=Tom Lennox 70;7763879]Hey y'all. I'm a pharmacy student at the University of Maryland grad campus in Baltimore and have the option of doing a summer internship in Lynchburg. My alternative would be do to a similar program at the pharmacy where I currently work part time in Dundalk, MD, a blue collar suburb of Baltimore centered around our steel mills and auto assembly plants. I am seriously considering the option of spending the summer in Lynchburg since I am all for diverse experiences and something different than how I grew up and went to college...........

Yes! Come to Lynchburg! It's a great place and a very friendly place. Downtown is becoming a great hang out for young professionals. The scenery here is gorgeous and the cost of living is very good. Check out a new website for Lynchburg (and Govt website) that will give you some more info: [url]www.visitlynchburg.org;[/url] [url]www.lynchburgva.gov[/url]
:-) LuAnn

[ToughLuv]

I've seen you in MD forums, yes I think you should come to Lynchburg. I see your still with the same MD bashing, well we can trade I will move to Montgomery County and you can have my spot in VA lol

[Teebyrd86]

Originally Posted by ToughLuv

I've seen you in MD forums, yes I think you should come to Lynchburg. I see your still with the same MD bashing, well we can trade I will move to Montgomery County and you can have my spot in VA lol

Go then no one is stopping you!