I grew up in Bethesda in the Fifties and Sixties. Mr. Offutt taught at my high school, and was quite a good teacher--one that you were happy to get. I haven't lived in Maryland for a long time, and love Mr. Offutt's Maryland accent, with its long O's. I guess I used to talk that way too. I was a big fan of Community Hardware, because it had a rural feel that was already gone from most of Bethesda when I lived there. It felt like rural Maryland, where you might find a hick wooden store with a sagging porch and a metal Nehi Cola sign, all shot full of holes. I remember the huge fire that took out a whole block of downtown Bethesda. It was a row of two-story shops in the half-timbered style--kind of tacky actually. That fire was the most dramatic I have ever seen. The firemen were struggling to keep the fire from jumping a narrow alley and taking out a whole other row of shops. After I went to college, I flew back to DC and got the subway to Bethesda. When I came out of the subway, I had no idea where I was. Everything looked different. It was all skyscrapers, like Crystal City in Virginia. Then I saw the old bank on the corner and realized that I was in the very center of Bethesda! I remember Bethesda as a town of very polite and civilized people. The neighborhoods were very pretty, with their two story brick colonials, their huge trees, their azaleas and dogwoods. People on our block all belonged to political clubs--Democrat and Republican---but still got along. There were block parties where the kids played games and the adults sat around chatting and drinking martinis.

@michaelwoolsey3886

2 жыл бұрын

Steve, I live in New Mexico now and believe me.....on Saturday mornings, I still feel the floors of the Market and listening the conversations!

very interesting! I learned a lot about Bethesda that I didn't know already. thank you!