I'm going to Maryland and I want to go shopping..

Stork

Coin shopping that is. I'm actually going househunting, but I REALLY want to do a few other things too, like get a haircut, find some shoes in my size, and drive around on the 'right side' of the street. The list is a bit longer than that, but oh well. In any case, I will be in the Bethesda area if anyone has any recommendations. If I don't make it this trip at least I will have a place to start once I move there this summer. Thanks!


Cathy

lordmarcovan

You could drive just a short distance to the south. What's a few hundred miles?

1jester

I highly recommend Mason Shoes, but they're mail order only (1-800-422-1000, www.bamason.com). You can have them delivered only to Stateside addresses (and APO/FPO).

But am I missing something? Perhaps it's the fun of going into a store and trying on shoes that appeals to you more?

SYRACUSIAN

Maryland sounds like a nice place to relocate.



<< <i>like get a haircut, find some shoes in my size >>



Who would have imagined that living in Japan can be so complicated ? I understand the shoes problem , but what about the haircut? I've seen some pretty wild colours and punk style cuts on Japanese heads .

Stork

The local hairdressers don't do a bad job, but I have a hard time communicating what I like. The on-base people are merely very bad !

I'm probably not going to have too much time for fun shopping, but you never know.


Cathy

coinkat

Visit Bonanza Coins in Silver Springs... I think that is fairly close to where you will be.

davewang202

Bethesda is an old(er) neighborhood. Houses are relatively expensive. There are a lot of nice places to visit, even sort of walking around in downtown Bethesda. Or if you are into the mall-like experience, there's always White Flint and Montgomery Mall (I used to work there about 15 years ago)

Or if you have more time, the nice thing to do is to go downtown to DC to visit all of the tourist things. (The tour through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is always interesting for someone interested in money. You can buy uncut sheets of currency at the gift shop to take back to Japan and give them as gifts. They're always popular)

A day walking around Georegetown isn't bad either.

If you need some ideas, try washingtonpost.com. There are "top100 restaurants" of the area, some in Bethesda, and all the detinations in DC can be reached with metro.

HTH

David (Gaithersburg, Md. About 15 miles away)

newsman

Cathy:

If you're hunting for a house, don't limit yourself to one side of the Potomac. Houses in northern Virginia are cheaper (on average) than in the Bethesda area, and taxes are lower. IMHO, Virginia is also a much better-governed state.

As for coins, most of the best coin stores are in Maryland. Like Coinkat said, Bonanza Coins is a nice store -- I think it's owned by a forum member. Gaithersburg Coin Exchange is also good.

davewang202

Bonanza Coins is Julian Leidman http://www.juliancoin.com Julians coins are very expensive, but they're also very high quality. That is to say, Julian won't hesitate to ask for MS66+++ prices for a coin that is MS66+++.

Maryland Coin Exchange in Silver Spring may be closer to Bethesda than Gaithersburg Coin Exchange.
8620 Georgia Ave
Silver Spring, Md 20910
(301)589-2278

I'd recommend calling ahead for appointment and interest before showing up.

Stork

I'm going to be working my yucky hours at the Navy hospital in Bethesda. I don't think I can stand a big commute so I'm sure I'll get a small house for big money just so I don't have to sit in a car for too much. Fortunately my husband will be working at the Pentagon, so the metro will work for him. I suppose we could live closer to his work, and I could Metro it...naaahhhh

Thanks for the good shopping tips--I'd heard about Julian/Bonanza and forgotten he was around here. I'm getting a bit excited about moving back to the US, though I do like Japan quite a bit. I knew I was back when one of the customs guys got irritated with me for not going around some poor guy who had stopped for a second to get out his green card, and gotten behind his family--like I was in such a hurry I needed to get in between!

Time to log off...this old hotel computer is taking way too long!!!


Cathy

1jester

When do you leave, Cathy? I'm still working on getting examples of that coin for you.