i’m taking this from janet and doing real simple’s my hometown feature. i just love that magazine! i did my real hometown, beltsville, md. but then decided to do cartersville too, since i live here now. if you do this too, let me know so i can read them!

my beltsville, md. 

age: 27
occupation: radio news reporter/anchor
i lived there for: 6 years
i lived there because: my family moved there from baltimore.
my neighborhood: dunnington road.
my favorite restaurant: ledo’s pizza. this is *the best* pizza ever. it’s not greasy like pizza from other restaurants, and it’s just soooo good.
if you go to this restaurant, be sure to order: pizza!
my favorite museum: the air and space museum. i don’t know what it is about that place, but whenever i went into d.c. with family or friends that was the one place i *had* to go (and get freeze-dried food, of course!). i cannot count the number of times i went there.
my favorite tourist destination: the washington monument. i don’t think you can go up in it anymore, but it was so neat when you could. you could see all over the mall area.
best insider spot: the silver diner in laurel. it is a really cool restaurant.
my favorite area: wheaton regional park. they have several playgrounds and the most beautiful botanical gardens where, incidentally, my parents got married. it’s just such a pretty place.
best place to go shopping: georgetown. i know it’s in d.c., but beltsville’s close enough to there and there aren’t any stores in beltsville.
the one local cuisine you should try when you’re in town is: not to sound repetitive, but ledo’s!!
the best way to get around: driving or walking. my brother’s elementary school and a strip mall with a grocery store and other businesses were within walking distance from our house. my brothers and i would walk down to baskin robbins all the time. however, we had to drive to get to my school.
if I had to describe this city in one word, it would be: non-denominational. i think every resident on our street was of a different nationality or religion. our best friends across the street were catholic. our next-door neighbors, who were also were our closest friends, were sikhs. across the street there also was a family of muslims. and, there were several seventh-day adventist families in the neighborhood as well. it was really neat getting to grow up there.
i tell my friends to stay at: any hotel in town.
the one thing most outsiders don’t know about this city is: beltsville has a *fabulous* farmer’s market.
they say “virginia is for lovers.” so fill in the blank: beltsville, md. is for those who want to be near the city but not in the city.

my cartersville, ga. 

age: 27
occupation: radio news reporter/anchor
i lived there for: 2 years
i lived there because: i moved here so joe and i could get engaged and married.
my neighborhood: sugar valley.
my favorite restaurant: armando’s. it’s a locally-owned place with really good pizza and pasta.
if you go to this restaurant, be sure to order: any kind of pizza.
my favorite museum: we have three museums here (the booth western art museum, the weinman mineral museum and the bartow history center, which are all owned by my company) but i’ve never been to any of them.
my favorite tourist destination: downtown cartersville because it has a lot of neat shops and restaurants. and, it’s a growing area.
best insider spot: m’vorneens irish pub and knights, both in downtown cartersville. the pub has a cool atmosphere but knight’s is brighter, a lot more fun and it’s easier to talk to people there.
my favorite area: dellinger park.
best place to go shopping: downtown cartersville.
the one local cuisine you should try when you’re in town: armandos or antoninos italian grotto.
the best way to get around: driving.
if I had to describe this city in one word, it would be: growing. cartersville is a rapidly growing city. i should know. i cover the city council. but really, in the last two months we’ve had two new restaurants open, we’ve had zoning requests approved for two big-name hotels, we’ve had construction start on a new shopping center and the new starbucks is almost ready to open. and that’s just off one exit! we’ve also had new businesses coming into downtown.
i tell my friends to stay at: my house!
the one thing most outsiders don’t know about this city is: there really is a lot to do here.
they say “virginia is for lovers.” so fill in the blank: cartersville is for festival lovers. we have festivals all the time!