From: Christopher Roat
Subject: Barefoot in Annapolis
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 00:47:15 EDT

Hello all,

	On Wednesday, I awoke for my planned trip to Annapolis , MD.  I hoped
to check out the city for awhile before meeting a friend at 7 pm.  She is
another barefooter who has become interested in my Barefoot Hikers group--which
is spreading south.

	As I got in my car, leaving shoes behind, the skies were partly cloudy
and there was a slight breeze. Still, the temperatures were pleasant, warming
to the high 60s.  As I drove down Interstate 95, I passed through some very
heavy showers which forced me to wonder if I had picked a good day to go.
Still, I was expecting to meet my new friend, so I dared not abort the trip.
After a major detour in Baltimore (I wanted to see something in downtown
Baltimore on my way, but got lost and was taken an hour out of my way), I
arrived in Annapolis (home of the Naval Academy and capital of MD) around 2:30
in the afternoon.  The skies were still somewhat overcast, but the rain was
holding back.  I proceeded to the historic area of town where the government
buildings are located.  This area also houses a nice shopping district with
numerous small shops and restaurants right along the harbor of the Chesapeake.
I parked my car in a municipal garage.  As my feet exited the car, they were
greeted with cool, smooth concrete, very dusty from the construction being done
on the garage.  I walked down the stairs to street level.  After a short walk
on broken pavement, I reached the main street of shops.  The sidewalk here was
red-brick cobblestone, slightly warmed by the day's moderate heat. I could feel
the cracks between bricks beneath my feet as I walked the street, checking out
the small shops, especially those of interest to me.  The streets were
blacktop, which nicely blackened my feet, while providing an even warmer
surface to warm my feet against the cool breeze (though the weather was by no
means cold).

	The shops I entered had no problem with my bare feet.  In one ski shop,
the employees were shod in sandals, but seemed to have the wonderful, free-
spirited hippy mentality (based on their fashion) that often seems to welcome
and thrive on barefooting.  So, I talked to them and left info about the hike
group.  In one t-shirt shop, the whole family was wearing skimpy flip-flops.
By the healthy shape and color of their feet, I doubt they spend much time in
shoes. Still, I didn't work up the courage to approach.  In another t-shirt
store (lots of those to sell Annapolis t-shirts to the tourist population), the
young lady behind the counter had shed her shoes and was working in sock- clad
feet.  I asked her about it and she admitted to hating shoes...so I passed
along a Barefoot Hikers flyer to her. All in all, the city was very barefoot
friendly, something I didn't expect from such an upscale area with many
government workers in suits, etc. wandering about.  I did see one No Bare Feet
(by order of the DOH, no less) sign on a small deli/bakery/restaurant right
near the waterfront--which probably deals with many barefoot customers as
summer comes and people briefly dock their boats (ok, yachts in this area) in
the small town.  I only saw one other barefooter all day though--a hippie
dressed guy who walked past me as I sat on a bench. He literally disappeared
from view before I could catch up to him. Still, I did note his dirty soles and
total lack of footwear.

	I switched into long pants as the sun set and the temps grew cooler.
Then I wandered about the streets a bit to wait for my new friend, who had
agreed to meet me outside of one of the shops.  I went into a store across the
street to pass some time. When I walked out, Jen was sitting on the step
outside the business. This was our first meeting. She was wearing a sleeveless
top and patchwork hippie-type pants. From beneath the baggy pant legs peeked
two happily bare feet that I could tell from their shape and color were quite
used to the barefoot life.  A toe ring adorned one of her toes.  We made our
introductions and began to wander through town, enjoying the now cool
cobblestones beneath our feet.  I could tell by her steady and unchanging pace
that she was a true barefooter.  She did not even have trouble in places where
the smooth cobblestones changed to what would be called aggregate I believe
(concrete pavement with rounded gravel worked into the pavement).  After
wandering for about 40 minutes, we decided to eat.  We stopped at a small
deli/soda fountain type restaurant, where we were warmly welcomed, bare feet
and all. She had a veggie burger, I had a regular cheeseburger.

	After eating, we wandered again, checking out the stores. We stopped in
a hippie-type (I'm overusing that description I know, but it fits) store that I
had missed earlier, as Jen wanted to check out the threads.  A girl behind the
counter had on sandals, but a friend of hers was happily conversing with her,
barefoot with no shoes in sight.  I'm not sure if he was the same guy from
earlier or not.  After some prodding from my friend, I decided to tell them
about the Barefoot Hiker group.  Both thought it was very cool. In fact, the
girl at the store agreed to help me with promotion in the area and gave me her
name, email, phone number, etc.  She said she could pass on local event info to
folks who might not have access to computers. She also indicated that she knew
many people who would be very interested in the group. She also agreed to run
the Barefeet OK! info by her owners--who by some strange coincidence are 80s
metalheads. Meanwhile, my new friend Jen made a deal with this girl (the
manager) to sell her some homemade threads.

	After this quite worthwhile visit to The Big Iguana (store name--check
it out), my friend and I wandered the streets a bit longer, before returning to
the garage where we had both parked. We took joy in manuevering across the
damaged pavement near the under-construction garage which was littered with
uneven spots and jagged gravel. Of course, our rugged feet were unharmed.  Then
we climbed the ramp of the parking facility, adding even more grease and dirt
to our well-blackened feet, as well as a layer of gray dust.  Upon reaching our
cars (which were parked very close despite our widely differing arrival times),
we compared soles for blackness.  I think it was a tie, despite the fact that I
had quite a head start.  Jen noted how much of her foot was clean as she has a
somewhat high arch but the balls and heels were blackened. We took some
pictures of me and her near her VW bus and sitting on my car before departing.

A great barefoot day!!!


Barefoot Chris