The first thing I said to Anne Hilburn was, “I like your dog.”

Apparently that was the right thing to say.

“I don’t trust people who don’t like dogs,” she said in a thick New York accent. “She’s an Akita. Sweetest Akita that ever walked the world.”

Anne grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens in New York. Her father was an NYPD homicide officer. She says, “You’re probably too young to remember, but do you know the gangster Willy Sutton? Probably the most famous bank robber that ever lived.” One time his captain told her dad, “Joe. I want you to interview Willy Sutton.” He said, “Why?” And his captain said, “Just to get a slant for the newspaper.”

Her dad had a way that he considered was a foolproof to test whether or not he could trust a person. He met Willy and said, “So tell me, Willy, do you like dogs?”

“Dogs? Dogs are my life! Dogs! I want to get out of the joint because my dogs are staying with my sister.”

After that, Anne’s dad put a little star next to his name and put in a good word for Willy Sutton.

Anne used to work as a stewardess on D47’s,”vomit comets” as she called them. She said one day, Frank Sinatra was on her plane, sick as a dog and really laying on the call button. She came over to him and said, “Mr. Sinatra, I wish I could help you more. I have another Benzedrex inhaler or some chewing gum I can give you.”

He looked at her and said, “You know what. I’ll have your god damned job.”

Now, Anne is the daughter of a homicide cop and he always taught her to be as tough as any guy and not to take any crap from the clowns on the plane. So she said, “You know what, you can have it Mr. Sinatra. And for $175 a month, you not only can have my job, but you know what you can do with it.”

Good lady.

Wait.  What is this place?

A house on Main Street in Burkittsville, MD.

It’s a four-way stop sign on a cobblestone street.  It feels like we’re back in the 1800s.  Turns out this is Main Street.  There are Main Streets even when we’re not looking.   Pull over, pull over.

We’re in Burkittsville, Maryland, town of 129.  It’s a Civil War kind of town.  We get out and think that we’re going do another flash stop.  We walk into the PJ Gilligan Corner Store and talk with Paul J Gilligan.  This really is an 1850s general store.

Paul Gilligan at his General Store on Main Street in Burkittsville, MD.

The whole town is an historical district.  The only street is Main Street.  In a town like this, it’s easy to meet people.

Eventually Mayor Deborah Burgoyne shows up.   She fell in love with the town in the 70s after walking off the Appalachian trail in the 1970s.  Burkittsville is a town run by women.  There are no men on the city council and haven’t been for about 7 years now.  Deb takes us down Main Street…pointing out the old brothel, the old jail, the old bar.

Deborah Burgoyne, the mayor of Burkittsville, MD, stands on Main Street.

“It’s a liberal town,” Deb says, “even though Charles Murray, the author of the Bell Curve, lives here.  We don’t agree on politics, although he did write a book about education recently which I read and I agreed with him on a few things in that.”

We get to her house and she gives us her cards—one is as the Mayor of Burkittsville,  the other card is her Girl Scout Troop Leader card with her “real” email on it.  I like it.  Hippychick is in the name.

Mayor Burgoyne takes us along the alley behind Main Street.

“See the old jail?  We used to have a police officer, but it was a joke and the teenagers just kind of ran him out of a job.”

Time to head back to the car.  The recorder is full, the camera batteries are dead, no phones are working.  We couldn’t document if we tried.  Plus, it’s getting dark and we need to find some lodging.  We all shake hands.  The Mayor is excited for our trip.  “Take me with you!”  I wish we could.