In orderly, red and white lettering, the glass front to the Dunkirk Barber shop advertises regular, skin fade, spike front, military, and flat top haircuts. And on a bright Saturday morning, it could make good on that promise for the first time in two months.

After weeks of unruly manes or at-home cuts, people formed a line outside in hopes of getting a professional to take control.

“It will save me from one more time with my wife hacking away [at my hair],” said Charlie Rutter, as he waited outside the barbershop in Dunkirk, Maryland, about fifteen minutes from Prince George’s County.

While D.C. and the counties that immediately surround the city remain under lockdown orders designed to contain the spread of COVID-19, much of the rest of Virginia and Maryland began the process of gradually beginning to reopen this weekend.

Calvert County, where the Dunkirk Barber shop is located, was among the areas that chose to allow businesses to reopen in full accordance with Governor Larry Hogan’s plan for phase one, which lets houses of worship, outdoor areas of restaurants, hair salons, and retail outlets to open at 50 percent capacity; it also allows beaches to open to locals and gyms to hold outdoor classes.

Lee Newman works as a project manager for an electrical company. As he waited with his son to get a haircut, Newman questioned why there is a hodgepodge of rules governed by the county lines that he crisscrosses constantly for work.

“If we’re all going back and forth working from different counties, I see no reason why we can’t all open up together,” he said.

While officials had once signaled that they planned to coordinate a gradual reopening across the three major jurisdictions, the landscape of coronavirus cases changed those plans.

Infection rates and death tolls remain stubbornly high in the D.C. metro region, leading local leaders in Maryland and Virginia to seek a different approach than the rest of their states, which gave the green light to resume some semblance of normal life on May 15.

“It is far more relevant to us with what’s happening in Bethesda, Northwest D.C., Southwest D.C., and Prince George’s County than what’s happening in Danville, Virginia Beach, or Roanoke,” Alexandria City Mayor Justin Wilson told DCist this week.

After a week of uncertainty about how the reopening would play out, Governor Ralph Northam gave explicit permission for some jurisdictions to be excluded from the plan, and Hogan gave counties discretion in deciding exactly how much to open up.

Virginia carved out exceptions for Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties in Northern Virginia; the hard-hit city of Richmond; and Accomack County on the eastern shore of the state, where there are a large number of cases linked to two poultry processing plants. Virginia’s phase one plan is similar to Maryland’s, though the commonwealth is allowing a wider variety of businesses, including nail salons and tattoo parlors, to open, while more narrowly restricting access to beaches.

In Maryland, Prince George’s, Montgomery, Charles, and Baltimore counties remain under lockdown. Others—including Frederick and Howard counties—are following a modified version of Hogan’s guidance.

Anne Arundel County is among those that opted for a softer version of the governor’s plan, choosing only to allow retail establishments to reopen for curbside pickup.

But Creative Expressions By The Bay is a few minutes over the county line, meaning that Karri Heise could reopen her North Beach shop—albeit to a new reality.

“We’re encouraging people to wear masks, but we can’t force them,” said Heise, who took her own N-95 mask off after it got too hot. “We provide hand sanitizer, I go back and wash my hands after every transaction.”

One customer browsed the collection of bath salts, ocean-themed art, and mosaic lamps.

“I haven’t been anywhere, besides Walmart, in months,” said Kourtnee Clements as she shopped with her four-year old son.

But with regards to its prime attraction, North Beach has taken a different approach than other parts of the state, choosing not to reopen the beach or fishing areas (it is allowing people to visit the boardwalk again).

“We’re trying to be as safe as possible,” Mayor Michael Benton told Fox 5 on Friday, acknowledging how much can change with just a few miles. “We’re surrounded by a lot of hot pockets right now. I mean we’re around a lot of communities—counties that haven’t even opened up and are not going to open up until June.”

Meanwhile, Ocean City prominently reopened this week, with images quickly circulating of crowds on its sandy expanses, even before a weekend of warm weather began.

But unlike in Northern Virginia, where many hairdressers are sitting on cases of masks and gloves awaiting the return of clients, the relaxed restrictions did allow Igy Gurbuz to reopen Rafet’s Hairmasters in North Beach.

“Anything is better than zero,” Gurbuz said. “But at the same time there is a hypocrisy that has upset a lot of the business owners that have not been able to open.”

Gurbuz says he hasn’t been provided enough guidance on what 50 percent limited capacity means for his business, so he’s taking his own precautions. He says that he’s only allowing three of his 13 employees to work, and stylists can only take one customer at a time with an appointment. Everyone inside the salon, under state law, is required to wear a face covering.

On Saturday, Carolyn Hobbs got her hair styled by Gurbuz while wearing a face mask and gloves. It was her first haircut since the end of February.

“I couldn’t stand it any longer,” she said. “Once the governor lifted the order, I was here. It feels freeing, it’s nice to have a sense of normalcy.”

Hobbs said that Calvert County has been lucky to see fewer cases of the virus and deaths, but she says she’s still being cautious and planned to go straight home after her cut.

Back in Dunkirk, Samantha Saylor says she was relieved to be able to open her business, the Sunkissed Boutique.

She bought the shop back in January and had to close it down just two months later. While the stay-at-home order was in place, Saylor sold floral rompers and brightly colored bathing suits online, but it was only a fraction of her normal sales.

“For the surrounding counties and the surrounding small businesses that are not being able to open, I’m sad for them as a business owner,” she said. “I, myself, couldn’t wait to get back to work.”