Thanks for all the advice. I'm really trying to take it all in!

I will look around for a bike fitter in the area. In the mean time, I'm going to head back out to LBS #1 and voice my concerns about the 50cm. I'm going to really pay attention to how high they raised the seat. It is a really tough area to take a bike out for a test ride (the 3.5 seconds of traffic made me super scared!). I'm making a point to leave my money in savings and my credit card at home so I don't jump on it!