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Millions of people from around the world visit the Mid-Atlantic area every year. Most spend their time in DC, the historic areas of Virginia, and the playgrounds of Maryland. I want to enhance your enjoyment by letting you know more about what you will see and proposing some alternative places to explore. If you have some suggestions please let me know and I will try to incorporate them. The people of the Mid-Atlantic love to share their hometowns with you.

Maryland

The Free State

Maryland is one of the best and most underrated places to vacation in the country. Vivid scenery, a multitude of recreational activities to participate in or observe, an abundance of historical locations, shopping in quaint stores, games of chance, great restaurants, wineries, and blue crabs. It just doesn’t get better than this.

The State is actually a series of peninsulas with a mountainous panhandle at the top. To the west and south is the Potomac River, in the center is the Chesapeake Bay, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. Photo opportunities abound at every location from forest views to seascapes and plenty of wildlife. Black bears in the West, Bald Eagles on the Bay, dolphins in the Atlantic. Turtles, deer, fox, and miniature horses running wild. Poetic sailboats, rhythmic skiers, and ever changing colors.

You can fish, hunt, sail, ski on water or snow, watch baseball, football, lacrosse, basketball, roll duck pins, or just relax on the beach. Maryland is the home to two professional football teams, a major league baseball team, championship college sports, 12 minor league baseball teams, sail boat racing, and crabbing just to mention a few activities.

History in Maryland is somehow overlooked by most people but it shouldn’t be. You can walk in the tracks of General Edward Braddock from the French and Indian War, visit the encampments of Count Rochambeau and the Marquis de Lafayette from our Revolution, look out over the ramparts of Fort McHenry and visualize the bombardment of Baltimore and the writing of our National Anthem from the war of 1812, visit Antietam and feel the carnage from our bloodiest battle or trace the route to Gettysburg from the Civil War, see where amphibious forces were first trained for WWII, and visit the Naval station where our astronauts trained. What about the homes of Babe Ruth, Jimmy Foxx, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, John Wilkes Booth, Francis Scott Key, Annie Oakley, Thurgood Marshall, Elizabeth Seton, John Carroll, Edgar Allen Poe, Clara Barton, and the final resting place of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda?

Want to shop somewhere unique for something nonconventional? Annapolis and St. Michaels are two places you can not miss. Want an outlet store, they are on both sides of the Bay. What about a large shopping mall with jousting in one place and slot machines in another?

There are so many great restaurants in Maryland that the state really does not need any other attraction. Some are well known and others look like a neighborhood eatery but serve a fantastic menu including meatloaf made of Kobe beef and filet mignon. The seafood is so fresh it can convert the most avid meat eater, especially the blue crab and rock fish. Now real Maryland crab cakes are different so you may want to try several locations. If they contain filler then it may be delicious but it isn’t a Maryland crab cake. OK, maybe a little filler to help bind, but not much. If you are a little adventurist then try cracking crabs. There is a technique but every waiter and waitress is more than happy to help. Don’t wear your Sunday best because this exercise can be messy.

Like wine but not enough to travel to the Sonoma valley, then take a tour of the wineries in Maryland. They are quaint, family owned vineyards that produce fine grapes and delicious wines. You can visit several in a single day and will not regret the adventure.

So this is what I am going to attempt to bring you in my blog. I will tell you of my travels throughout Maryland and entice you to follow. While I love DC and don’t in any way want to turn you away from visiting our National Capitol, consider extending your vacation into The Free State.