Founded as the sole Catholic colony in strongly Protestant America, and isolated as the northernmost slave state, MARYLAND has always been unusual. Within its small, irregularly-shaped area, its attractions range from the frantic, boardwalk beaches of Ocean City to the sleepy fishing villages of the Chesapeake Bay , and the bustling urban center of Baltimore to peaceful Appalachian hill country. Once one of the world's most productive fishing areas, Maryland's Chesapeake has recently been brought back from the brink of complete annihilation due to pollution and overfishing. Its abundant oyster stocks are a thing of the past, but legendary soft-shell blue crabs and sweet rockfish are more plentiful than ever, and now support a diverse, decentralized economy, buoyed by the hundreds of weekend boaters who cruise from one to another of its colonial-era towns.

Maryland's heritage isn't quite as obvious as Virginia's, with nowhere near as many historical sites, but it boasts plenty of firsts for the United States, including the first Catholic Cathedral, gas-lit street and telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington DC. Kent Island on Maryland's Eastern Shore was the third permanent English settlement (behind Jamestown and Plymouth Rock) in 1631. And during the War of 1812, the British forces attempted a last-ditch effort to wrest back the colonies, in which they burned down much of Washington DC and moved onto the shipyards of Baltimore. In a valiant battle, they were staved off at Fort McHenry ; the fort's resistance inspired an onlooker, Francis Scott Key, to write the words to the United States' national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner .

Maryland's largest city is the busy port of Baltimore , a quirky and engaging metropolis with a revitalized urban waterfront, thriving cultural scene and eclectic neighborhoods that characterize its diverse residents. Western Maryland stretches over a hundred miles to the Appalachian foothills, its rolling farmlands noteworthy chiefly for the Civil War battlefield at Antietam . Just twenty miles south of Baltimore, along the Chesapeake Bay, picturesque Annapolis has served as Maryland's capital since 1694. Some of the state's most worthwhile destinations, from the pretty fishing and yachting town of St Michaels to the untouched wilderness of Assateague Island , are across the Chesapeake Bay on the eastern shore, connected to the rest of the state by the US-50 bridge but otherwise still a world apart - except for the sprawling resort of Ocean City.  TOP

Eastern Shore
Maryland's compelling eastern shore occupies over half of the broad Delmarva ( Del aware, Mar yland, V irgini a ) peninsula that protects the Chesapeake from the open Atlantic. Its miles of back roads are perfectly suited to aimless exploration and sudden discovery of such sights as the odd wooden farmhouse or tobacco barn marooned in the middle of a field, or an old sailboat tied up at an apparently decrepit dock that springs to life when the fishing craft return. The US-50 bridge/tunnel, built across the Chesapeake Bay in the early 1960s, may have made the eastern shore more accessible, but it hasn't affected its air of somnolence. Branching off from US-50 as it races down to the beach resort of Ocean City , quiet country lanes lead to two-hundred-year-old waterfront towns like Chestertown, St Michaels and Oxford .

Southern Maryland
While Baltimore has grown into the state's largest and busiest city, Annapolis , Maryland's colonial and current capital, has changed little in size and outward appearance. Before the US broke free from English rule, this was considered to be one of the most genteel and attractive colonial centers, and though its time-worn streets are now usually crowded, Annapolis is still among the more engaging small US cities. Its once-vital Chesapeake Bay waterfront now has little of the feel of colonial maritime life, but the real attractions of Annapolis, among its narrow streets, include fine homes, the Beaux Arts campus of the US Naval Academy, and the beautiful state capitol. If you like the look of Annapolis, and want to get a better feel for the Chesapeake Bay region away from the crowds, head south to places like St Mary's City - the first capital of Maryland, completely reconstructed in the 1960s - or Solomons Island , one of many small Chesapeake Bay towns that seem not to have changed for decades.

Western Maryland
Stretched between West Virginia and the razor-straight Pennsylvania border, western Maryland ranges for some two hundred miles east to west, but is in places well under five miles across. In general, the further west you go, the more mountainous and backwoodsy the feel, quite similar to Maryland's Appalachian neighbors.

Though the countryside is very pretty and great for hiking and camping, specific points of interest are few. Apart from the Civil War battlefield at Antietam , west of the only sizeable town, Frederick , the best reason to come to this part of the state is to cycle or hike the footpath of the restored old Chesapeake and Ohio Canal , which winds along the Maryland side of the Potomac River from Washington DC for over 180 miles to Cumberland in the western mountains. Even further west is the state's largest freshwater lake, Deep Creek Lake , popular with watersports enthusiasts, which has more than 70,000 acres of public parks and forests surrounding it - some of which makes smooth cross-country skiing during the winter.  TOP