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.