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.
