2022
Hey folks! As promised, here’s my second post about Maryland for this weekend’s #StateChallenge! You can find my first post here which touched on Maryland’s history and geography, so go ahead and check that one out too! In this second post, it’s going to be a bit more casual and I’ll be introducing you to some famous folks, some amazing tourist spots and lastly, some fun facts. I was also going to include some crazy laws 😜 found in Maryland but @Denise_Barlock beat me to them!
If you want to take part in this weekend’s #StateChallenge, please make sure you read this post as it has all the information needed on how to join! And a reminder that I will be recording the session so put on your best clothes and bring your smiles! 😁 Anyway, take a deep breath, clear your mind (you’ll need some space for this!) and enjoy this post..
Famous People
There are tons of famous people from Maryland (you can check out a list here). If you’re into (recent) American politics some familiar names would be John R. Bolton, Brett Kavanaugh and Nancy Pelosi. Sergey Brin’s birthplace is Moscow but he emigrated to America in 1979 as a six year old and grew up in Maryland. There’s also Henry Gantt, the creator of the Gantt chart.
From the world of authors and journalists, you have Connie Chung, Tom Clancy, Matt Drudge (of the Drudge Report fame), Gayle King, Frank Miller (from the world of comics: Sin City, 300 and tons more), and Edgar Allan Poe.
In music and acting, we have Tori Amos, Toni Braxton (all you 90s kids), Eva Cassidy, Billie Holiday, Frank Zappa, Robert Duvall, Ben Feldman, John Glover, David Hasselhoff, Spike Jonze, William H Macy, Jada Pinkett Smith and again, many more.
I don’t know much about sports but the names that pop up to me include the following: Jimmy Foxx ⚾, Babe Ruth ⚾, Sugar Ray Leonard 🥊, Michael Phelps 🌊 and Pete Sampras 🎾.
Other notable figures include: John Wilkes Booth, Johns Hopkins, George Peabody, Kevin Plank (founder of Under Armour), Bob Parsons (founder of Go Daddy)...and...okay, you just need to check the list out yourselves! It’s like a rabbit hole and you’ll end up following links and reading up on folks you never knew you were interested in! 👍
Popular Tourist Attractions
For the history buffs and those interested in the Civil War, there are quite a few places that you can visit to scratch your itch!
- Fort McHenry - The War of 1812 at this fort became the inspiration for the Star-Spangled Banner, America’s national anthem. It was successful in fending off the attacks by British navy and was originally built in 1798! In 1925, it became a national park and in 1939, it was given the status of National Monument and Historic Shrine! Definitely not one to miss!
- Antietam National Battlefield - This huge battlefield during America’s Civil War has a nine-mile route complete with an audio tour! It is steeped in history and on site, you can also visit the Pry House Field Hospital Museum. Just be prepared for a lot of walking!
- United States Naval Academy - This is an active naval academy which has certain areas opened to the public for visits/tours. Because of that, you will need an ID to get in (passports for foreign visitors). The museum covers the history of the US Navy and also shows what life is like as a student at the academy.
- Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park - There is a grand re-opening now (by appointments) with the museum fully open to the public from April 25 onwards! The site covers exhibits, aquariums and tours for those wanting to know more about the rich maritime history of Annapolis.
- Hammond-Harwood House - Ever wondered what a house was like way back in 1774? Well, this carefully preserved house will take you back in time with their colonial furniture and decorations. It is also a museum of architecture and early American fine & decorative arts with guided tours to show you around.
- William Paca House & Garden - Another history house with a garden for those wanting to experience life in the past! This Georgian style mansion was built in the 1760s by William Paca (one of four Maryland Signers of the Declaration of Independence) and carefully restored to showcase life in an upper-class household.
- Banneker-Douglass Museum - This small museum, formerly a church building, covers the African-American history in the Chesapeake region and was opened in 1984. It is named after Benjamin Banneker, the first African American man of science and mathematics, and Frederick Douglass, the first African American to gain international recognition as a social crusader.
- Maryland State House - Building works started in 1772 before finishing in 1797 but this is the oldest US state capitol in continuous legislative use. As you can imagine, there is a lot of history here and you can join the tours for that, or just admire the building from the outside!
And those towing the family around, here are some selection of places to go to, to keep everyone happy!
- American Visionary Art Museum - Spread across three floors, this medium sized museum will take up 1-3 hours of your time. The exhibits change frequently so do check the website to find out what’s on. It also houses two sculpture plazas and a garden, plus the building itself is a sight to behold!
- National Aquarium - Definitely a family favourite, this huge place houses 20,000 animals from dolphins, puffins, jellyfishes to frogs and more! There are several tours/shows that you can do as well and will keep you busy for the whole day. Plenty of amenities on site and the building itself is pretty iconic!
- Six Flags America - Located in the city of Bowie, this amusement park is part of the Six Flags group of parks. The America in the name was added because of its proximity to the US capital. It has roller coaster rides, kiddie rides, flat rides and a water park.
- Jolly Roger Amusement Park - This amusement park operates on free admission but pay per ride. Featured attractions include the Wild Cat, Heart Flip and Flying Dutchman! There are two sites: one at the pier, and the second on 30th Street. The latter site includes Splash Mountain, Speedworld and the Jolly Roger Park, each has numerous different rides and activities available.
- Maryland Zoo - The zoo was opened in 1876 and covers an area of 135 acres! It is the 8th oldest zoological park and has more than 2000+ animals spread across five main areas: Zoo Central, Schaefer Plaza, Maryland Wilderness, Polar Bear Watch and African Journey!
- Ocean City Boardwalk - Ocean City is a stretch of land that sits between the Isle of Wight Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. It is a magnet for tourists drawn to the waters, the boardwalks, the shops and the entertainment but most notable is the Ocean City Boardwalk that dates back to 1902! Say hello beaches!!
- Port Discovery Children’s Museum - This museum is ranked amongst the top children’s museums in the US and many of the exhibits are designed by Walt Disney Company Imagineers. It is designed with one key philosophy in mind: play to learn! And there are three floors of interactive and hands-on indoor play and learning to keep your kids super engrossed!
And finally, here are some places for those more attuned to life in the outdoors! Weather permitting, of course! 🌞
- Deep Creek Lake - This man made lake is a popular outdoor recreation hub! Obviously, at the lake, there are numerous water sports that you can do but surprisingly, in the surrounding areas, you can also do golf or skiing (in the Winter).
- Swallow Falls State Park - Right at the western tip of Maryland, you’ll come across this gorgeous state park. Another popular spot for outdoor pursuits from walking and biking trails to camping and having picnics! The highlight is the falls which would please any nature photographer: Muddy Creek Falls is the highest free-falling waterfall in Maryland at 53 feet (16 meters).
- Assateague Island - Wanna find a place with wild ponies!?! Well, look no further! This is an uninhabited island with beautiful sandy dunes and shorelines and trails that you can follow to enjoy nature at its best! There are camping sites too!
- Chesapeake Bay Bridge - Built in 1952, it has a length of 6.9km (4.3 miles) and it’s a top 30 longest bridge in the world! There is a toll to use the bridge and it does get busy during peak times but it is still quite the journey!
- Brookside Gardens - This botanical garden is absolutely lush and beautiful. The conservatory and ponds in this 50 acres site will ease your mind! There are numerous styled gardens from Aquatic Garden to Rose Garden to Japanese Garden and more. And best of all, the admission to the gardens are absolutely free!
- Sandy Point State Park - This simple beach offers views of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and picnic spots. However, do watch out for the jellyfish in the water!
Fun Facts
Throughout my research on Maryland, whenever I come across any fun and interesting facts, I would keep a note of them, so here are some of them that I thought were pretty cool to share.
- In the city of Rockville, it is a misdemeanor to swear whilst on the road
- Wheaton Station houses the longest escalator in America. It is 230 feet (70 meters) long, rises by 115 feet (35 meters) and takes about 3.5 minutes to go up/down the escalator!
- In most sporting events, when the national anthem is being sung, Marylanders would yell “O!”. It’s at tradition that started out at their baseball games and began to spread to other sports too!
- Washington DC is made up of lands from Maryland and Virginia! And another fun fact within a fun fact.. way back in the days, the lands around Washington DC were flat lands surrounded by waterways so when it was raining heavily, it got quite swampy as the grounds got waterlogged. It's my weird correlation when folks shout "Drain the swamp!". 😅
- America’s national anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner originated from a poem written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British during the War of 1812. The poem became the national anthem in 1931. Interestingly, before 1931, there was no officially proclaimed national anthem but the song “Hail Columbia!” was used quite often.
- Purple Friday takes place during the football season when folks would wear purple! The team colours for Baltimore Ravens (NFL football team) are purple, black and metallic gold! By the way, their mascot is a costumed raven called Poe!
- Blue crabs are hugely popular and you can go on an all day crab feast!! Obviously it’s pretty hard to figure out which restaurants serve the best crabs but you can give this list (10 Best Crabs in Maryland) a try. But the fun fact here is actually for a song that I came across called Crabs For Christmas! Published in 1981, it became a sleeper hit in Baltimore with more than 10,000 vinyl records sold in four weeks!
Well, I hope you've enjoyed reading this post about Maryland! Obviously, it's just scratching the surface and there's more information that you can find online! Whilst reading up about Maryland, I did have a "Ohhhhhh, I get it" moment! Hairspray (the 2007 musical/movie) is one of my favourites and they have a song titled (The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs. I never knew why they have a beauty pageant to crown a Miss Baltimore Crabs, named after crabs until now! Answer: crabs are a big thing there!
This post is part of the #StateChallenge organized by @Kwiksatik and @Denise_Barlock. If you want to find out more, check out this post. You can also find other submissions by searching the #StateChallenge hashtag
The #StateChallenge meet-up schedule:
|
State |
Meet-up date |
| Maryland - Guest Host - @AdrianLunsong | Apr 10, 2021 |
| Colorado - Guest Host - @LeyleyS | Apr 17, 2021 |
| Indonesia - Guest Host - @Erna_LaBeau #WorldChallenge | Apr 24, 2021 |
Oh my goodness, now we have four posts and a lot of fun facts about Maryland @AdrianLunsong .
I believe the competition is going to be very tough this time 🥺@FalguniP.
@Denise_Barlock I'm envious! The photos and StreetView imagery looks fabulous! So quaint and it's like stepping back in time as there's so much history there! Although I'm not a history buff so I will mostly likely be seen eating crabs or exploring Ocean City.. well.. and maybe see the wild ponies too!
@FalguniP @NareshDarji Less commenting and more studying please!! #strictteacher 😂
