2023-10-18 10:28:00
The State of Maryland
Anyone traveling through Maryland by car is often stuck in traffic. At least when you are in the center of the east coast federal state, which has a very sharp shape on the map. Between Baltimore and the many bedroom communities for tens of thousands of commuters to neighboring Washington DC, it feels like there is always rush hour on the interstates.
But if you drive further into the hinterland, you will be amazed at a completely different Maryland, which was named after the English Queen Henrietta Maria: farms everywhere that offer farm holidays, cozy bed and breakfast houses, many horse farms, forests and lakes.
The biggest outdoor adventure on and in the water begins in the pretty capital Annapolis with just under 40,000 inhabitants on the Chesapeake Bay: In the summer there is always a regatta here, then there are countless boaters on the move – there are at least around 212,000 registered leisure boats, 12,500 jet skis and countless small boats at 425 public marinas on the Atlantic Bay. If you want, you can also rent canoes or kayaks and paddle to a secluded beach. Windsurfing, fishing trips on cutters and evening trips on large schooners are also popular.
Source: Infographic WELT
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The Potomac River estuaries have the best fly fishing spots; For whitewater rafting, the rapids at Great Falls are worth it. The best beaches on the bay are Sandy Point State Park and Calvert Cliffs State Park, where you can also collect fossils. If you continue east through the marshland to the Atlantic, you will end up in the bustling seaside resort of Ocean City with its 16 kilometer long sandy beach.
One of the most popular campsites in the USA
A maximum of 154 campers with family or friends are allowed to stay overnight on the uninhabited wild horse dune island of Assateague on the Atlantic. The island is one of the most sought-after campsites in the USA: between March and November only by reservation, for up to six people, $30 per night, often fully booked six months in advance.
The island is protected. Overnight stays are only permitted on the Maryland half of the island. Here you can experience a special kind of Robinsonade: camping in the dunes, barbecue at the fire ring, sunrise on the beach.
The ponies on Assateague are wild but curious; here they eye tourists
Source: Getty Images/Paul Souders
Conversely, tourists like to watch the horses while they swim
Quelle: pa/prisma/VC-DLH
There are bike paths through the coastal forest and kayak tours, but most visitors come for the swimming ponies: 150 wild horses, brown and white, that like to swim or nibble on marram grass. It is forbidden to attract them. At the campsite, which is controlled by rangers, all food must be kept locked up because the ponies are wild but curious.
Double bridge over the bay
It’s all about water here. On the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the USA, 311 kilometers long, where fresh water from 150 rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the Atlantic. It divides Maryland into two parts.
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is a gigantic double suspension bridge that 80,000 cars travel over every day
Quelle: Getty Images/Stone RF/Greg Pease
At its narrowest point near Annapolis, the bay is only seven kilometers wide; It is spanned there by the gigantic Chesapeake Bay Bridge, a double suspension bridge. These two overwater highways – the ten-minute stretch to the east is toll-free – have jolted Maryland out of its “sleepy groove,” as writer James A. Michener put it in his classic The Bay. 80,000 cars drive here every day, and a third bridge is planned.
Old traditions from England
Although it is only half an hour’s drive from the Capitol in Washington DC, you feel very far away from current political events. Maryland persistently maintains nostalgic traditions from England, even the chief justices are the only ones in the entire USA to wear red robes.
So it’s no surprise that Maryland has made jousting a state sport, which has been played on the Bay since the 17th century. Two riders spear a small ring while galloping with a lance or a ring engraver, all while wearing medieval costumes.
Maryland has made jousting a state sport
Quelle: picture alliance/Baltimore Sun/Paul W. Gillespie
From May to October, knight tournaments with ring riding take place everywhere, as well as banquets and fairs, such as the “Medieval Times” in Baltimore. The largest Maryland Renaissance Festival is celebrated in a recreated English Tudor village, with theater, tournaments and craft shops.
Tip: a boat trip to Smith Island, where many of the only 200 residents are descendants of the first English settlers. They speak an ancient Cornish dialect, are usually called Tyler or Evans – and have been baking the Smith Island cake since colonial times: a buttercream sponge cake made of twelve layers, reminiscent of a Prince Regent cake. The cake was, of course, made Maryland’s state dessert.
Seafood in summer
The Chesapeake crabs, with their bright blue claws, are pretty to look at but, above all, delicate. They are one of Maryland’s specialties – especially in the summer shortly after their shell change, when these blue crabs are completely soft and can therefore be steamed and nibbled whole.
Chesapeake crabs are one of Maryland’s specialties
Quelle: Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Then Marylanders go “crabbing,” collecting buckets of them from the shore for barbecue. The bay is so rich in seafood that it is called the “natural protein factory.” The Crab and Oyster Trail leads to seafood restaurants, markets and seafood festivals. You can get your fill of crabs here, also in soup, cake or fried snacks. Alternatively: oysters for slurping or as a pate.
The quote
“Male deeds, female words”
Maryland is the only US state with a state motto in Old Italian. It was the motto of the English Calvert family, who founded the colony of Maryland in 1634. The official translation is: “Male actions, female words”. Not all Marylanders are happy about that anymore. That’s why there are initiatives that want to change the motto to “Strong actions, gentle words” in a gender-neutral way.
Bizarre, record-breaking, typical: You can find further parts of our regional studies series here.
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This article was originally published in June 2022.
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