It’s still a month until we head to our next state – West Virginia – but we’re already planning what we’ll be doing in the state after that.
When planning out the year, our original intention had been to visit Tennessee straight after West Virginia. However, we’ve been visiting states at a slower rate than we need to if we’re going to fit all 50 states in within five years.
Shae and I therefore decided to fit in an additional state this year. We wanted to pick a state that could be done within 2-3 weeks and which was on the eastern side of the US seeing as we’d be visiting it between West Virginia and Tennessee. The two that made the most sense were Maryland and Delaware, with us settling on Maryland.
One of the downsides of Maryland is that it’s such an odd shape, with the Chesapeake Bay separating the right part of the state from much of the rest of it. That makes it a little harder to explore certain parts of the state without having a long drive.
Where We’ll Stay
With 2-3 weeks in the state and its weird shape, it made sense to me for us to stay in three locations – somewhere on the northwest side, somewhere in the center and somewhere on the eastern side.
Based on the cities in those locations, it’s therefore likely that we’ll stay in Hagerstown or Frederick, Baltimore and Salisbury. I’m thinking that it would be good to spend five nights in both the Hagerstown/Frederick and Salisbury areas, with a week spent in Baltimore.
I haven’t actually looked at our Maryland accommodation options yet, so I’ve no idea if there are any good hotel options when using points or if we’ll need to pay for hotels/Airbnbs.
Things To Do In Maryland
We already had a handful of things on our list of things to do in Maryland, so I did a little bit of research the other night and added a few other items. Here’s what we now have on the list:
- Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
- William Preston Lane Jr Memorial Bridge (Bay Bridge)
- Beltsville
- George Peabody Library, Baltimore
- Baltimore Aquarium
- Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
- St Michaels
- Ice Cream Trail
- Guinness Factory
- Billy Goat Trail
- Annapolis – State Capitol Building
- Antietam National Battlefield
- Catoctin Mountain Park
- Baltimore – Inner Harbor
- Baltimore – Fell’s Point
- Seneca Creek State Park
Your Suggestions
With only 2.5 weeks in Maryland, we won’t have as much time as normal to explore the state seeing as we usually average five weeks per state. We’d still love to get your suggestions though of things to do in Maryland to make sure we don’t miss out on anything amazing.
Are there any can’t-miss activities, beautiful hiking spots, delicious food, etc. that we should check out while in Maryland? If so, please let us know in the comments below.
Edgar Allan Poe’s grave and the B&O railroad museum in Baltimore; the amazing Renaissance festival in Crownsville (Annapolis); Greenbrier State Park (close to Antietam Battlefield)
I see you guys are still in Virginia. Have you been to any of the caverns yet? Luray is fantastic. Shenandoah Cavern is good too. Check Groupon. They sometimes have a deal for that.
From Winchester head over to Loudoun County. That’s a major winery/brewery county. I suggest you start with these:
Brewery
1) Bear Chase
2) Dirt Farm
3) Vanish
Wineries:
1) Stone Tower
2) Breaux Vineyards
3) Crysalis winery
4) Barrel Oak Winery (not in Loudoun county but the most dog-friendly winery there is and lots of fun).
This is a list to get you started. As you drive to the wineries and breweries I mentioned, you’ll come across many others that are worth the stop and make it for a fun day.
We’re actually off to Luray tomorrow – we’ve been in the past and enjoyed it so much we want to go back, plus it’ll give us a chance to write about it on the blog.
Thanks for all those MD suggestions too – I’ll add them all to our list 🙂
I’m looking forward to the post!
I just checked out Barrel Oak Winery seeing as they’re pet-friendly and they look like they’re a lot of fun, so we’re going to head there Friday night.
Yay! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. I should have clarified that all of the breweries and wineries I mentioned above are pet-friendly, not just Barrel Oak. It’s just that they are gung-ho about dogs and frequently partner with SPCA for events. But Truffles is welcome at any and of these places.
Awesome, hopefully we’ll have time to check out some of the others as well.
Look at Harper’s Ferry and Frederick. Highly recommend Ft. McHenry. The Walter’s Art Museum in Baltimore is free. They have one or two Faberge eggs.
Excellent, thank you – I’ll add those to our list 🙂
While in Baltimore, check out the American Visionary Arts Museum! If you’re going to historic Fell’s Point, stop by Little Italy – specifically, check out Vaccaro’s Italian Pastry for the best cannoli’s and Italian desserts EVER! Lastly, if you’re going to be in Maryland, you HAVE to try a steamed Blue crab 🙂
Thanks for those suggestions – we’ve had quite a few people recommend Fells Point, so we’ll definitely have to make it there. I’ve added all your other suggestions to our list too 🙂