What To Do in Maryland

Want to know what to do in Maryland this weekend? For families, Maryland has much to offer that is fun, educational, relaxing, or all of the above. In Baltimore, you can check out museums dedicated to local notables Edgar Allan Poe and Babe Ruth. Fishing, crabbing, and boating are always popular on the Chesapeake Bay and the other waterways of Maryland. Neighboring Washington, D. C. has more sites worth seeing than visitors are likely to get to on any but the longest visit. Below are some sites to consider if your family travels to Maryland. We hope this What To Do in Maryland this Weekend post inspires you.

Image from Depositphotos

What To Do in Maryland This Weekend

Historic St. Mary’s, St. Mary’s City

Located on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, Historic St. Mary’s is a fascinating combination of a tourist attraction and a hub of academic research. Like many cities around the country, it is a recreation of a town from centuries past, with employees dressed in period costumes, talking about and demonstrating life in the olden days. However, it has also for many years been the site of serious archaeological digs, which have unearthed a great deal of evidence that has helped to understand life in Colonial America in the 17th century.

St. Mary’s City was founded in 1634 as the first official city in Maryland. It prospered for a time, due mostly to successful tobacco farming. Relations with the local Indians were mostly peaceful. It gained a reputation as a place of religious tolerance, passing the Maryland Toleration Act of 1649, and it is the first place we know of in the New World where a woman settler demanded the right to vote.

Inner Harbor, Baltimore

The Inner Harbor neighborhood is the area of Baltimore probably most familiar to tourists. The focus of the revitalization of the city’s waterfront in recent decades is anchored by three major attractions but is filled with numerous other popular destinations. One anchor is Harborplace, a festival marketplace spread over a complex of buildings, including Pratt Street Pavilion, Light Street Pavilion, and the Gallery at Harborplace, which is attached to the Renaissance Hotel. Each contains numerous shops and restaurants.

Civil War To Civil Rights Found At Historic Oakland Cemetery In Atlanta, Georgia

What To Do in Maryland

National Aquarium, Baltimore

Baltimore boasts one of the finest aquariums in the nation. Its aforementioned National Aquarium in the Inner Harbor part of town should not be confused with the National Aquarium in Washington, DC (which incidentally has been operated by Baltimore’s National Aquarium since 2003). It draws the most visitors of any Maryland tourist attraction (averaging 1. 6 million per year). The aquarium features 16,500 specimens of over 600 different species. Though it has extensive exhibits on the local Chesapeake Bay, it also includes creatures from Australia to the Amazon.

Image from Depositphotos

National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Frederick

National Museum of Civil War Medicine is known for its immersive exhibits that recreate scenarios and aspects of battlefield medicine during the Civil War. The exhibits include an army camp, the evacuation of wounded from the battlefield, a field dressing station, a field hospital, and a ward in a military hospital. The museum also features exhibits on medical education, nursing, dentistry, pharmaceuticals, embalming, veterinary medicine, and other relevant topics from that era. Notably, the museum houses the only known surviving Civil War surgeon's tent.

St. Clement’s Island State Park

Just a water taxi ride away from the city of Colton Point on the Chesapeake Bay is St. Clement’s Island State Park. At the St. Clement’s Island-Potomac River Museum, which is actually in Coltons Point and not on the island itself, you can see Father Andrew White’s written account of the voyage of the Ark and the Dove, as well as numerous other exhibits about the history of the area, and the fishing and other maritime livelihoods of the locals.

What To Do in Maryland

Perhaps the island’s biggest attraction is simply its scenery. There are multiple hiking trails worth exploring, where one can admire the local flora and fauna, including the abundant waterfowl. We hope this What To Do in Maryland this Weekend post inspires you. Happy travels!

5 Vacation Home Locations to Consider