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The largest and most well known geographic feature of Maryland is the Chesapeake Bay, the world's third largest estuary. At one time it was called the world's protein basket because it produced so much seafood in the form of fish and shellfish, in particular its most famous product, Blue Crabs. Today the bay is a poster child for what happens from overfishing and pollution, but Maryland leads the country in many progressive "Save the Bay" programs to save wetlands, and halt the flow of pollutants from the more than 12 million people who live in its watershed from Pennsylvania to Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay is a magnet for sailing and fishing sports activities.
The state is bounded to the south by the Potomac River, which offers opportunities for boating, and bicycling along the disused Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Trail, leading from Washington, D.C. to Cumberland.
The western part of the state is much more mountainous than the eastern lowlands, and offers hiking along the Appalachian Trail, whitewater recreation in the Youghiogheny River, and historical sites such as Antietam Battlefield, where the events of the bloodiest single day in American history unfolded.
Ocean City offers an economy that caters to the huge seasonal influx of beach-goers. It has an odd charm in the winter, with discounted hotels, deserted beaches and empty restaurants.
The climate of Maryland varies as much as its topography. The lower elevation Atlantic Coastal Plain, which surrounds the Chesapeake Bay and includes the major cities of Baltimore, Annapolis, and Salisbury has a mild subtropical climate, with hot, humid summers and cool winters with very little snow. As one moves away from the Bay and higher in elevation, the climate becomes more continental, with milder summers and colder winters including the major cities of Hagerstown and Cumberland. In the mountains of the west summers are cool, and winters can be very cold with heavy snows. The mountains protect the eastern half of Maryland from much of the harsh winter weather experienced in the Great Lakes region.
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Marylanders, mainly concentrated in and around Baltimore, have a peculiar accent, with which most United States residents are not familiar, and would not be able to identify. Known as the Merlin Dialect, for how "Merlindirs" pronounce the name of their state, consonants seem to lazily disappear and vowels get reduced without warning. Listen for water becoming wooder, and orange as awrange, and you'll realize there really is an accent here. And don't say Maryland like Mary land—you'll sound funny. Nonetheless, the Maryland accent comes from the region that spawned the General American Pronunciation, so despite the regional accent, most Amercuhns don't actively notice the difference.
A more extreme version of the Maryland accent is found around Baltimore and Baltimore County. That is, Bawlmer and Baldimer County. Known as Bawlmorese, it's considered one of the least attractive accents in the U.S., but it sure is interesting. See the Baltimore article for more details.
The Eastern Shore has its fair share of southern accents, but the most interesting are to be found in the isolated island communities of the Chesapeake Bay, where Victoria-era British accents have been near-perfectly preserved! It sounds interesting, but it sure is hard to understand.
Amtrak trains arrive at stations in Aberdeen, Baltimore, BWI, Cumberland, New Carrollton, Rockville, and Salisbury.
Maryland's biggest attractions by way of sightseeing are almost all in Baltimore, centered around the Inner Harbor. Ocean City has its fair share of fun tourist kitsch as well. For more off-the-beaten path sights, look for the National Mormon Temple in Kensington at Christmas time, or visit Cumberland's historic district, nestled in the beautiful Allegheny Mountains.
The big activities here revolve either around sporting events, or outdoor sports. Sports are a big deal in Baltimore, which is a city utterly mad for Baltimore Ravens football—half the businesses in the city deck themselves out in the teams colors. No less important to the city is the Baltimore Orioles baseball team. Sports are just as big a deal on the college scene at the University of Maryland, in College Park, where the Terrapins draw huge crowds from the counties surrounding the school.
Outdoor sports are concentrated in the east and the west of the state, since the middle is overrun by dense suburbia. Boating and crabbing are the big draws on the Chesapeake Bay, and there's beach camping to be done at Assateague Island National Seashore. In the west, there is great trekking opportunities in the Appalachian Mountains—Appalachian Trail or otherwise. On the trail in Maryland, is a huge rock climbing draw at Annapolis Rock. The big state parks, like Catoctin Mountain Park and Patapsco Valley State Park, also have loads of really nice woodland hiking trails.
Other more eccentric local activities include:
Local Maryland cuisine is as richly exotic. Unfortunately, it's also under-appreciated or over-fished, and therefore can sometimes be hard to find.
Without a doubt, the state is known first for its Maryland '''Blue Crabs''', fished from the Chesapeake Bay, served in magnificent quantities, drenched in '''Old Bay''' (a peppery mix of celery salt, bay leaf, mustard seed, black and red pepper, cinnamon, and ginger), accompanied by copious amounts of beer, and a total, wonderful mess. The blue crab, symbol of the state, adorns drivers licenses and other state paraphernalia, and is a considerable source of state pride—all the more disappointing that over-fishing and farm run-off into the bay have decimated the local blue crab population, greatly limiting the fishing haul, and meaning that you are eating crabs from somewhere else unless you caught them yourself. The no less magnificent crab feasts continue, though, along and around the Bay in small crab shacks and in restaurants around Annapolis and Baltimore.
'''Soft Shell''' Blue Crabs, another Maryland staple, are available throughout the world in fine restaurants as a high class delicacy; here they're everyday bar food in the summer. The Chesapeake Blue Crabs are a bit of a natural freak, crabs that "molt" annually as they outgrow their shells. The shells grow back, but smart fishermen don't give them a chance. Don't worry about how to eat these crabs—just open your mouth and start biting, and eat it all. And there's a real pleasure to eating a "delicacy" on a hamburger bun with some lettuce, mustard, and tomato, while taking a shady respite from the summer sun, by the beach or otherwise.
Further along the Maryland line of crab cuisine is the '''crab cake''', which comes in many varieties. You can find them ''anywhere'' in the state, at any American restaurant. But quality varies wildly, and most will leave you thinking, "well, I would have rather just had the crab." For the undisputed best, which Maxim rated one of the top 10 dishes in the world, go to standing-room-only '''Faidley's''' in Baltimore's Lexington Market and order a pair of jumbo lumps.
Aside from crabs, shellfish in general are a classic cornerstone of Maryland cuisine, (no surprise, given "Chesapeake" is Algonquian for "Great Shellfish Bay") and '''raw oysters''' on the half shell are a local delicacy. They're typically appreciated with a dash of hot sauce, and clams are often served the same way. '''Steamed mussels''' can make for a warming winter evening dinner, and '''Bertha's''' in Baltimore serves the state's most famous (and tastiest) mussel.
From here, the cuisine gets stranger and harder to locate: '''Maryland Fried Chicken?''' Say what? Yes, fried chicken is a Maryland specialty, and you'll find countless places ''in Kentucky'' touting the stuff. It's basically just your garden variety fried chicken, but smothered in creamy gravy. You're unlikely to find it really anywhere, but try looking along Route 50 towards Ocean City for unassuming shacks bearing "Chicken" signs. If you just want some good chicken, head to a Royal Farms gas station, which, for reasons beyond anyone's understanding, serves up fine fried chicken (if you get it fresh out of the oven, that is).
The most esoteric Maryland dishes range from roasted '''terrapin''' to fried '''muskrat''' to roasted '''eel''' to boiled '''raccoon'''. Good luck finding these, though. Again, Faidley's in Baltimore is a good place to look, although these wildly rare dishes are only available there seasonally. Hopefully top local chefs will come to their senses and start cooking upscale variations on these interesting local dishes, and realize that the Italian-French-American fine dining you can find in any city throughout the country is a little uninventive.
Lastly, there are several Mid-Atlantic foods worth looking for, mostly in diners. A slice of '''scrapple''' for breakfast is a fried delicious must, even despite its origins (pig scraps), which do terrify the uninitiated and the cowardly.
Beer lovers will want to try a few of the state's great craft brews. Wild Goose and Blue Ridge Ales are among the most popular. Both brands offer a variety of styles - stouts, porters, ales, ESBs, IPAs,and Goldens. Also, Clipper City, Deep Creek, and Foggy Bottom are brands worth sampling.
The great drink of Maryland, however, has all but disappeared since Prohibition—Maryland rye whiskey. The distilleries that once dotted the Baltimore County countryside have all shut down, and production of rye whiskey is now centered around Kentucky. But the Baltimore hasn't lost its taste for the beverage, and in the city's dive bars you can still order a dirt-cheap and tasty rye 'n soda. Stores in the area sell "Pikesville Rye" at a great value, which is the only Maryland rye that never ceased production, although the operations have relocated to Kentucky.