Maryland

Maryland is dominated by Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in North America. Over 200 miles long and as much as 30 miles wide, the Chesapeake offers over 6,000 miles of coastline to explore. Baltimore, the largest city in the state, and Annapolis, the charming state capital and home to the US Naval Academy, are located on the on the Bay's western shore. Across the Bay, the Eastern Shore is a world unto itself, home to dozens of charming fishing villages and miles of quiet inlets and marshes.

On the Atlantic coast, Maryland offers white sand beaches and seaside fun in the crowded town of Ocean City. A much quieter and less developed area lies a few miles to the south, where the empty beaches and marshlands of Assateague Island National Seashore provide shelter for thousands of wild horses.

The northern border of Maryland forms the famous Mason Dixon Line, the division between the north and the south in the United States dating from the 18th century. Maryland is thus a southern state, although it is close enough to the north to be a little bit of both. Much of the state has a quiet, southern feel, from the gentle mountains in the far west to the quiet villages on the Eastern Shore. But Baltimore, with its narrow streets and high population density, has the sophisticated urban feel more typical of the northern part of the country.