
Skipjacks © Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association
Situated only 35 miles (56km) south of Baltimore, Annapolis is
not only the small capital of Maryland but is also considered to be
the sailing capital of the USA, with a huge concentration of
recreational and racing yachts sheltered in its marina. It is also
a college town and has been home to the US Naval Academy since
1845. The city’s waterfront has grown into an attractive
district having retained its 18th century appeal despite the
collection of boutiques, expensive shops, bars, restaurants and
inns that cater to the onshore sailing crowd and tourists who are
drawn by the history, nautical outlook and the city’s
reputation as a party town.
Much of Annapolis’s colonial past is preserved in the
thousands of historical buildings scattered along the narrow
streets and brick-paved sidewalks and the concentration of original
colonial-style houses and grand public buildings is greater here
than anywhere else in the country. Among the elite brick manors are
numerous pastel-coloured rows of wooden slatted cottages that lead
down to the waterfront. At the centre of Annapolis is the Maryland
State House that once served as the Capitol of the country, where
George Washington resigned as Commander-in-Chief and where Congress
authorised the treaty ending the Revolutionary War. Apart from
history and the absorbing waterfront, the city is a good base from
which to explore the small towns across Chesapeake Bay on the
Eastern Shore, by way of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.