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BALTIMORE (Aug. 25, 2009) – Come to Maryland for authentic and enriching experiences. The State is ideal for school trips, or as State tourism officials say: educa-tours.
“Maryland offers a host of extraordinary places where students and teachers can learn about culture, history, industry and science,” said Governor Martin O’Malley. “Our State is a living laboratory of diverse experiences for people of all ages to enjoy.”
The upcoming school year calls attention to numerous learning opportunities at Maryland attractions and destinations, says Margot Amelia, executive director of State’s Tourism Office. With this in mind, the Tourism Office has made educa-tours – tourism experiences that have educational value – the September focus of its monthly Maryland Spotlight campaign.
This September Spotlight coincides with the release of the Maryland Field Trip and Teachers’ Guide, which is jointly published by the Tourism Office and Baltimore’s Child magazine. The guide has descriptions of field trip ideas and enrichment programs that promote active learning beyond classrooms.
“Learning is most enjoyable when one experiences the many attractions our state has to offer,” said State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick. “With the Atlantic Ocean on one side, the mountains on the other, the Chesapeake Bay in between, and historic and cultural sites everywhere – there is something for everyone at every age.”
Cultural attractions
When it comes to art and culture, Amelia says, Maryland has an abundance of museums and cultural attractions. The Baltimore Museum of Art, Walters Art Museum and American Visionary Arts Museum are major museums in Baltimore.
The Academy Art Museum in Easton and the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown have noteworthy collections. Annmarie Garden Sculpture Park and Arts Center in Solomons is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.
For performance venues, she mentions the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland’s College Park campus; the Avalon Theatre in Easton; Strathmore in Bethesda; Lyric Opera House in Baltimore; Round House Theatre in Bethesda and Silver Spring; and the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis.
The Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum and Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards are near each other in Baltimore. Also in Maryland’s largest city are: The Jewish Museum of Maryland; Port Discovery Children’s Museum; and the Baltimore Maritime Museum, which includes a submarine, ship and lighthouse.
Visitors to Western Maryland can gain an appreciation of its culture by going to Mountain City Traditional Arts in Frostburg. Dedicated to the preservation of Appalachian art forms and heritage, Mountain City features local artwork and hand-crafted items. The Discovery Center at Deep Creek Lake and Spruce Forest Artisan Village are other venues that provide an insight into Mountain Maryland.
History and heritage
For history students, Maryland has a wealth of treasures, Amelia says. Historic St. Mary’s City – where Maryland began – is one of the best-preserved English settlements from the 17th century. Annapolis – the longtime capital of the state and home of the U.S. Naval Academy – has the country’s most extensive collection of 18th-century buildings still in use.
The Star-Spangled Banner Trail passes by sites related to the War of 1812 along a 100-mile route between Baltimore and Solomons. Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum in Southern Maryland is on the way.
Maryland’s Civil War Trails trace the paths that Union and Confederate troops followed on their way to Antietam and Gettysburg. The trails also link to Civil War sites around Baltimore and the route that John Wilkes Booth took during his attempted escape after assassinating President Lincoln, including the Surratt House Museum in Prince George’s County. The National Museum of Civil War Medicine is in Frederick and the Clara Barton National Historic Site is in Montgomery County.
The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture and The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum (both in Baltimore), the Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis and a driving tour of significant sites related to Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman’s life on the Eastern Shore offer varied perspectives on Maryland’s African-American heritage. Sotterley Plantation in St. Mary’s County is the state’s only remaining Tidewater Plantation that is open to the public.
Industry
Destinations that showcase signature Maryland industries, for instance, provide students and teachers with a unique flavor of the state, Amelia says. A walking tour in Crisfield includes a visit to a crab and oyster processing plant. Crisfield is a Lower Eastern Shore town on the Chesapeake Bay that was actually built on a bed of oyster shells.
Closer to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is Cambridge, where students can sail aboard a Chesapeake Bay skipjack (an oyster-dredging boat) or tour the world’s oldest working crab-processing plant.
Kent County’s Farm and Country Tour – more than 60 farms and nurseries – is a self-guided Eastern Shore driving tour that offers a glimpse of other aspects of Maryland agriculture.
Also, the Baltimore Museum of Industry preserves the city’s industrial heritage and the Fire Museum of Maryland in Baltimore County is a repository of equipment and archival information about fire-fighting in the state.
Science, technology and the environment
The Maryland Science Center and the National Aquarium in Baltimore – both located in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor – are among the first science-related attractions to come to mind, Amelia says. The Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry is also in Baltimore.
Trains are a significant part of Maryland’s links to technology, beginning in the 19th century. The Brunswick Railroad Museum in Frederick County, Roundhouse Museum in Hagerstown, B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore and Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum in Calvert County offer a look at that heritage. Also, the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad takes passengers aboard a restored train from the early 20th century through the Allegheny Mountains.
The state’s aviation industry represents other technological eras. College Park Aviation Museum is on the grounds of the oldest, continuously operating airport in the world. It opened in 1909 when Wilbur Wright trained military aviators there. The Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum is in Baltimore County.
For a more jet-age experience, students can try a flight simulator while touring the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum in Lexington Park. Also, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt has a visitor center that includes a rocket garden.
Mention of gardens elicits a look at the state’s ecology. Four scenic locations that provide cultural and historical perspectives of the Chesapeake Bay region are: Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons; Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge; Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum at St. Michaels; and Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art in Salisbury. Other views of the Bay are available at Maryland’s 28 lighthouses.
And, Assateague Island National Seashore – on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean – is an oasis of salt marshes, coastal beaches and thriving wildlife. Calvert Cliffs State Park in Southern Maryland is known for fossil hunting on the beach. The shoreline cliffs were formed more than 15 million years ago.
To receive free Maryland travel information - Destination Maryland, Maryland Calendar of Events and a state highway map - by mail, call 800-719-5900. Information may also be found at www.visitmaryland.org. |
