Build Your Own Maryland Vacation Culture, Heritage and History Maryland celebrates the people who make it special. The Button Farm Living History Center in Germantown is a prime example, with exhibits that teach of enslaved people and 19th-century agriculture. A short drive east in Sandy Spring , Woodlawn Museum and Sandy Spring Slave Museum are home to exhibits, an Underground Railroad Experience Trail and an art gallery that shed light on the lives of African Americans, their quest for freedom and the Civil Rights Movement. Chug over to the Baltimore & Ohio Ellicott City Station Museum — America’s oldest surviving depot — for artifacts, station rooms, a caboose and an impressive model train. At Columbia ’s Howard County Center of African American Culture , immerse yourself in Black history as you take in vintage clothing and displays. Sleep in 18th-century style at Ellicott City ’s The Wayside Inn ; it’s said George Washington and John Quincy Adams both caught some early-American Zzzs here. At the living-history museum of Historic St. Mary’s City , tour a wooden tall ship, learn about candlemaking, see how Indigenous people prepared their meals and more. The Inn at Leonardtown, Ascend Hotel Collection has cozy rooms within easy walking distance of notable sites, including the Old Jail Museum — an Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site. Flowing through Vienna , the Nanticoke River holds so much history, it’s a wonder it doesn’t spill its banks. In fact, the name means “tidewater” in Algonquin, the language of the Nanticoke people. Paddle past pawpaws and sassafras while looking for bald eagles on the Nanticoke Water Trail , knowing you’re on routes similar to those traveled by Harriet Tubman and English explorer Captain John Smith. Learn more about the Nanticoke people, enslaved African Americans and colonists by touring Handsell House , whose calendar features fascinating educational events and cultural festivals. Stick close to the riverbank come nightfall at Roaring Point Waterfront Campground . More on p. 50 SHOPPING SIDE TRIPS In Ellicott City, Leonardtown and Loveville, find boutique shops or Amish markets selling everything from alpaca-wool clothing and quilts to handmade furniture and antiques. Baltimore & Ohio Ellicott City Station Museum 74 DESTINATION MARYLAND
Maryland Official Visitors Guide 2026 Maryland Official Visitors Guide: Page 74
