Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 410-576-3800;
www.aqua.org
;
501 E Pratt St, Piers 3 & 4; adult/child $35/22; 9am-5pm
Mon-Thu, to 8pm Fri, 8:30am-8pm Sat, to 6pm Sun)
Standing seven stories high and
capped by a glass pyramid, this is widely considered to be the best aquarium in America.
It houses 16,500 specimens of 660 species, a rooftop rainforest, a central ray pool and a
multistory shark tank. There's also a reconstruction of the Umbrawarra Gorge in Aus-
tralia's Northern Territory, complete with a 35ft waterfall, rocky cliffs and free-roaming
birds and lizards. Kids will love the dolphin show and 4-D Immersion Theater (together
an additional $5). Go on weekdays to beat the crowds.
Baltimore Maritime Museum
MUSEUM
( 410-396-3453;
www.historicships.org
; 301 E Pratt St, Piers 3 & 5; 1/2/4 ships adult $11/14/18,
child $5/6/7; 10am-4:30pm)
Ship-lovers can take a tour through four historic ships: a
Coast Guard cutter, lightship, submarine and the
USS Constellation
, one of the last sail-
powered warships built (in 1797) by the US Navy. Admission to the 1856 Seven Foot
Knoll Lighthouse on Pier 5 is free.
WORTH A TRIP
SCENIC DRIVE: MARITIME MARYLAND
Maryland and Chesapeake Bay have always been inextricable, but there are some
places where the old-fashioned way of life on the bay seems to have changed little
over the passing centuries.
About 150 miles south of Baltimore, at the edge of the Eastern Shore, is
Crisfield
,
the top working water town in Maryland. Get visiting details at the
J Millard Tawes
Historical Museum
( 410-968-2501;
www.crisfieldheritagefoundation.org/museum
;
3 Ninth St;
adult/child $3/1; 10am-4pm Mon-Sat)
, which doubles as a visitor center. Any seafood
you eat will be first-rate, but for a true Shore experience,
Watermen's Inn
(
410-968-2119; 901 W Main St; mains $12-25; 11am-8pm Thu & Sun, to 9pm Fri & Sat, closed Mon-
Wed)
is legendary. In a simple, unpretentious setting, you can feast on local catch
from an ever-changing menu. You can find local waterfolk at their favorite hangout,
having 4am coffee at
Gordon's Confectionery
(831 W Main St)
before shipping off to
check and set traps.
From here you can leave your car and take a boat to
Smith Island
(
www.visitsmithisland.com
)
, the only offshore settlement in the state. Settled by fisher-
folk from the English West Country some 400 years ago, the island's tiny popula-
tion still speaks with what linguists reckon is the closest thing to a 17th-century
Cornish accent.
