Maryland is a great place to live, work and raise a family. Often
called "America in Miniature", it has beautiful Mountains, clean, sandy beaches
along the Atlantic, the Chesapeake Bay, World Famous Blue Claw Crabs and
over 4000 miles of tidal shoreline!
Culture and History abound, Top Rated School Systems, Well Run Counties,
Fine Dining and Shopping. Businesses range from Agricultural to High Technology.
Next door to our Nation's Capital. Come visit!
Maryland is the kind of state that if you grow up here, you most likely took
for granted what it has to offer. Only upon leaving do you realise how special
it is here and how many unique aspects it has for such a tiny state that
you can't even see on a US map!
As a child, I grew up thinking that everyone had access to all the same types
of activities that I was used to, like visiting world class museums, duckpin
bowling and weekend crab feasts. But my world was in for a big surprise when
I moved to Southern California and ended up living there for sixteen years.
I did enjoy my years in So. Cal, made lots of friends, did different sort
of activities, but my love for Maryland and the east coast sensibility never
faded away. I finally talked my So. Cal hubby into moving back here in 1994.
Within the first week after I moved to California I ate some Dungeness
Crab, the only crab available out there. What?! No Blues? No Old Bay
Seasoning? And then I went bowling...Ten Pins only. No
Duckpins! I was
shocked to learn that Californian's had never even heard of a
"Crab Feast" or Old Bay Seasoning or
Duckpin Bowling... I then
realized that I was in for a long ride of deprivation for some of my favorite
activities...
Even though we lived in Santa Barbara, only one mile from the beach, I shlepped
my family to Ocean City
for two weeks every summer, usually for the 4th of July. OCer's would say:
"You came all the way from California to go to da' beach ?" It just
didn't feel like summer if I didn't make it to OC. The beaches in CA are
yukky, especially in Santa Barbara. Freezing cold water even in the summer,
dirty, disgusting, tar filled beaches that have never been cleaned.
Dead sea animals wash up on shore and there is no entity in charge of removing
them. OC cleans the beaches daily, the pride of Ocean City to be a family
friendly destination is second to none.
As the years passed I really began to miss the seasonal changes. Seasons
help to mark the passage of time. In Southern California, the only way you
know what "season" it is, is by what holiday decoration are for sale at Longs
Drugs store.
Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall... In California the four seasons are Earthquake,
Flood/Drought, Fire and Fog/Smog.
Furthermore, I've had my fill of natural disasters... we were five miles
from the epicenter of the devastating 1994 6.8 Northridge Earthquake, among
of the worst experiences ever. We've also had to flee from two wild fires,
one of which came so close to our house it killed our 10 year old cat.
The dichotomy of Maryland is that it's so small you can't even find it on
a map. The initials "MD" are usually located out in the ocean with an arrow.
It only ranks at number 42 in size of all the states. Yet Maryland offers
so much to do and so many different terrains and geology and it looks very
different from north to south. It seems to take forever to drive through
and the terrain changes so dramatically, from the western edge with the
Appalachian mountains (The Piedmont Region) to the lower Eastern Shore and
the Atlantic Ocean. It is an awesome, beautiful little state.
A lot of people in the country don't even know where Maryland is, but everyone
knows where Washington DC is located. Well, to create the District of Columbia,
Maryland donated 100% of the land, in other words, DC is really
Maryland. A couple hundred years ago when Georgetown was created --it
was still Maryland. At one time Virginia had given some land to DC but they
took it back.
Check this
link out for 50 fun and unique facts about Maryland
Click to enlarge Maryland Maps, opens new window.
Maryland is so small on a map --it's almost invisible.
Maryland has 4,360 miles of tidal shorelines.
There are 17,000 miles of waterways, including 42 rivers, flowing
into the 1,726 square miles of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. There are
623 square miles of inland water areas and 31 miles of Atlantic Ocean
coastline.
Other Maryland Facts
State Song: "Maryland,
My Maryland" Sung to the tune of O, Tannenbaum
State Flower: The Black-Eyed Susan
State Bird: The Baltimore Oriole
State Fish: The Striped Bass (AKA, Rockfish)
State Crustacean: Maryland Blue
Crab
State Insect: The Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly
State Boat: The Skipjack
State Tree: The White Oak
State Dog: Chesapeake Bay Retriever
State Sport: Jousting, but should be
Duckpin
Bowling.
How many people do you know, that Joust? Just
asking!
The Weather in
Maryland:
Average, normal type of weather for Maryland goes just like a calendar...
Every three months, the weather changes...with unusual weather thrown in
for extra spice...
My Dad's favorite weather saying:
"If you don't like the weather in Washington, well, just wait a
minute."
It seems lately that the weather can be iffy. You just never really know
what the weather is going to be around here now. It be as low as 20 degrees
in December or it could be in the 70's for a spell. We experienced a five
year drought (1997-2002) and now we're getting endless rain. Growing up in
Maryland I'd never heard the word "drought". A recent phenomenon is that
we're getting killer
TORNADOS! What is this, Kansas? Can you spell
"D-E-F-O-R-E-S-T-A-T-I-O-N?"
Sad fact: At the turn of the 20th Century, Maryland land mass was
75% TREES, 25% OPEN SPACE. A
century later, those figures have flipped: 25% TREES, 75% OPEN (DEVELOPED)
SPACE. Yeah, sad but true. And they call it "progress".
AVERAGES:
The metropolitan Washington DC area enjoys moderate winters with light, but
occasionally heavy snowfall. The annual average is 20". Summers are usually
hot and humid. Our best weather are the spring and autumns. Weather then
is generally mild with occasional rainfall. The annual average is 42".
Temperature Range............ :
47 - 55 degrees Nov - Mar
70 - 86 degrees Apr - Oct
Annual precipitation......... : 35" to 50"/year most in summer
Information.................. : In a typical year the temperature soars to
90 degrees or above on 38 days, and there are 71 days when the mercury slips
below freezing.
