It’s a web, not a thread! Here are more of our favorite things...

Where to Start

• Visitor Center - Complete listings and great links for other tours, boat rides, attractions, accommodations, restaurants, recreation, shopping, and a map to the Visitor Center. Since you're looking at this page, you probably like authentic, distinctive local experiences. Let us recommend the members of the Annapolis Bed & Breakfast Association as you plan your accommodations.
• HistoryQuest is the new history orientation center at the dock run by our local preservation society. Free! Excellent exhibits tell a little bit about a lot of topics.
• Calendar of Events
• Weather for Annapolis

What's New

• The Market House has reopened after refurbishing. Good eats for cheap! Public restrooms in the dock area!
• The Banneker-Douglas Museum, the State's official museum of African-American life and culture, has reopened after a major expansion. Great permanent exhibits and interesting changing ones.

The Major Domos

• United States Naval Academy - the undergraduate college that trains warfare officers for the United States Navy and Marine Corps.
• St. John's College - the other institution of higher learning in Annapolis. Known for its unique "Great Books" curriculum. The library has an amazing home page....
• Historic Annapolis Foundation - keepers of the flame for preservation and quality of life issues. When you're in the Dock area, be sure to visit HistoryQuest, their excellent history orientation center! And they have a great links page as well.
• Annapolis Maritime Museum - interprets the area's rich and diverse martime heritage at their waterfront campus in the Eastport neighborhood

For Boaters

• The spring and fall Boat Shows
• Annapolis Yacht Club – sponsors of the Wednesday night sailboat races
• Eastport Yacht Club – sponsors of the annual Christmas Boat Lights Parade
• Harbor Master’s Office
• Water Taxi
• You can find every boater service in Eastport.
• Other area yacht clubs include --

  Severn Sailing Association
  Severn River Yacht Club
  Storm Trysail Club
  Naval Academy Sailing Squadron
  Annapolis Naval Sailing Association
  J World Sailing
  Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Assn.
  Back Creek Yacht Club
  Shearwater Sailing Club
  Rhode River Boat Club

  And here's a list of marinas.

If You Didn't Bring Your Boat, you can still get out on the water! You have your choice of

• Motor vessels, or
• Sailing vessels

Walking Tours

We can recommend these other fine tour opportunities:

• Capital City Colonials conducts a wide variety of walking tours. Fun!
• Watermark Tours is the oldest touring company in Annapolis. They've been around a long time 'cause they're good!
• Annapolis Walkabout is long-time Annapolis resident Dorothy Callahan (M.A. in Architectural History), leaving Saturday mornings from the Visitors Center at 26 West Street, and Friday afternoons from HistoryQuest. Excellent!
• The Naval Academy offers guided tours of the Yard.
• HistoryQuest, the orientation center at the waterfront run by our private preservation group, offers several self-guided audio tours.

Shopping

• Main Street and around the City Dock is obvious.
• Maryland Avenue is known for unique specialty stores, antiques and designer shops. And a beautiful streetscape.
• West Street, where the Visitor Center is located, has art galleries, a great mix of exceptional restaurants, and lots of live musical entertainment.
• West Annapolis is a quiet neighborhood just outside the Historic District that offers specialty stores, good restaurants, and more.
• Westfield Mall is one of the most successful on the East Coast. 10 minute drive from the Historic District.
• Arundel Mills, 25 minutes from Annapolis, is the mall with it all. Big. Lots of stuff.

Major Cultural Institutions

• Banneker Douglass Museum the State's museum of African American history and culture. Free!
• Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts – studios, galleries, and home to the Annapolis Chorale, the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Theatre Annapolis, and the Annapolis Opera
• Mitchell Gallery – In Mellon Hall, St. John’s College, hosts remarkable special exhibitions
• The Annapolis Maritime Museum interprets our extensive and varied heritage

Miscellaneous Goodies

• City Transit Buses, for getting around town
• More transit help is available from the Annapolis Regional Transportation Management Association (bike trails, how to get to Baltimore, Washington via bus, light rail, etc.)
• Government House – Official residence of the Governor of Maryland
• The Chesapeake Bay Bolide: Modern Consequences of an Ancient Cataclysm – Shades of the movie “Impact”!
• Annapolis Bed & Breakfast Association
• African-American history – in the City of Annapolis, and in Anne Arundel County
• Photos by Marion Warren. If this were Japan, he’d be a national treasure. More at the Maryland State Archives website.
• A little history of the county and of the city.

Farther Afield – If you like Annapolis, you’ll also like...

• Historic London Town & Gardens – a 15 minute drive from Annapolis and a diverse attraction:
  • an 18th century tavern on the banks of the South River,
  • an active and important archaeological dig uncovering the lost Town of London,
  • a recreation in progress of the original 1700's town of London, using authenticl techniques and materials, and
  • a 20th century eight-acre woodland garden featuring important collections of azaleas, camelias,and tree peonies; (plants propogated from their collection available for sale).
• Captain Salem Avery House – On the water in the village of Shady Side. More good links, and a page on the county roadside markers (the ones you don’t slow down for and can’t read at the posted speed limit)
• Galesville – another village in South County.
• The Four Rivers Heritage Area produces an award-winning map and travelogue CD on “South County,” the rural area of Anne Arundel County south of Route 214, available for sale in the Visitors Center. Also downloadable brochures for self-guided tours in Annapolis and Galesville.

WebCams

• Dock area from Marriott Waterfront Hotel
• Head of City Dock, near the Market House
• Severn River from the Naval Academy
• Route 50 traffic near Annapolis