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.
• The Historic Annapolis Museum at the dock is run by our local preservation society. Free! Excellent exhibits tell a little bit about a lot of topics.
• Calendar of Events
• Weather for Annapolis
• The arts scene

What's New

• The Naval Academy's Museum has reopened after a 18-month/$14,000,000 renovation and is way, way cool. Allow at least an hour, maybe two or three. Extensive website; keep clicking around.
• 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.

Some of Our Favorite Things

The dock area gets a lot of attention, but there are lots of gems that share the first block of West Street with the Visitors Center (not an exhaustive list of West Street venues--just the ones we frequent the most):

• 7 Church Circle: Reynolds Tavern -- now a tea room; dates to 1747; popular local pub in the basement and rear garden.
• 33 1/2 West: Cafe Ole' -- take-out coffees, ready-made sandwiches, snacks
• 45 West: Back Creek Books -- used books focusing on military, local and American history
• 49 West: 49 West Coffeehouse -- good food; great music almost every night
• 55 West: The Annapolis Collection Gallery -- the works of six area fine artists
• 57 West: Whitehall Gallery -- antique maps; oriental art; known for their conservation & preservation skills
  

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 their (free) museum at 99 Main Street. They have a great links page.
• 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
  Navy Sailing
  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:

• Watermark Tours is the oldest touring company in Annapolis. They've been around a long time 'cause they're good!
• Capital City Colonials conducts a wide variety of walking tours. Fun!
• 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.
• Historic Annapolis Museum at the dock offers self-guided walking tours based on earlier, famous visitors to our fair city.

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 (click on Gallery). 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.
• The Lost Towns Project -- cutting-edge archaeological undertakings by our County government.

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 – an historic peninsular village with a great local history museum.
• Deale -- a waterman's village with charter boats and marinas. Don't miss the museum housed in one of the venacular buildings at Herrington Harbor North.
• 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. 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