Named for Queen Henrietta Maria, this week we find ourselves in my new home state, Maryland. One piece of trivia for Maryland - there are no natural lakes in the state. Maryland is also home to the oldest airport in the world and still a working airport - The College Park Airport (and Aviation Museum).
My older sister lived in Maryland when she was first married and we used to travel from New York to visit her. In those days, you would go through the Baltimore-Harbor Tunnel (our only option back then - the Fort McHenry Tunnel wasn't opened until 1985), I remember going through the tunnels and waving to the guards in the booths inside. They waved back. There aren't any guards in the tunnels anymore.
Partially because of it's proximity to the Brave Astronaut (and its central location in the MARAC region), I have been to Baltimore fairly often. I am convinced however, the city hates me. Once when Mrs. BA and I were on our way to Baltimore, we got lost and it was not a happy time in the car. Recently, we were on our way to the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Baltimore when SoBA got sick in the car. The city just doesn't like me.
I have been to the far corners of the state, spending a long weekend at Wisp Resort at Deep Creek Lake (man-made - remember no natural lakes in MD) and spending several relaxing days in Ocean City on several different occasions. Going back to Ocean City was made even more attractive recently, when Coke was named the official soft drink of the city, pushing out Pepsi. Maryland also has some good Civil War cred, with the Antietam battlefield not far. Been there too.
Like last week's state, Massachusetts, Maryland is also a reliably "blue" state. Our governor is Martin O'Malley and our two Senators are Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, Democrats all. The House delegation is majority democratic, with only two Republicans - one of which might be flipped in the next election.
- 1st District - Andy Harris (R)
- 2nd District - Dutch Ruppersberger (D)
- 3rd District - John Sarbanes (D)
- 4th District - Donna Edwards (D) (my Congresswoman, but I would have preferred Glenn)
- 5th District - Steny Hoyer (D) - The Whip!
- 6th District - Roscoe Bartlett (R)
- 7th District - Elijah Cummings (D)
- 8th District - Chris Van Hollen (D)
- State Capital - Annapolis
- Date of Admission - April 28, 1788
- Area - 12,407 sq mi (42nd)
- State Motto - "Fatti maschii, parole femine" ("Manly deeds, womanly words") - wow, really?
- State Nickname - The Old Line State, The Free State
- State bird - The Baltimore Oriole (duh)
- State tree - the Wye Oak (felled in a thunderstorm in 2002, clones have been planted and it is growing back)
- State flower - The Black-Eyed Susan (one of my mother's favorite flowers)
- State University - The University of Maryland
- State Archives - the Maryland State Archives (sorry ADR - still had to include it)
- State Song - "Maryland, My Maryland" (the despot's heel is on thy shore!)
- Population (2011 est.) - 5,828,289
- Signers of the Declaration of Independence - Charles Carroll, Samuel "What good is Maryland only to lose the entire South?" Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone
- maryland.gov - the Official Website of the State of Maryland
- The Maryland Tourism site - visitmaryland.org
- The Encyclopedia Britannic entry for Maryland
- Wikpedia
- 50states.com entry for Maryland
- Maryland Travel Wiki
- Former Governor and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
- Clara Barton
- Rachel Carson (though born in Pennsylvania)
- Divine
- Frederick Douglass
- The First President of the United States, John Hanson (no, really)
- Jim Henson
- Johns Hopkins
- Francis Scott Key
- Barry Levinson
- Thurgood Marshall
- H. L. Mencken
- Nancy Pelosi (she learned her politics in the City of Baltimore)
- Michael Phelps (hey, the Summer Olympics are coming)
- Edgar Allen Poe
- Cal Ripken, Sr., Jr., and Billy Ripken
- Babe Ruth
- Upton Sinclair
- Harriet Tubman
- John Waters
- Frank Zappa
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