From museums to breweries, new and exciting attractions are popping up all over Maryland.
Abundant water attractions, including the Atlantic Ocean coastline and the magnificent Chesapeake Bay, have long made Maryland a popular destination for travelers along the Eastern Seaboard. In addition to scenic beauty, the state is replete with historic sites and cultural attractions, and the list continues to grow with new developments coming online this year.
In Baltimore, groups can experience a new Guinness brewery and learn about the distilling process at the Sagamore Spirit Distillery. Two new museums have opened on the state’s Eastern Shore showcasing the area’s environmental and cultural heritage.
The National Road got its start in western Maryland, and the new National Road Museum will tell that story to groups passing through Boonsboro. The new Woodlawn Museum details the agricultural traditions of Silver Spring, as well as its Underground Railroad history. And the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum in the southern part of the state has completed a new construction project to showcase its innovative aviation collection.
Baltimore Buzz
There’s never a shortage of things to see and do in Baltimore, one of the biggest and busiest cities on the mid-Atlantic coast. In keeping with the brewing and distilling boom that has been sweeping the nation, Baltimore has a pair of new beer and whiskey attractions.
Guinness, the legendary Irish beer brand, will have a new outpost on American soil with the opening of a brewery in Baltimore. Diageo Beer Company will open the new brewery and taproom in a historic structure that was the site of the first distillery to open in the state after Prohibition. Resident Guinness brewers will develop new beers for the American market on-site, and visitors will be able to take a tour and sample beers in the tasting room.
Another new development, the Sagamore Spirit Distillery, is expected to draw about 100,000 visitors annually for tours and tastings. The four-building complex includes a restaurant, a 22,000-square-foot distillery, a processing center and a 120-foot water tower brought from a horse farm outside Baltimore.
Shore Things
On Maryland’s scenic Eastern Shore, which sits across the Chesapeake Bay from the mainland, a pair of new museum developments are set to give groups an inside look at the natural and human history of the area.
In downtown Pocomoke City, the Delmarva Discovery Center and Museum recently debuted a new 16,000-square-foot exhibit gallery in a restored 1920s car dealership. The center features a river otter exhibit with two playful male otters, as well as a technology lab. Group workshops and nighttime experiences at the center are available.
In Denton, the Choptank River Heritage and Visitors Center opened in June. The $1.5 million, 2,500-square-foot facility serves as both an interpretive museum and the headquarters for the Caroline County Office of Tourism. It is a replica of the 1883 Maryland Steamboat Company Wharf in Denton. The center is built on stilts and has three outdoor decks for panoramic views of the Choptank River.
