Hail Maryland: football, food and festivals await in Baltimore and beyond

Three NFL games are being hosted in London this year, bringing with them a dose of all-American culture with high-class sporting skills and lively entertainment. Among the teams flying over are the Baltimore Ravens, visiting from their Maryland homeland, the M&T Bank Stadium. Maryland has an exciting sports scene, but in between the hooping and hand-offs, there are unique cultural events and attractions a-plenty for visitors to experience in the state.

Sports

There are two major sports stadiums in Maryland that any visiting football fan should check out: M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, and Fedex Field in Landover, where you can catch the Washington Commanders in action. Travel during the summer season and you can catch Baltimore Burn, the women’s American football team playing at Patterson Park in Baltimore. Baseball fans can check out the Major League Baseball Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park in Camden Yards, or there’s the minor league Frederick Keys of the MLB Draft League.

Elsewhere, horse racing enthusiasts will want to check out Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course for the Preakness Stakes; Basketball fans to the XFINITY CENTER in College Park to catch the Maryland Terrapins Basketball or Maryland Women’s Basketball game; and for fans of college sports including lacrosse and indoor football there are nine local colleges and universities throughout the state playing NCAA Division I sports.

Sights

If you feel like taking a little breather from the high-energy sporting events, there are plenty of attractions that are well worth checking out in Maryland too. Start with the famous waterways, a defining feature of the state and home to one of the cultural highlights: Kent Island. This treasure trove of historic buildings, beaches and seafood restaurants is situated in the Chesapeake Bay, and you could easily spend a day or two touring its distilleries, wineries and hiking trails.

The charming seaside resort town of Ocean City is another great spot for beaches, boardwalks and seafood, as are Annapolis City Marina and Baltimore Inner Harbor. For a dose of art, the city of Frederick (about an hour’s drive from Baltimore) has a charming and historic downtown area. Here you’ll find Market Street, which has a few art galleries and stores, including DISTRICT Arts. Check out a theatre production at the Weinberg Center for Arts while you’re there.

Food

Right at the top of the list is the blue crab that Maryland is famous for. Thanks to its waterways, the state is brimming with fresh seafood, and Chesapeake Bay is one of the best spots for crustaceans from spring through autumn. You’ll be able to find blue crab in crab shacks and restaurants anywhere in the state — eat them freshly steamed or dusted with the state’s famous Old Bay seafood spice. Unsurprisingly, a lot of dishes famous in Maryland are centred around seafood and fish. But like so many US states, it has its own unique barbecue style, too. The meat here is lean, top roast beef, grilled directly over hot charcoal, and served in thin slices in rolls with onions and horseradish sauce — an ideal meal after a day of watching sports.

Festivals

Pick any month and there’ll be a bunch of local festivals and fairs happening across the state. One of the highlights in the music calendar is the Capital Jazz Festival in Columbia, taking place every June. And for other months of the year, Columbia has a whole host of exciting gigs lined up at Merriweather Post Pavilion, an outdoor gig venue in Symphony Woods. Germantown in Montgomery County holds a huge Oktoberfest every October, ending the day with a fireworks display, while Deep Creek Lake is home to a world-class National Canoe and Kayak championships in September.

For more information and to start planning your next trip to the United States, visit visittheusa.co.uk