Off-beat Maryland

Discover the off-beat 
and unique in Maryland

BALTIMORE (April 7) – Start in Baltimore, home of the National Museum of Dentistry and the American Visionary Art Museum. John Waters, a Baltimore native, uses the city as a backdrop for many of his films. It's also where you can tap into the legacies of Edgar Allan Poe, Frank Zappa and Cab Calloway.

Travel across the Chesapeake Bay to the Eastern Shore and dine at Suicide Bridge Restaurant. This seafood spot near Cambridge is next to a bridge that has been the site of at least a handful of suicides and suicide attempts since it (the bridge) was built in the late 1800s. The first victim, reportedly, was a local postmaster who shot himself, then fell into the creek below. One of the restaurant's food suppliers is Kool Ice & Seafood — a nearby place to buy bulk ice (up to 33,000 pounds), enjoy fresh seafood and have your car washed at the same time. A dog wash is also available. Keep going toward the Atlantic coast and stop in Crisfield, a town literally built on oyster shells. Called the "seafood capital of the world," Crisfield hosts the annual National Hard Crab Derby. Place a bet on the crab of your choice.

See a trend? Quirky and unique are easy to find in Maryland. The official state sport, after all, is jousting.

"Much of Maryland's allure is tied to its authentic traditions," says Margot Amelia, executive director of Maryland's Office of Tourism. "Western Maryland's Appalachian heritage, for instance, has shaped the art and culture of that region — as reflected at the Mountain City Traditional Arts Center in Frostburg. Farther east — in the Chesapeake Bay region — decoy-making is a cornerstone of bay-inspired art."

Decoy art takes the spotlight at the Ward Museum's annual Ward World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition and Art Festival, April 22-25 at the Ocean City Convention Center. Harford County also has decoy art at the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum, at the top of the bay.

Harford has other venues for unique, nontraditional art. Bahoukas Antique Mall and Beer Muzeum is in Havre de Grace. Ladew Topiary Gardens, site of My Lady's Manor Steeplechase Races in April, is in Monkton. Founder Harvey S. Ladew (1887-1976), who spoke French before he spoke English, was called a "gardener, sporting art patron and good companion" by an English magazine. Others just called him quirky.

"We have a variety of unique destinations tied to our history," Amelia says. " Historic St. Mary's City, where Maryland started, is among the oldest colonial English settlements in North America — and one of the best-preserved. To the west, the Bridges of Washington County are a unique collection of 22 early- to mid-19th century stone arch bridges. One of the bridges is near Antietam National Battlefield, site of the epic Civil War battle."

She also names Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, a 27,000-acre habitat on the Eastern Shore that is known as the "Everglades of the North." Blackwater has the largest breeding population of bald eagles on the East Coast, beyond Florida.

As for events, Amelia mentions these yearly ones: the PEEPshow at Carroll Arts Center in Westminster, April, 8-17, which features an exhibition of marshmallow art; the 18th Century Market Fair, April 28 - May 1, at Fort Frederick State Park in Washington County;Delmarva Birding Weekend, April 28 - May 1 on the Eastern Shore; and the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, May 7-8 at Howard County Fairgrounds.

Here is a selection of more unique or off-beat places and events to see in the state, grouped by region:

Western Maryland

Allegany Museum (Allegany County) — Now at a new location in Cumberland's Canal PlaceHeritage Area, the museum has 50,000 items grouped in a dozen collections. Exhibits showcase The Kelly-Springfield Tire Corp., local brewing companies, glassware, canal boats and train models. A "Sleeping Beauty" window display from Saks Fifth Avenue in New York is one of 40 such refurbished displays. Also, the museum has a collection of wood carvings by the late Claude Yoder, a Western Maryland native who left his Amish community in Garrett County to become an artist.

Adventure Sports Center International (ASCI) (Garrett County) — The center is home of the world's only mountaintop, man-made whitewater course. ASCI's 16-acre mountaintop campus is located at Wisp Resort. It offers a variety of rafting and kayaking experiences in a controlled environment. Water flow can be adjusted in 20 minutes. ASCI has hosted seven national whitewater championships and a variety of other competitive events. You can also arrange guided excursions for nearby rock climbing, bouldering, mountain biking, hiking and geocaching.

Thrasher Carriage Museum (Allegany County) — James Thrasher's collection of horse-drawn carriages began with an 1889 Extension Front Brougham, a closed coach first designed in 1833 by England's Lord Henry Brougham. Thrasher (1913-1987) was a successful businessman in Allegany County, who had started his professional life as a bottle-capper at a milk-processing plant. After acquiring several hundred carriages, he traveled across the U.S.
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