We have a long history with Maryland, though our hearts belong to Vermont now. Between the two of us, we lived there for 71 years. We both attended K-12 there, got degrees from the University of Maryland (go, Terrapins!), got married, and brought our babies home there. We had to write reports about Maryland in fifth grade. If I had saved mine, I could have shared a lot more information, but here is a summary of some of the more interesting Maryland facts:
--Maryland has a very irregular shape, due largely to having the Chesapeake Bay in its middle. A comedian once pointed out that it is shaped like a handgun. At its narrowest point it is less than two miles wide. There are nice ocean beaches in the east and some modest mountains in the west.
--The capital is Annapolis, which is a small sailing town and home to the U.S. Naval Academy.
--The state bird is the Baltimore oriole. Also the state baseball team.
--The flag is very complex and difficult to draw, especially for fifth graders:
--There are no natural lakes, though there are numerous ponds and several man-made lakes.
--The state flower is the black-eyed Susan.
--There is a population of wild horses on Assateague Island, which is our favorite Maryland beach. A wild horse once stole a nectarine right out of our cooler there.
--The state sport is jousting, for some reason.
--Much of the state’s population lives in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. Baltimore and Washington are only 38 miles apart.
--Other people and things Maryland is known for: blue crabs and Old Bay seasoning, The Star-Spangled Banner (it was composed at Fort McHenry), Babe Ruth, Edgar Allen Poe, Cal Ripken, and the Mason-Dixon Line (its northern border)