The jewel of Anne Arundel County is Annapolis -- Maryland’s capital -- where you’ll find more 18th-century buildings still in use than anywhere else in the nation. Also known as “America’s Sailing Capital” it’s located on the banks of the Severn River, a waterway that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The U.S. Naval Academy is here, too.

Walk along the red-brick streets near the dock area. Visit a local pub. Stop by a gallery. You’ll find everything from maritime antiques to designer clothing to magnificent works of art. Or, take advantage of the plentiful choices for recreation on the bay, including boating and fishing.

At the Historic Annapolis Foundation’s museum shop, take a look at the diorama that shows what the City Dock was like during Colonial days. The dock area is where colonists burned the Peggy Stewart, a cargo ship loaded with tea, in an incident similar to the Boston Tea Party less than a year earlier. It was also at the City Dock, where the African slave named Kunte Kinte set foot on American soil – he was an ancestor of Alex Haley, the author of Roots.

In southern Anne Arundel County, archaeologists are digging to uncover the colonial port of London Town. The London Town House is the only surviving structure of this lost town. At the other end of the county: the National Cryptologic Museum and Ft. Meade Museum is where you can see decoding devices and weapons used during the two world wars. The Historical Electronics Museum is in Linthicum.

And, if you’re a shopper, you’ll want to visit Arundel Mills in Hanover, not far from the Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, an outlet mall with 17 anchors and 225 specialty stores.

Visit the Anne Arundel county web site.