Annapolis

In 1774, patriots here matched their Boston counterparts (who had thrown their famous tea party the previous year) by burning the Peggy Stewart, a ship loaded with taxed tea. Annapolis later served as the nation's first peacetime capital (1783-84).The city's considerable Colonial and early republican heritage is largely intact, and because it's all within walking distance, highly accessible.

Although it has long since been overtaken by Baltimore as the major Maryland port, Annapolis is still a popular pleasure-boating destination. On warm sunny days the waters off City Dock become center stage for an amateur show of powerboaters maneuvering through the heavy traffic. Annapolis's enduring nautical reputation derives largely from the presence of the U.S. Naval Academy, whose strikingly uniformed midshipmen throng the city streets in crisp white uniforms in summer and navy blue in winter.