My husband and I are considering a weeks trip to Maryland and Delaware for some sightseeing. We are not interested in going to DC on this trip. Any suggestions out there as to what not to miss, recommendations for good accomodations and good places to eat?

There are many sites in Baltimore - the National Aquarium, the Inner Harbor, Fort McHenry and several art museums. Annapolis is a charming city with much colonial architecture and an alluring harbor. The US Naval Acadamy is there. Frederick, Maryland, is a charming town, going out west a bit, It's also well sited for visiting Antietam battlefield and tghe Historic site at Harpers Ferry.
In Delaware, I've always liked the historic town of New Castle. You can see where William Penn lived as well as some very interesting architecture. It's nice because the whole town has colonial architecture and is well preserved. Wilmington has a fine art museum, known for its pre-Raphaelite paitings.
Finally, no visit to this area would be complete without trying the crabs, which are prepared in a variety of ways and are widely available.

Two suggestions: the Eastern Shore of MD or the Brandywine Valley (northern Delaware and southern tip of PA). The former has lots of small Chesapeake Bay towns to explore. The latter has the Wyeth Museum, Longwood Gardens, Winterthur, etc. For a real treat you can rent a canoe on the Brandywine.

Maryland - Baltimore Harbor, Annapolis, Great Falls, Shenadoah Valley isnt far....
Deleware - Ocean City is about 20min away.

We were in Maryland for 9 days last month, with 3 kids under 12 yrs old. We spent 5 days in Ocean City, MD. Which we all enjoyed. We stopped in Annapolis on the way to O.C. Walked around the historic areas & the captiol building, & then spent about 2 hrs at the Naval Academy, which the kids really liked. Going over the Chesapeke Bay bridge is an experience & a site in itself, but carefully choose the times you go over that bridge, Friday nites & Saturdays, there could be big backups (4-5 miles or more long) because of all the traffic going to & from the beach. On the way to the beach, there are a number of Farm Stands which are worth a stop, & in Delaware there are some fresh barbeque chicken stands. Have stayed in Gaithersburg, MD at the Marriott Washingtonion Center. That is a very nice hotel & the mall right next to the hotel is a very good mall with some good places to eat. Have been to Baltimore a few times. The Inner Harbor is excellent with the shops, Aquarium, & boats you can tour, especially the frigate USS Constellation which just came out of a 2 year dry dock in July, & there is also a submarine to tour. Ft. McHenry is definitely worth a visit. If you get out to the Atlantic shore of MD(the Eastern Shore actually refers to the east shore side of Chesapeke Bay.) Assateague Park is a short drive from O.C.. That is where you can see the wild ponies. (You can also take the Cape May ferry from Delaware to New Jersey, if so desired.) Have fun. MD is 1 of my favorite places in the U.S.