When Rhiannon Brown relocated the Queen City Scoop Shop in downtown Cumberland last year, she hung a sign inside that says “BELIEVE.” The Cumberland native borrowed the slogan from a community advocacy campaign in Baltimore from the years she lived there. It inspired the educator-turned-entrepreneur to revisit her roots and buy a beloved frozen custard store.

Brown isn’t alone. She’s one of about 20 small business owners—both Cumberland-raised and come-heres—who’ve bet on themselves and the future of this scenic, once-industrial Western Maryland city, which recently completed a $17.2-million downtown revitalization.

For many, Cumberland is the gritty city that Interstate 68, aka “The National Freeway,” passes over—literally and figuratively—as it dips briefly between mountains in Allegany County. If you’ve never visited, or haven’t in years, it’s time to exit the highway and explore Cumberland’s outdoorsy appeal, its surprisingly rich history, and its emerging culinary and arts scenes.

When work got underway in early 2023, Cumberland’s main drag, Baltimore Street, belonged to an endangered commercial species—the pedestrian mall. Left behind by shopping centers and e-commerce, served by an electrical grid so outdated it struggled to light the city’s Christmas tree, many of its businesses had either moved or closed.

Today, the area has re-opened for business in a big way. Once-empty storefronts hold a veritable United Nations of restaurants, plus crowded coffeehouses, a new visual and performing arts gallery, and a growing number of specialty shops. A boutique hotel—Cumberland’s first—will open later this year in a renovated Victorian-era building, one of the city’s many architectural gems.

Thanks to major upgrades in water, sewer, and electrical systems—as well as the introduction of 5G internet—some buildings house modern office and residential spaces on their upper floors. (A 2024 city program dangled $20,000 relocation packages for those willing to move here. The gambit drew national media attention and, to officials’ surprise, far more applicants than expected.)

Traffic flows again, slowly, on a three-block stretch of brick-paved Baltimore Street. Its now curb-less sidewalks are wider and re-landscaped to accommodate pleasant outdoor dining areas bordered by planters brimming with greenery. Trees that once hid the façades of stunning old buildings have been replaced with flora that gracefully frame them. There are new benches, streetlights, bike racks, a cascading wall fountain, and—for the first time in almost 50 years—on-street parking.

For much of its nearly 240 years, the “Queen City” was a fortuitously located transportation and industrial hub that rivaled Baltimore or Pittsburgh. Just west of Cumberland, Wills Creek cuts a deep, rocky-topped gap through the gently mounded Allegheny Mountains, opening a passage Cumberland Narrows—just wide enough for civilization to squeeze through on its roll westward centuries ago.

A path blazed by Native Americans became a wagon road and eventually Route 40, the nation’s first federal highway. From the east, the B&O Railroad arrived in 1842, and the C&O Canal linked the city to Washington, D.C., in 1850. Cumberland became a way station for travelers pursuing big dreams. Fur traders and settlers in the 18th century. Underground Railroad riders and commercial-rail tycoons in the 19th. George Washington arguably launched his early career here as a surveyor and a soldier before moving on to higher pay grades.

→ EXPLORE OUTDOORS

Today, big adventures are Cumberland’s primary attraction. The city of fewer than 20,000 lures more than 300,000 annual visitors: cyclists and hikers traveling the C&O Canal towpath and the Great Allegheny Passage (which meet here), sightseers riding the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, and outdoor enthusiasts eager to explore Allegany County’s boundless beauty.

Begin your orientation at the Allegany Museum, whose impressive collection of 50,000 artifacts traces local history from Cumberland’s frontier days through its golden era as a maker of glassware, beer, tires, textiles, iron, and steel. Don’t miss the scale model of Fort Cumberland, a hillside British outpost built in 1754. Washington served as a young aide-de-camp there and the museum features a spectral 3D bust of our first president “reverse aged” by artificial intelligence to resemble his 1750s visage.

Allow ample time to explore nearby Canal Place Heritage Area, where centuries of transportation lore converge around C&O Canal National Historical Park. A pedestrian-friendly plaza with a shaded picnic area, it’s also home to the 1913 Western Maryland Railway Station. This grand reminder of Cumberland’s rail prominence still welcomes passengers. Western Maryland Scenic Railroad offers seasonal roundtrip excursions that chug through the Cumberland Narrows to the mountain town of Frostburg. Rail buffs will love Locomotive 1309, one of the nation’s largest still operating vintage steam engines.

The station platform faces Riverfront Park, a scenic strip overlooking the confluence of Wills Creek and the North Branch Potomac River, as well as  the canal turning basin. Check out The Cumberland, a full-scale, landlocked replica of a canal boat and visit the C&O Canal Visitor Center & Museum, located in the rail station.

Canal Place marks the juncture of two famously scenic bike trails: the 184.5-mile C&O Canal Towpath and the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage, aka “The GAP.” Traversed end to end, they link D.C. and Pittsburgh. Because it’s a readily accessible trail town, cyclists naturally come to Cumberland, and it to them, offering repairs, rentals, shuttle service, and even bike-washing stations.

Trailside at Canal Place you’ll find Wheelz-up Adventures, which rents, sells, and services bikes, and provides guided tours and shuttle service for cyclists. Owner Mandela Echefu also outfits and instructs climbers, hikers, mountain bikers, paddleboarders, and kayakers at two locations. “It’s all about getting people out- doors,” says the Nigerian-born Echefu, who, inspired by the area’s natural beauty, abandoned a health-care career to start the business with his wife, Jamie.

→ DRINKS AND DINING

Before leaving Canal Place, savor some trailside refreshment. Sample a flight of craft beers at Dig Deep Brewing Co., located in the historic Footer’s Dye Works Building. Dig Deep’s rotating selection of more than a dozen homebrews pays a sudsy nod to Allegany’s coal-mining heritage, with offerings like Pay Dirt brown ale. Steps away, Charis Winery & Distillery produces around 14 different wines using grapes grown almost exclusively in Maryland, as well as more than 18 kinds of rums, brandies, whiskeys, and liqueurs. Sip Afternoon Delight, a lovely mead-style wine, in Charis’ tasting room or on its inviting patio.

From Canal Place, you’re just two blocks away from the downtown historic district and its main thoroughfare, Baltimore Street. After 20 dusty months of construction, the refurbished area was unveiled at a ribbon-cutting last November. Defunct late 19th- and early 20th-century department stores, banks, and jewelry shops—their fancy façades still remarkably intact—are filled with new businesses and iconic enterprises that persevered through the construction.

Brown bought Queen City Creamery from its about-to-retire owners, keeping creamy frozen custard in Cumberland. Now called Queen City Scoop Shop, it offers more than two dozen flavors (the pistachio is excellent), and if yours happens to be the “name du jour” (check the sign board), you get a free scoop. Curtis Famous Weiners, a half-block off Baltimore Street, has been operated since 1918 by the Giatras family—Cumberland retail royalty whose original trade was candy-making. Slide into one of the restaurant’s vintage wooden booths, enjoy a Coney Island chili dog, and let garrulous owner Gino Giatras narrate family history as displayed on the shop’s memorabilia-lined walls.

Cumberland’s grand old stores—Rosenbaum’s, Schwarzenbach’s, McMullen Brothers, and Lazarus—are gone, but their ornate structures are being repurposed for 21st-century commerce. When Hayden Ort-Ulm sought a second location for his popular Greene Street coffeehouse, Basecamp Coffee Co., he landed in the old Rosenbaum building. This Baltimore Street coffee stand shares first-floor space in the refurbished 1899 building with Madison Paige Boutique, a chic women’s store; AJ’s Cookie Jar, specializing in French macarons; and Lefty’s Place, a new Detroit-style pizza and wing bar. Luxury lofts and Airbnb apartments are slated for the upper floors.

Basecamp’s Ort-Ulm, raised nearby in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, is another entrepreneur who’s come home—in his case all the way from the Pacific Northwest. He now lives 10 minutes away in La Vale, site of Basecamp’s roastery, and collaborates with businesses like Queen City Scoop Shop and Dig Deep Brewing on their coffee-flavored offerings.

Another morning buzz option is Café Mark, a favorite for specialty coffees, fresh-brewed teas, smoothies, and its creative breakfast and lunch menus. You’ll find a welcoming vibe (think brick walls and pressed-tin ceilings), killer breakfast burritos, and super-friendly servers. Just beware the pastry counter, which seduces you sweetly while you wait to order.

Other dining choices abound. Try Baltimore Street Grill, a cozy pub-style restaurant, for Cajun specialties including seafood gumbo, crawfish étouffée, and catfish strips. At Centre Street Collective, a festive food court, order at the bar from an internationally inspired menu, featuring wraps, flatbreads, breakfast bowls, sushi, and build-your-own ramen bowls. On Baltimore Street, City Lights American Grill does popular gourmet burger and-beer nights on Thursdays. Around the corner, Mise En Place offers French cuisine in a delightful bistro setting.

On Centre Street, Ristorante Ottaviani imports New York-style Italian fare to its romantic dining room. Order from the house specialty Abruzzo entrees and conclude your meal on a heavenly note with house-made warm butter cake. The restaurant’s less formal Tasting Room and Lounge serves brick-oven pizzas, salads, and charcuterie. Opened in 1906, Caporale’s Bakery on North Mechanic Street offers compulsory Cumberland noshes like fresh-baked pepperoni rolls (once a coal miner’s staple), Italian breads, and sugary confections.

→ NIGHTLIFE

Downtown’s most anticipated newcomer occupies the historic McCleave Building at 63-69 Baltimore Street. The 20-room Wills Hotel will be Allegany County’s first boutique lodgings when it opens, as early as this fall. Co-owner Brian Gilbride of Ohio, who cycles the GAP, was quite familiar with Cumberland. When he saw the Italianate-style building, he realized its potential. When completed, the three-story hotel—Gilbride’s “passion project”—will offer bespoke suites, a potential steakhouse with an adjoining bar, and first-floor space offering cyclists bike works, storage, and laundry facilities. Eyeing possible expansion, Gilbride also purchased the building next door.

Take your pick of after-dark diversions. Watch a play at Embassy Theatre, located in a landmark 1931 Art Deco movie house. Enjoy live music at Loft 129, which features everything from rock and pop to jazz and classical. Toss tools at Fore Axes, a bar catering to wannabe lumberjacks as well as aspiring Scottie Schefflers who can tackle simulation golf courses like Pinehurst, Torrey Pines, and Royal Melbourne.

One of downtown’s newest arts venues, Ferleman Gallery & Gallery Stage showcases contemporary art. Its intimate, intra-gallery stage hosts live acoustic music performances and boasts its own digital recording studio. Owners Thomas and Rebecca Ferleman, who moved to Allegany County to escape suburbia, plan to open RootSTable on the second floor, serving locally sourced New American cuisine. If you’re visiting the gallery this summer or fall, check out works by Baltimore’s own Joseph Sheppard, the noted sculptor, muralist, and portraitist who created the Brooks Robinson statue near Camden Yards.

→ LANDMARKS 

Also discover some of Cumberland’s lesser-known landmarks. B’er Chayim Temple, an 1864 Greek Revival building downtown, is the longest continuously operating synagogue in Maryland, housing a congregation originally chartered in 1853. On a hillside overlooking Wills Creek, built atop Fort Cumberland’s remains, Emmanuel Episcopal Church in the Washington Street Historic District is well worth touring. The earthworks below—tunnels Washington once strode—were used a century later by African Americans following the Underground Railroad.

Walking the dimly lit space today is powerful and chilling. Inside the church itself, docent-led tours reveal another surprise. The chancel was designed by renowned artist Louis Comfort Tiffany, who personally visited and created three breathtaking stained-glass windows and several ornate candelabras.

When city leaders were planning the Baltimore Street Redevelopment Project, they dubbed the initiative “Reimagine Cumberland.” Now that the work is complete and downtown businesses have bought into the venture, they hope travelers will find the new Queen City as alluring as its predecessors.

It may not be visible from space, but hand it to Hampden’s Miracle on 34th Street for setting the high-wattage mark of holiday lights. Where else can you find a single block so devoted to such an unabashedly over-the-top and proudly tacky tribute to the most wonderful time of year?

But believe it or not, Baltimore, 34th Street has rivals throughout the Mid-Atlantic. There are neighborhoods, and one especially luminous family farm, that can brighten the night sky.

Brilliantly festooned botanical gardens and parks. High-tech light shows, as well as simple, ceremonial tree lightings. Boats that float and some that don’t, lit from bow to stern. There are displays through which you can drive, walk, or even ice-skate. Many include family-friendly extras: Santa and his elves, candy canes and model trains, cozy bonfires and hot cocoa. For the actively inclined, there’s also ice-tubing, ice-skating, and…axe-throwing?

If you love lights of the festive and decorative kind, consider these doable day trips or wintry weekend getaways. And let there be lights—lots of ’em.

DECORATED DAY TRIPS

Nightly through Jan. 1: National Christmas Tree

President’s Park, Washington, D.C.
3 hours roundtrip. Free. 

A century ago, on Christmas Eve, 1923, President Calvin Coolidge walked from the White House to the Ellipse to inaugurate a cherished tradition. He switched on a 48-foot fir tree wrapped in 2,500 red, white, and green bulbs, turning “the national Christmas tree into a flashing vari-colored pyramid of radiance,” marveled the Washington Evening Star. Visitors can admire this year’s radiant conifer and its 60,000 lights following the National Christmas Tree Lighting on or about Nov. 30. The Pathway of Peace features smaller lit trees representing U.S. states, territories, and the District.

Through Dec. 31: Enchant Christmas

Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
2 hours roundtrip. $24-89.60.

Two enterprising Canadian teenagers turned a neighborhood light-decorating business into a high-tech holiday extravaganza held at seven locations, including the Nation’s Capital. D.C.’s baseball stadium hosts their 2023 themed “Reindeer Games” show, whose signature attraction is an immersive light maze. Visitors are tasked with finding Rudolph and co.’s magic bells amid a blinking, pulsing, cascading landscape of more than one million lights. (Think Oz meets Times Square.) There’s also an illuminated ice-skating trail, a 100-foot-tall Christmas tree, and a village of artisan vendors.

Through Jan. 1: Mormon Temple Festival of Lights

Washington D.C. Temple, Kensington, MD
2 hours roundtrip. Free.

From its hilltop perch above the Capital Beltway, the white marble, six-spired Mormon Temple is an imposing sight in any season. Come December, though, the starkly spotlighted temple goes technicolor during its beautiful Festival of Lights. Nearly one half million lights in shades of red, green, blue, gold, purple, and white festoon trees on the temple’s 57-acre grounds. In the Visitors’ Center, model crèches depict nativity scenes from around the world and the 540-seat auditorium hosts live holiday concerts.

Through February: Sailing Through the Winter Solstice

Carroll Creek Linear Park, Frederick, MD
2 hours roundtrip. Free, donations encouraged. 

Frederick’s downtown “linear park” follows gentle Carroll Creek, where a small fleet of unusual vessels steal the spotlight during the cold winter months. Beginning in November, an eclectic armada of downsized boats—gaff-rigged ketches, three-masted schooners, pirate ships, and even a boat designed to look like an aircraft carrier, all outlined in lights—battle Old Man Winter in the name of charity and cabin-fever relief. For a dollar a vote, pick your favorite among the floating fleet and a handful of on-land watercraft.

Through Dec. 30: Winter City Lights

Olney Boys & Girls Club Park, Olney, MD
2 hours roundtrip. Advance tickets only. Prices vary.

Everything about this attraction is gigantic: one million-plus lights, a lit canopy the size of a large Ferris wheel, a 52-foot-tall Christmas tree programmed into an ultra-sophisticated light show, 33 bonfires, eight lanes of snow-tubing, and a signature dessert (The Blizzard) made of multiple funnel cakes, deep-fried Twinkies, deep-fried Oreos, and tons of whipped topping. A 1.5-mile mulched trail leads through woods lit with supersized decorations and it “snows” (artificially) at regular intervals. Did we mention there’s axe-throwing,
too?

Through Dec. 30: Christmas Magic—A Festival of Lights

Rocky Ridge Park, York, PA
2 hours roundtrip. Reservation-only. Prices vary.

This annual spectacle owes its origins to the 1970s energy crisis, when York County stepped in to light the way for residents dissuaded from decorating. A half-mile, hilltop trail meanders through forest lit with 600,000 sparkling LED lights and animated scenes as holiday music plays. And warm snacks include a beloved local treat: Bricker’s Famous French Fries.

Dec. 7-15: National Menorah

The Ellipse, Washington, D.C.
2 hours roundtrip. Free

The ceremonial lighting of the world’s largest menorah—an over-30-foot-tall, electrified candelabra—begins the Hanukkah celebration in Washington and across the country. Jewish leaders and a VIP speaker preside at the event, attended by thousands and broadcast internationally. The lighting occurs Dec. 7 and the menorah remains on display throughout the holiday.

Dec. 9: Eastport Yacht Club Lights Parade

Annapolis Harbor, Annapolis
2 hours roundtrip. Free. 

A beloved Chesapeake Bay tradition, this enchanting procession of brightly lit boats through the Annapolis Harbor and along Spa Creek has been going strong for 40 years. Grab a viewing spot (very) early on Spa Creek Bridge, at City Dock, along Eastport’s and Spa Creek’s waterfronts, or book a cruise with a local tour company for the Dec. 9 parade.

MORE MERRYMAKING

Through Jan. 7: A Longwood Christmas

Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA
3 hours roundtrip. Reservations required. Free-$30.

The most coveted holiday ticket around, Longwood Gardens will celebrate “A Very Retro Christmas” this year, decorating its conservatory and nearly 200 acres of gardens with midcentury flair, including “a fab, festive holiday party scene.” As always, over half-a-million lights and the gardens’ famous dancing fountains synced to Christmas music will highlight the display, with hot cocoa available for both day and nighttime visitors.

Through December: Miracle on South 13th Street

1600 Block, South 13th St., Philadelphia, PA
4 hours roundtrip. Free.

Philadelphia’s answer to Charm City’s 34th Street ornamentation is this block of rowhouses in South Philly, where residents are just as festively gung ho. The entire stretch glows with white and colored lights strung over the street, around windows and doorways, under eaves and encircling trees, filling front yards, and spilling onto sidewalks. With a mixture of gaudy and imaginative yard art,  inflatables, and costumed figures, the spectacle traditionally draws thousands of holiday lovers who drive or walk by each year.

Through Jan. 1: Tinseltown Holiday Spectacular

FDR Park, Philadelphia, PA
4 hours roundtrip. $15.99-40.99.

Another South Philly attraction, Tinseltown is a soup-to-nuts celebration of the season featuring an immersive stroll through a crystalline wonderland of over two million lights—twinkle-lit trees, tunnels, snow globes, snowflakes, even a version of the Liberty Bell. There’s also an ice-skating trail, an ice slide, and guest appearances by Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, and Gritty Claus, the Philadelphia Flyers’ orange, google-eyed mascot dressed in holiday threads—with photo ops to boot. Warm up with hot beverages at Union Forge Lodge and in the gift shop at Mistletoe Marketplace.

Weekends through January: Shady Brook Farm’s Holiday Light Show

Shady Brook Farm, Yardley, PA
4 hours roundtrip. $30-150.

More than three million lights illuminate this century-old farm market and “agri-tainment” venue in Bucks County each December. Ho-ho-hoing all the way, drive a two-mile trail of festively lit displays or hitch a ride on a tractor-drawn wagon. While there, pick out your Christmas tree and pose with Santa to complete a jolly evening.

Through Jan. 1: Koziar’s Christmas Village

Bernville, PA
4 hours roundtrip. Free-$12.

If you’re traveling darkened country roads near Bernville this time of year, that glow in the distance is an ex-dairy farm turned fantasyland. William Koziar first decorated his farmhouse in 1948. Since then, the display has mushroomed, becoming one of Pennsylvania’s most popular seasonal attractions. Over one million lights adorn the farmhouse, barn, roofs, walkways, train tracks, holiday scenes, and a village of small buildings, casting their colorful reflections on a large pond. Don’t miss indoor and outdoor model trains.

Through Jan. 7: Winter Walk of Lights

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Vienna, VA
3 hours roundtrip. $18.

Visitors to this Northern Virginia oasis wander a half-mile paved path through an enchanting forest of illuminated “flora” and “fauna,” including larger-than-life tulips, sunflowers, toadstools, butterflies, grasshoppers, herons, whittling woodpeckers, belching bullfrogs, and koi that appear to leap from a lake. The 95-acre garden’s living trees are also wrapped, twigs to trunk, in tiny, colored lights, as is the lake’s gazebo. Buy hot beverages and desserts in the glittering conservatory and enjoy s’mores over a fire pit.

FARTHER FESTIVITIES

Through Dec. 31: Richmond Tacky Lights Tours

Richmond, VA
5.5 hours roundtrip. Free

Take 34th Street’s miraculous lights, scatter them over a 20-mile radius, and you’ve got Richmond’s “tacky lights” tours. Every year, the Richmond Times-Dispatch offers driving maps of neighborhoods where over-the-top holiday decoration is the rule of thumb. We mean tens of thousands—even 100,000—lights per property. Yards obscured in inflatables, cutout figures, and animated displays. Windows where Santa dances and “leg lamps” shine. Suggested driving tours range from 30 minutes to an hour, but plan on more; you need to see many of these on foot.

Through Jan. 7: GardenFest of Lights

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Henrico County, VA
5.5 hours roundtrip. Advanced purchase only. $8-27.

A perennial favorite and one of the nation’s most impressive botanical exhibits, GardenFest of Lights bathes the 50-acre Virginia garden in over one million lights, including on more than 100 trees. The most spectacular, Darlington Oak, is draped in a mile of miniature bulbs. This year’s decorating theme is “Rhythms of Nature,” reflected throughout the grounds and the 11,000-square-foot Conservatory, with its towering Christmas tree. Sip hot chocolate and toast s’mores in the Children’s Garden and don’t miss the Kelly Education Center’s model trains.

Through Dec. 31: Kings Dominion WinterFest

Kings Dominion, Doswell, VA
5 hours roundtrip. Free-$49.99.

Thirty minutes north of Richmond, this theme park becomes a dazzling holiday experience. Aglow with millions of lights, WinterFest features strolling performers, horse-drawn carriage rides, sessions with Santa, holiday treats, iceskating, a petting zoo, and, of course, roller coasters and other rides. The park’s iconic 300-foot-tall Eiffel Tower becomes a spectacular Christmas tree.

If you’re looking for Deer Park, Maryland, just follow the railroad—out of the city, over the rolling countryside, through the foothills, and up into the Appalachian Mountains, as if heading for the clouds.

Out here, a serpentine path of iron track weaves its way west, following the Potomac River and existing as an ever-present shadow as you travel along the panhandle of the Old Line State. And over the Continental Divide, en route to Oakland, then onwards toward Ohio, it eventually passes through this whistlestop, just a stone’s throw from West Virginia and a shorter drive to Pittsburgh than Baltimore, now some three hours in your dust.

Upon arriving, it’s hard to imagine that Deer Park was once a major destination—drawing presidents, celebrities, and other well-heeled city-dwellers to a vacationland first named “Peace and Plenty” for its natural abundance, boundless scenery, and fresh mountain air. Through the snowfalls and mists of its 2,448-foot altitude, this tiny town—population 306—is now little more than a scattering of houses, trailers, old tractors, yard chickens, a church, a playground, and a long-closed general store.

In fact, there’s barely a trace of its former glory days, other than those train tracks and, beside them, a baby-blue, gated-off building, emblazoned with an antlered deer skull and white letters that read SPRING WATER.

“Sometimes you wish you could flip a switch and go back in time,” says the town’s mayor, Donald Dawson, 50, who has lived here most of his life. “I find myself doing that quite a bit—trying to picture what it used to look like. I’d love to see it boom again, like it did way back when.”

IF YOU LIVE IN THE MID-ATLANTIC, enter any grocery store or gas station today, and you’re likely to find a cooler filled with bottles of Deer Park Natural Spring Water. This prolific brand is a household name, and while its parent company is now headquartered in Connecticut, it has humble beginnings in Maryland, born just south of the railroad tracks in its namesake hamlet in 1873—making Deer Park, alongside the likes of Poland Spring and Mountain Valley, one of the oldest water companies in the United States.

And down a winding backroad, tucked into the forest amidst the ferns and rhododendrons of this alpine terrain, Deer Park’s Boiling Spring is still flowing strong, 150 years later, fed by a sprawling underground aquifer made of limestone and sandstone, spanning some 40 miles beneath Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. Precipitation falls and becomes groundwater, which fills the aquifer, eventually flowing up to the Earth’s surface, where it escapes via a range of regional springs, such as this one.

“Most of that water ends up flowing downstream,” says Eric Andreus, natural resource manager for the Deer Park Natural Spring Water brand. “Block Run eventually enters the Little Youghiogheny River, and then it begins its journey, ultimately ending up in the Ohio, which feeds into the Mississippi.”

The story goes that this particular source was named for the way that its waters bubbled up through the sand of surrounding creek beds, giving the appearance that it was, in fact, boiling. Then and now, it gushes forth at a rate of approximately 100 gallons per minute, or 150,000 per day.

“The water has always been a huge life source for this area, along the Laurel Highlands of the Allegheny Mountains of Appalachia,” says Karen White, curator at the Garrett County Historical Society Museum in nearby Oakland. “Indigenous people followed the rivers, and that led to some of our first trails”—then roads, then rails, too.

Indeed, it was this natural bounty that first caught the attention of John Work Garrett, a Baltimore native and prosperous businessman turned president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, headquartered 200 miles east of Deer Park on West Pratt Street in the Pigtown neighborhood of Baltimore City.

Before the Civil War, the company’s tracks were unfurled westward, eventually passing right through what would one day become Garrett’s namesake county—at the time little more than coal, logging, and lumber country, known among Marylanders as “the outpost.”

The son of an Irish immigrant, Garrett’s father, Robert, “was a dry goods salesman in Baltimore who sold his merchandise up and down the National Road in Conestoga wagons to people on Westward Expansion, so he became very familiar with this neck of the woods,” says White, noting that John eventually joined the family business. “And as their prosperity increased, they also became aware of investing in land. . . . This area had started to become a summer resort for the very upper class of Baltimore—the McHenrys, the Howards, the Keys—and John Garrett capitalized on that. He understood its potential.”

“The water has always been a huge life source for this area.”

“The salubrious climate and beautiful country among the highlands of Western Maryland have elicited much attention during the past season,” Garrett wrote in his B&O Railroad report in 1857. “But the absence of adequate hotel accommodations has materially checked the tendency to seek these Glades for summer homes. Arrangements are being made for additional hotels; and a large population, from the South, West, and East will probably hereafter select this singularly picturesque and attractive region for summer resort.”

The Civil War would stall his grand vision, but in 1865, the B&O approved its first train station in the then-unincorporated town of Deer Park and, three years later, purchased more than 300 acres of land beside it.

On the Fourth of July, 1872, construction began on the Deer Park Hotel—a four-story, Swiss-inspired luxury inn, billed as “the most delightful summer resort of the Alleghenies” in an era of no air-conditioning and, enticingly, “absolutely free from malaria, hay fever, and mosquitos.”

These were the early days of modern medicine, with crowded cities being fertile breeding grounds for infectious diseases like smallpox and tuberculosis, spread through the air like COVID-19, as well as dysentery, cholera, and typhoid fever, via contaminated water sources.

Not only was spring water hailed as free of urban contagions, but thanks to its purported purity and natural mineral content, for its healing and health benefits, too. (In fact, Poland Spring, circa 1845, was originally marketed around Maine as a kidney remedy.)

“People were starting to understand that the cities were filled with pestilence—you took your sewage and dumped it out in the street, it went into the Baltimore Harbor, then you drank the water, and it killed you—so they flocked to the mountain air and water,” says White. “You see it with the old breweries, too; think of Coors, which came from the Rockies, which made it better. And I’m from Cumberland, where the beer boasted that ‘mountain water makes the difference.’”

It was certainly a boon for the B&O Railroad, which started serving local water from Boiling Spring at its thriving Deer Park Hotel. Beneath the glow of new electric lights and amidst the ring of the town’s first telephones, the lavish lodgings featured 200 rooms, 10 cottages, bowling, billiards, tennis, trap shooting, horseback riding, orchestra concerts, twice-weekly dances, European-style dining rooms, and Russian baths and swimming pools, both filled with that same magical elixir, piped in from just down the street.

“The neighborhood abounds with the charms of the wilderness,” wrote The New York Times of Deer Park in 1896, “while the fine hotel buildings hold all the resources of civilization.”

Out front, the who’s who of Baltimore and Washington arrived by express train in the latest fashions. The hotel’s broad porches, lush gardens, and croquet matches brimmed with a bevy of dignitaries—theater, opera, and movie stars; famous writers, artists, and athletes; industry leaders, businessmen, and a host of politicians, from Baltimore Mayor Ferdinand Latrobe to Presidents Harrison, Garfield, Grant, Taft, and Cleveland, who honeymooned here after his White House wedding—all earning the town its reputation as the nation’s “summer capital.”

“This was the place to be,” says White, noting that Garrett’s role in providing railroads to the Union Army during the Civil War garnered him friends of every ilk. “People came from all over—Baltimore and Washington, but also Cincinnati, St. Louis, Richmond, Philadelphia, New York. . . .”

And it was those guests, by 1905, who had convinced the railroad to start serving its famous water in its white-tableclothed dining cars.

Piped straight from the source at Boiling Spring, it was first bottled in large glass vessels before being fine-tuned into half-gallons, fit with silver caps and Lucite handles, with that signature buck illustrated on the label. Those were packed into wooden cases, then loaded on the Number 222 and 30 trains for distribution. At its final destination, the water was served for free, alongside the likes of caviar and oysters.

“This was a time period when the B&O was competing with other railroads and promoting a luxury travel experience, from having their own telegraph network to the water that they served,” says Jonathan Goldman, curator at the B&O Railroad Museum, located in the original Mt. Clare Station in Pigtown. “Back then, railroad companies were doing everything—building trains, constructing bridges, cooking food—all in these giant factory towns with these giant internal supply chains. Our campus here was 100 acres.”

Meanwhile, back in Deer Park, a small bottling plant emerged to meet increased demand. When the glass bottles were returned by railcar, they were sterilized and refilled by a two-man operation, which included a biochemist and a supervisor from the B&O Dining Department, at a rate of 40 cases a day by the 1950s.

Eventually, they moved into a larger facility, where they ran multiple shifts and employed dozens of workers, and which is still visible from the train tracks today. Townspeople say that there was a time, not that long ago, when its overflow spigot was a de facto communal faucet.

Deer Park’s spring water continued to ride the rails until 1964. By that time, though, the resort town’s metaphorical well had already begun to run dry.

As automobiles took off in the 20th century, train travel declined, and the B&O sold its hotel in 1924. The stock market crash of ’29 would be the final blow, with the property eventually left “vacant, with boards over its windows . . . an abandoned wreck,” per a 1941 Sun article, before being razed the following year, its old oak groves cut and sawn into war-effort lumber.

These days, there’s nothing left, except for two of the guest cottages and a lone historical marker standing testament to the past. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to place the exact location where the hotel once stood, with a residential neighborhood and thickets of evergreens now covering its former grounds.

“It was peaceful growing up here—there was a lot of history, about the hotel and the trains and the water, that everybody who lived here grew up knowing about, or learning,” says Tom Upole, 46, a third-generation resident and owner of Deer Park Automotive on Edgewood Drive. “There used to be a number of train stops right through here, but when passenger service ended, everything along the way slowly deteriorated.”

That last passenger train pulled out of Oakland in 1983, with the old B&O lines now used for freight carriers, usually hauling fracking gas, coal, or timber, and many jobs heading “back down the mountain,” says White.

“It was peaceful growing up here…there was a lot of history.”

But all the while, the water remained. In 1970, Nestlé bought Boiling Spring and employed 10 workers to bottle some 3,000 gallons of water per day, sold to the masses in both glass and plastic, far and wide, from New York to South America.

“The Deer Park spring, like Old Faithful, operates at the height of dependability,” wrote a company newsletter that year. “Droughts, freezing weather, or any other tricks of nature have never caused the spring to vary its daily output.”

Meanwhile, bottled water was about to boom again, with the splashy U.S. rollout of European brands Perrier and Evian employing some of the very same tactics used over the last century by the likes of Deer Park, whose own 1971 advertising still heralded a product full of “natural minerals,” “filtered by nature itself as it bubbles from deep inside the earth,” and “untouched by human hands.”

This was no mere ploy, of course; those minerals are actually “where the water gets it taste,” explains the company’s Andreus, with every spring having its own nuance.

But as before, the public drank the Kool-Aid, and in the ensuing decades, bottled water consumption took off, growing 284 percent to nearly 42 gallons per American each year from 1994 to 2017, according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation. By 2021, it set a new total volume record of 15.7 billion gallons, or 47 per person annually, mostly out of single-servings.

But even with such demand, the industry has also felt its share of market shifts in recent years, with internet images of polluted oceans and littered fields and forests bringing societal sway toward sustainability. New initiatives among water companies include more environmentally friendly packaging, like cardboard and aluminum, while Deer Park has incorporated bottles made from recycled plastic into its lineup.

Still, in 2021, under mounting pressure, Nestlé sold its American water portfolio, which has since been renamed BlueTriton, aka the parent company of Deer Park. By then, they had already shut down the Boiling Spring bottling plant, some two decades prior, and in doing so, closed the town’s last major employer.

“I’d love to see some of those jobs come back,” says Mayor Dawson, who worked at the plant briefly, “but I don’t know if that will ever happen.”

Though some of the brand’s water still hails from its birthplace, the majority now arrives from other springs in Pennsylvania, Florida, and the Carolinas. The company employs just one Deer Park resident for day-to-day operations in Maryland.

TEN MILES UP THE ROAD, though, another local attraction has filled the void of Deer Park.

One hundred years ago, just as the railroad resort was declining, the 13-mile, man-made, but spring-fed Deep Creek Lake was built in 1923. It didn’t take long for word to spread about this year-round getaway, drawing fishermen and families in the summer and hunters and skiers in the off-season, all once again tapping into the region’s rich natural resources. And in the 1990s, when Interstate 68 shortened the drive from the east, Deep Creek became one of the state’s top tourism destinations. Located just south of Wisp Resort and east of Swallow Falls State Park, it helps draw 1.4 million visitors to the region each year.

“I try to avoid it at all costs,” chuckles Deer Park Automotive’s Upole, echoing a common sentiment shared by many Garrett Countians. “Before the interstate, locals used the area for recreation, but today, it’s built up and overrun with tourists. I’m getting ready to go to Disney World and I think it’s almost cheaper to spend a week there than it is to stay at the lake.”

Not unlike the pandemics of yesteryear, COVID-19 has only made matters worse, creating a real estate gold rush for rural properties, with rental platform Vacasa naming Deep Creek the fourth best place in the country to purchase a winter vacation home in 2021, beating out Vermont and Montana.

“In a sense, the grandeur and the amenities of the turn-of-the century flipped from Deer Park to Deep Creek,” says White. “You know, we’ve never bottomed out up here. As one side declined, the other came up.”

At 69, she often wonders why John Work Garrett didn’t end up in the history books like other Gilded Age visionaries such as the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts. He died in his Deer Park cottage in 1884, during the hotel’s prime and just over a decade after the western county was named in his honor, before being laid to rest in Baltimore’s Green Mount Cemetery.

But even without great fanfare, his legacy does quietly live on in this far edge of Maryland, down the railroad tracks, along the ancient mountains of Appalachia, where White says plenty of people still go to get their water.

Just a short drive across the border near her home in West Virginia, cars line up at “the horse trough” on Caddell Mountain—an ever-flowing natural spring.

“It’s still part of the community’s mindset: that spring water is better for you,” says White. “It really hasn’t changed much. Society has, modes of travel have, thinking has, but what you’re looking for is still here—a piece of calm. The original tract was called ‘Peace and Plenty.’ And that’s where Deer Park was built.”

More than a third of U.S. states have legalized adult-use cannabis, and the Maryland cannabis industry is watching closely for a road map of what to do—and what to do differently—when adult (also known as recreational) cannabis use for people over the age of 21 arrives in the Old Line State. Medical cannabis was legalized in the state in 2014.

In addition to learning from its neighbors—Virginia legalized adult use in 2021 and is in the midst of the regulatory process, while the District of Columbia legalized recreational cannabis for adults over 21 in 2014 but lacks a regulated retail market due to its lack of statehood—Maryland can draw on its own experience during the legalization and regulatory process for medical cannabis.

While legislation forming the Medical Cannabis Commission, tasked with ironing out regulations and awarding licenses, passed in 2014, the first medical dispensaries in the state didn’t open their doors until late 2017. After Maryland’s medical cannabis industry launched to criticism about the lack of diversity among the business owners awarded a limited number of initial licenses, Governor Larry Hogan ordered a diversity study that resulted in making 20 additional licenses available with consideration of racial and ethnic diversity during application approvals.

The Maryland Minority Cannabis Business Association (MMCBA), established in 2021 by veteran lobbyists Michael Arrington, a Democrat and former state delegate, and John Kane, an entrepreneur and former Maryland Republican Party chairman, sees the eventual adult-use cannabis regulatory process as an opportunity for the state to correct disparities in the initial medical cannabis license rollout. Through the association, they hope to advocate for policies that level the playing field.

“I look at it as being a once-in-a-lifetime chance to bring some parity to help fund health care needs and help cities—Baltimore City in particular—where they’ve just been devastated by the so-called ‘War on Drugs,’” Kane says of the equitable distribution of adult-use cannabis licenses. “And if they can reverse some of that, then I think that’s a good thing.”

With a mission to ensure minority business owners interested in entering the cannabis industry have professional representation and advocacy for creating and enforcing sensible and equitable legislative policies, Kane and Arrington studied challenges minority-owned cannabis businesses faced in states where adult use was already legal.

“We asked, ‘What are the three things that are limiting the ability of minorities to be successful?’ Because in all 16 states with an adult use industry at the time, the majority of minority-owned cannabis firms failed,” Kane explains. Through their research, the MMCBA found a lack of advocacy, lack of education about the cannabis business industry, and lack of capital to be the main barriers to success.

When adult-use cannabis comes to Maryland, the MMCBA plans to address these three areas through professional development programming for members and providing connections to potential investors. With the membership funds, Kane and Arrington will lobby for more equitable policies.

“Our targeted member is a husband and wife who own a couple of tire stores and want to get into cannabis, maybe they want to get into retail or into the grow side,” Kane explains. “Members would get to participate in bootcamps—two-to-three-day events bringing in experts on subjects like submitting responses to RFPs for licensing, how to set up the organization from a tax structure, legal and real estate considerations—all the things where, if you get one wrong, it can kill you.”

With access to comprehensive resources and funding, Kane hopes that minority owners granted licenses for the adult use program have the tools they need to succeed.

Members of the local cannabis industry praise the medical program the state has built for its focus on patient education and relatively low barriers to access.

“Maryland has at its core a really great medical program,” says Wendy Bronfein, co-founder, chief brand officer, and director of public policy at Curio Wellness. “It was created with respect for the patient-provider relationship and without a lot of hoop-jumping for participation for patients and providers to get access to this therapeutic product.”

Maryland’s largest medical cannabis brand, Curio Wellness, opened a $7-million, 34,000-square-foot, product-research, development, and manufacturing facility in Cockeysville last year and employs 250 people across its growing, processing, and retail businesses.

Bronfein says that how state regulators balance an eventual adult-use cannabis program while strengthening and sustaining the existing medical cannabis program is critical to the success of both industries.

“We know a lot more today than we did in 2014,” Bronfein says.

“Policy makers need to look at strengthening and improving medical while developing what adult use looks like. If we’ve had five years of a strong medical program and people say they want adult use, let’s not let our fears of a stigmatized product create unnecessary barriers,” she continues. “It’s really common in this industry to have a lot of unnecessary rules that make people feel better about the legalization of something that has been stigmatized for so long and was illegal. It doesn’t make for safer product—it just increases cost.”

In a market with both medical and adult use programs, Bronfein explains, medical cannabis would be differentiated from adult use by remaining untaxed and offering a deeper breadth of products in terms of potency, specialized dosing, and specialized product development. Curio already has two proprietary products, one focusing on sleep and the other on gastrointestinal issues. While each market is unique due to state-specific regulations, Curio will get insight into how its therapeutic products perform in an adult use market through its new dispensary franchise Far & Dotter, which will open its first two out-of-state franchises in Mississippi and New Jersey, the latter of which has a brand-new adult use industry.

“Some of the knowledge we learn in these markets will be transferrable, but some will not because regulations vary by state,” Bronfein says. “But anything that has to do with how you engage with people and what the customer experience feels like is most likely transferrable.”

Additionally, the franchise owners will receive support from the $30-million Curio Wellness Investment Fund, which provides women, minorities, and disabled veterans access to startup capital and operational infrastructure with a three-year path to 100-percent ownership.

The idea to franchise first came up in 2018, just a year into the state’s medical cannabis program, Bronfein says. Curio’s team got to know the pain points for local dispensary owners while selling their wholesale products to 91 of the 93 dispensaries in the state. “As an operator, we saw it’s not as simple to run a dispensary as thinking, ‘I could own and run a retail store,’” she says. “It not only requires a great retailer, but also requires you are highly compliant to a series of regulations that don’t make it easy to do business, plus you have to be a world-class marketer to make your location what a customer is going to choose,” Bronfein explains.

The Curio Wellness Investment Fund is Curio’s response to conversations in the industry around the need for more diverse ownership. Together, Bronfein and the Curio team hope the franchise model and access to capital will provide needed resources to others looking to succeed in medical cannabis.

“It is more important to us to promulgate a brand and customer experience in this industry than to outright own the dispensary and the license,” Bronfein says. “To turn what we’re doing into a toolkit à la a franchise, or business-in-a-box, allows prospective entrepreneurs to step up, follow a playbook, receive a brand and operating toolkit, and become that owner in the dispensary every day leading a team and engaging customers as the face of the brand in the community.”

The potential for growth in both medical and adult-use cannabis programs will have a huge economic impact on the state through tax revenue and job creation.

“Many people get focused on the idea of the opportunity being rooted in the license that one person wins and reaps wealth off of, and obviously that’s a piece of the puzzle, but there are so many jobs and opportunities created through these career paths that can’t be ignored,” Bronfein says. “The medical program has been a massive catalyst for job creation and career development, and adding another layer with adult use creates a really strong economic agent for everyone in Maryland.”

Laura Barrett-Nutting, a registered nurse for more than 25 years who formerly worked for Johns Hopkins Medicine implementing an integrated, electronic medical record-keeping system, is just one example of someone whose career path has pivoted thanks to the state’s medical cannabis program.

“I wasn’t a cannabis user or cannabis advocate at all prior to 2016,” explains Barrett-Nutting, known professionally as “Nurse Laura.” Today, she is president and founder of the National Clinical Directors Consortium, which brings together cannabis clinical directors across the nation, as well as a consultant providing cannabis education and services to individual patients, dispensaries, and health care providers.

She found her way into the space when a friend asked her to serve as the medical advisor to a grow facility he was opening in Howard County. After some time and a lot of research, Barrett-Nutting agreed. Before starting her own business, Barrett-Nutting had experience in all sides of the local cannabis market, from growing and processing to distribution and retail. When consolidation in the medical cannabis industry resulted in Barrett-Nutting leaving the business, she put her skills to use where she saw a need in the market.

Maryland requires every dispensary to have a registered clinical director—a position that can be filled by a nurse, pharmacist, or doctor—available to provide training and education for dispensary staff. Barrett-Nutting established the National Clinical Directors Consortium in 2021 as a resource for clinical directors in Maryland to create reliable standards for patient care, improve dispensary staff education, and continue to advocate to reduce the stigma of cannabis. The group quickly expanded to support practitioners in this role beyond the state.

She points to the leveling out of the medical cannabis market and a surplus of product in Maryland as a challenge as adult-use programs loom over the industry.

Because cannabis use is illegal at the federal level, every product sold in the state must also be grown and processed locally. “In the beginning, we had no plant—we had nothing to sell. It was very hard to get the industry off the ground,” Barrett-Nutting says. “Now we’re in the opposite boat. Now the growers have a surplus. There’s more flower than we have patients to sell it to.

“Prices are coming down a little, but not a lot, because the cost of growing and processing is still high,” she continues. “When we started, we had all these projections going up and up, and now it’s kind of leveling off. You’re not having as many patients sign up.”

As of mid-October, Maryland was just shy of 160,000 registered medical cannabis patients, according to data from the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission (MMCC)—the state’s largest number to date. But as the market matures, it’s seeing a slower rate of growth over the last six months than the same period in prior years.

Launching an adult use program would reduce some barriers to cannabis use that currently exist with the medical program, including the red tape associated with registering as a patient and regulations preventing medical cannabis patients from buying or possessing a firearm.

However, Barrett-Nutting and some of her peers see challenges in the huge consumer education need that comes along with launching an adult use program.

“A concern is that any requirement for having some type of health care professional support at dispensaries might go away, and that patients, even people who are just shopping in adult use dispensaries, will accidentally get side effects from the things they purchase that are unintended,” she says.

If people aren’t properly educated about dosage, potential interactions with other drugs, and what to expect, she explains, they could get too high and have negative experiences.

In the fall, the MMCC conducted a patient survey to help prepare for public health measures in anticipation of adult use legalization. According to the MMCC, the survey is part of a broader research effort to inform future public health initiatives around cannabis use in the state. The survey assesses data on a variety of topics including product preferences and patterns of use, product efficacy and health outcomes, access and barriers to medical cannabis acquisition and consumption, and additional health and safety measures related to cannabis use and storage.

“The valuable information collected through the patient survey and these additional studies will be indispensable for planning future program and policy efforts to protect and safeguard consumers and the public,” said the MMCC chair Tiffany Randolph in a press release.

With good policies, there’s potential for thriving adult-use and medicinal cannabis programs to coexist, meeting the needs of different types of users.

Benefits to continuing as a medical patient in an adult use market include no or lower tax on the product to shorter lines. Additionally, Barrett-Nutting expects that medical dispensaries would offer a broader range of products.

“If they’re looking for some of the other more minor cannabinoids, the less intoxicating products, those will hopefully still be available in the medical market, whereas the adult use market will more likely have some of the fun and the higher-THC type of products,” she says, noting that the MMCC recently reduced the cost of the administrative fee and extended the card length for medical patients to further reduce barriers to entry. Plus, says Barrett-Nutting, medicinal users would have access to a health care professional for guidance. “For those reasons, it’ll make sense to stay a medical patient.”

RETAIL RESOURCES

Maryland is home to nearly 100 licensed medical cannabis dispensaries helping patients find the best therapeutic product for their needs. (List sourced from the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission.)

ALLEGANY COUNTY
Allegany Med Marijuana Dispensary
100 Beall St.
Cumberland, MD 21502

Grow West Cannabis Company
1096 W. Industrial Blvd.
Cumberland, MD 21502

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY
Gold Leaf
2029 West St.
Annapolis, MD 21401

Green Point Wellness
823-A Elkridge Landing Rd.
Linthicum, MD 21090

Greenlight Therapeutics
782 State Route 3 North, Suite A
Gambrillis, MD 21054

Mana Supply Company
3005 Solomons Island Rd.
Edgewater, MD 21037

Maryland Physician Partners
7609 Energy Parkway, Suite 901
Curtis Bay, MD 21225

Nature’s Medicines
1657 Crofton Blvd.
Crofton, MD 21114

Oceanside Cannabis
16 Magothy Rd.
Pasadena, MD 21122

BALTIMORE CITY

Blair Wellness Center
5806 York Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21212

Charm City Medicus, LLC
717 North Point Blvd.
Baltimore, MD 21224

Culta, LLC
215 Key Highway
Baltimore, MD 21230

Dr. Dots Dispensary
805 N. Howard St.
Baltimore, MD 21201

GreenLabs
1522 Eastern Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21231

Health for Life Baltimore
6807 Rolling Mill Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21224

Maggie’s
3317 Keswick Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21211

Pure Life Wellness
35 E. Cross St., Federal Hill
Baltimore, MD 21230

ReLeaf Shop
1114 Cathedral St., Suite 5
Baltimore, MD 21201

Star Buds
5975 Belair Road
Baltimore, MD 21206

Storehouse
5730 Falls Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21209

BALTIMORE COUNTY
Americana Dispensary
3531 Washington Blvd.,
Suite 112
Baltimore, MD 21227

Blue Ridge Wellness
9413 Harford Rd.
Parkville, MD 21234

The Botanist
7175 Security Blvd., Suite 102
Windsor Mill, MD 21244

Chesacanna
10534 York Rd.
Cockeysville, MD 21030

Chesapeake Health Sciences, LLC
102 Carroll Island Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21220

Curaleaf
11722 Reisterstown Rd.
Reisterstown, MD 21136

Curio Wellness
2060-A York Rd.
Timonium, MD 21093

Ethos Cannabis
6328 Baltimore National Pike
Baltimore, MD 21228

Health for Life White Marsh
4741 Ridge Rd.
Nottingham, MD 21236

Kip
9 Cranbrook Rd.
Cockeysville, MD 21030

The Living Room Company, LLC
1636 Reisterstown Rd.
Pikesville, MD 21208

Mana Middle River
100 Carroll Island Rd.
Middle River, MD 21220

Mission Catonsville
6328 Baltimore National Pike
Catonsville, MD 21228

Nirvana Center
5225 Baltimore National Pike
Baltimore, MD 21229

Oceans Dispensary
100 Carroll Island Rd.
Middle River, MD 21220

Temescal Wellness of MD LLC
1636 Reisterstown Rd.
Pikesville, MD 21208

Your Farmacy
1526 York Rd.
Lutherville, MD 21093

ZenLeaf
101 E. Chesapeake Ave.,
Suite 102
Towson, MD 21286

CALVERT COUNTY
Greenwave Maryland
10 Creston Ln., Ste 2
Solomons, MD 20688

CARROLL COUNTY
The Dispensary
330140 Village Rd.
Westminster, MD 21157

Herbology
700-K Corporate Center Ct.
Westminster, MD 21157

Verilife
700 Corporate Center Ct., Suite K
Westminster, MD 21157

CECIL COUNTY
Nature’s Care & Wellness
4925 Pulaski Hwy., Suite A
Perryville, MD 21903

PharmKent
330 East Pulaski Hwy., Suite B
Elkton, MD 21921

CHARLES COUNTY
Chesapeake Apothecary
4781 Crain Hwy., Suite A
White Plains, MD 20695

Dispensary Works
10766 DeMarr Rd., Suite 3A
White Plains, MD 20695

Zen Leaf Waldorf
2290 Old Washington Rd.,
Ste 12383
Waldorf, MD 20601

DORCHESTER COUNTY
Sunburst Pharm
603 Meteor Dr.
Cambridge, MD 21613

FREDERICK COUNTY
Euphoria Wellness
11717 Old National Pike
New Market, MD 21774

gLeaf Medical Cannabis
4606 Wedgewood Blvd.
Frederick, MD 21703

Green Goods
1080 West Patrick St.
Frederick, MD 21703

Kannavis
8709 Fingerboard Rd.
Frederick, MD 21702

Sweetbuds Dispensary
5312 New Design Rd.
Frederick, MD 21703

Wellness Institute of Maryland
4606 Wedgewood Blvd.
Frederick, MD 21703

HARFORD COUNTY
Four Green Fields, LLC
3518 Conowingo Rd.
Street, MD 21154

Rev Canna
3111 Emmorton Rd.
Abingdon, MD 21009

Rise-Joppa
702 Pulaski Hwy.
Joppa, MD 21085

True Wellness Aberdeen
226 S. Philadelphia Ave.
Aberdeen, MD 21061

HOWARD COUNTY
Green Point Wellness
116 Washington Blvd. South
Laurel, MD 20707

Greenhouse Wellness
4801 Dorsey Hall Dr., Suite 110
Ellicott City, MD 21042

Nature’s Medicines
10169 Baltimore National Pike
Ellicott City, MD 21042

Remedy
6656-E Dobbin Rd.
Columbia, MD 21045

Revolution ReLeaf
9994 Washington Blvd. North
Laurel, MD 20723

Trilogy
9291 Baltimore National Pike
Ellicott City, MD 21042

Zen Leaf
7221 Montevideo Rd., Suite 150
Jessup, MD 20794

MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Bloom Medicinals
11530 Middlebrook Rd.
Germantown, MD 20876

Columbia Care
4609 Willow Lane
Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Curaleaf Gaithersburg
10011 Stedwick Rd.
Gaithersburg, MD 20886

Elevate Takoma
6309A New Hampshire Ave.
Takoma Park, MD 20912

Ethos Cannabis
4007 Norbeck Rd., Unit A
Rockville, MD 20853

Grassroots
106 N. Frederick Ave.
Gaithersburg, MD 20877

gLeaf Medical Cannabis
808 Hungerford Dr.
Rockville, MD 20850

Harvest
12200-B Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852

Health For Life Bethesda
4909 Fairmont Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20814

Herbafi
8413 Ramsey Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Herbiculture
4009 Sandy Springs Rd.,
Unit 101
Burtonsville, MD 20866

Liberty
12001 Nebel St.
Rockville, MD 20852

MI Health
8355 Snouffer School Rd.
Gaithersburg, MD 20879

Peake ReLeaf
2001 Chapman Ave.
Rockville, MD 20852

Potomac Holistics
14808 Physicians Ln., Suite 212
Rockville, MD 20850

Rise Bethesda
10401 Old Georgetown Rd.,
Suite 210
Bethesda, MD 20814

Rise Silver Spring
7900 Fenton St.
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Sweetspot
18070 Georgia Ave.
Olney, MD 20832

Verilife
5544 Nicholson Ln.
Rockville, MD 20852

Zenity Wellness
811 Russell Ave., Suite C
Gaithersburg, MD 20878

Zen Leaf Germantown
13007 Wisteria Dr.
Germantown, MD 20874

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY
Altpharm
4710 Auth Place, Suite 595
Suitland, MD 20746

Haven
7501 Clymer Dr.
Brandywine, MD 20619

JOVA Wellness Center
5846 Allentown Way
Camp Springs, MD 20748

Mary and Main
8801 Hampton Mall Drive N.
Capital Heights, MD 20743

Medleaf
9520 Marlboro Pike,
Unit 103 & 104
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772

Salvera
4201 Northview Dr., Suite 100
Bowie, MD 20716

True Wellness Laurel
14703 Baltimore Ave., Suite B
Laurel, MD 20707

Waave Cannabis
7327 Hanover Ct., Suite A
Greenbelt, MD 20770

QUEEN ANNE’S COUNTY
Ash + Ember
202 Coursevall Dr., Suite 108
Centreville, MD 21617

ST. MARY’S COUNTY
Southern Maryland Relief
28105 Three Notch Rd.
Mechanicsville, MD 20659

WASHINGTON COUNTY
Maryland Heath & Wellness Center, Inc.
1571 Wesel Blvd.
Hagerstown, MD 21740

WICOMICO COUNTY
Peninsula Alternative Health
400 Snow Hill Rd.
Salisbury, MD 21804

WORCESTER COUNTY
Hi-Tide
12600 Marjan Ln., Unit 100
Ocean City, MD 21842

OC Botanicals, LLC
12600 Marjan Ln., Unit 100
Ocean City, MD 21842

Positive Energy
9939 Jerry Mack Rd., Suite 500
Ocean City, MD 21842

When the dogwood trees begin to bloom, and the blue crabs start their migration up the Chesapeake Bay, it’s time to head east, out of the city and onward to the Eastern Shore, then further, toward the ocean—stopping just short of those salty Atlantic waves. Take our word for it: Come May, there are few better fresh-air respites in the state of Maryland than the tiny town of Berlin.

Only a 10-mile drive from the Ocean City boardwalk, this hidden gem is a destination all its own, where visitors can revel in the slow pace, Main Street charm, and easy access to our favorite strand—the Assateague Island National Seashore—without the typical hordes or hub-bub of the beach.

We love it for its leafy, treelined streets, well-preserved Victorian architecture, and laid-back seaside vibes, thanks in part to a handful of young people who live here for its proximity to solid surfing. There’s also a vibrant seasonal farmers’ market, a coterie of cute shops, and an all-new museum dedicated to mermaids, making it worthwhile for a dreamy daytrip or entire weekend.

Whether you’re headed downy ocean, or just need a bucolic getaway, hop right off Route 50 and get to know Berlin, which everyone from Oprah to Esquire has named one of the best small towns in America. We can’t help but agree.

→ BLAST FROM THE PAST
Like many towns on the Eastern Shore, Berlin has a complicated history. Before European settlers colonized this region, what is now the town’s Main Street served as part of the migratory path for Native American tribes who traveled to Assateague to fish, hunt, and live during the warm-weather months.

By 1677, it would be gobbled up by the 300-acre Burley Plantation, where eventually the two-word name of a Colonial tavern, the Burleigh Inn, would be slurred together to create the town’s new name, as legend has it. By the 1790s, a village had formed with a livery stable and coach stop, though it wouldn’t be officially incorporated until 1868, after the end of the Civil War. Around this time, Berlin grew into a center of Shore commerce and a popular stop for tourists, located on a main road to Philadelphia and boasting more hotels than its neighboring Ocean City—then still just a quiet fishing town until a rail line connected it to the mainland in 1881.

. . . EVENTUALLY THE TWO-WORD NAME OF A COLONIAL TAVERN, THE BURLEIGH INN, WOULD BE SLURRED TOGETHER TO CREATE THE TOWN’S NEW NAME . . .

Not long after, three devastating fires leveled much of downtown Berlin, where its resurgent Victorian architecture remains meticulously maintained. Other styles abound as well, such as Georgian, Federal, and both Greek and Gothic Revival, garnering the town a National Register Historic District designation, with some 47 structures spanning two centuries of construction on its list of Historic Places. History buffs should plan to stay at the antique-chic Atlantic Hotel circa 1895, located in the heart of downtown with rooms and suites that harken back to its 19th-century heyday, such as four-poster wooden beds, vin- tage wallpaper, velvet chairs, and marble-top dressing tables.

Alternately, The Inn Berlin bed-and- breakfast offers a touch more modern amenities and Town & Country aesthetics. Located in a Victorian former farmhouse, circa 1898, it boasts organic cotton linens, claw-foot tubs, and flatscreen smart TVs, with fantastically fashionable pops of color and patterns throughout.

→ EPICUREAN ALLURE
When we think of food on the Eastern Shore, we tend to envision brown-paper crab feasts and pastoral farm stands peddling peak sweet corn and summer tomatoes. But Berlin has become a bit of a gourmet hot spot here, for those who know where to look.

It can probably be said that the Burley Oak Brewing Company put this whistle-stop—population 4,600—on the map when it opened its brewery in 2011. Started as a homebrewing hobby by Essex native Bryan Brushmiller, the tasting room has grown into a craft-beer mecca for suds lovers across the Mid-Atlantic, deemed some of the best beer in the state of Maryland for its outside-the-box brews made with local grains. You might have heard of its fan-favorite Sorry Chicky, a cheek-puckering sour in a neon-colored can. Grab a growler to go or stay for a flight in their outdoor biergarten.

But Burley isn’t the only booze game in town. Launched at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Buzz Meadery uses local honey, fruit, and even vegetables to handcraft high-quality meads and ciders with refreshingly dry finishes and a naturally gluten-free recipe, quickly becoming a local staple. These new-kids-on-the-block are nothing if not innovators. As last summer, they also opened the successful Berlin Commons, a community greenspace with pop-up markets throughout the year, where their products are sold.

At this point, don’t worry—there are some awesome options for soaking up your sips as well. Our first stop is always Gilbert’s Provisions, a hip charcuterie shop hawking artisan meats and cheeses, housemade pickles and fermented foods, and, if you’re lucky, a daily lunch special. Sometimes owner Toby Gilbert closes on short notice due to stellar surfing conditions at the nearby beaches, but when he’s around, expect elevated street fare like duck confit tacos and peach-braised pulled pork sandwiches. Just don’t leave without taking something home from the fridge: We recommend the fresh kimchi, weekly fish dip, and fermented garlic ranch dressing.

Down the street, the chef-owned Blacksmith offers gastropub dinner options for heftier fare, with an emphasis on local sourcing, wide-ranging culinary inspirations, and a full vegetarian and vegan menu. This time of year, order the soft-shell crabs, hauled in by local watermen, any way they make ’em.

A 10-minute drive will also take you to the locals-only best-kept-secret: Braddah Barney’s. Located in a West Ocean City strip mall, this hole-in-the-wall hangout touts perhaps the best Asian fusion this side of the Chesapeake, exuding the same easygoing, beach-bum ambience of Berlin, even with every seat in the house taken. Expect a short wait, but the chicken katsu sandwich is well worth it, with a juicy fried thigh, tangy bread-and-butter pickles, shredded lettuce, and spicy mayo on a locally made brioche bun. Their poke bowls are also a must, featuring fresh-daily, number-one-grade tuna with scallions and avocado. Picky eaters in the family? A kids menu features cheeseburgers we’d gladly eat.

If you’re craving a sweet-tooth fix, the Chez LoLo Pâtisserie would make Julia Child proud with its made-to-order French classics, from buttery croissants and decadent pain au chocolat to heavenly kouig-amann, available by pre-order for Saturday pick-up.

→ FUN AND GAMES
If there is one event to plan your visit around, it’s the weekly Berlin Farmers Market. From May through September, the lively Sunday morning ritual is a highlight of this convivial community, which includes a growing group of sustainably minded farmers and makers. It draws locals and tourists alike for its vetted vendors who fill the downtown streets with some of the Shore’s best products. Scoop a small-batch bottle of St. Michaels-distilled Lyon Rum. Savor a scratch-made slice from Mandala Pies of Vienna. Snag Certified Naturally Grown veggies from Splendid Earth Farm, out of Berlin, then stash away a hand-poured soy candle from Honey Water, which just opened its own adorable shop just down the street.

Want to keep the farm theme going? Just outside of town, take a tiny detour on your way home to purchase Worcester County-grown bouquets at Masterpiece Flower Farm, a woman-owned operation with a daily market stand featuring fabulous fresh-cut blooms.

Meanwhile, two new attractions beck- on visitors back to town. Open since last March, the all-new Mermaid Museum bottles the essence of its quaint and quirky Berlin: pint-sized, water-loving, and wonderfully whimsical. An interactive treasure trove of artifacts, oddities, and folklore, it’s an ode to those mythical half-human, half-fish creatures that have mesmerized us since childhood—and as a species, for eons. Learn about their ancient history and take a selfie in the Splash-esque bathtub.

For more theatrics, head around the corner to The Globe, the newly renovated gastro-theater from the folks at Burley Oak. Come for the barbecue and three unique bar concepts: the indoor pub-like main bar, the outside tiki cocktail patio, and the upstairs old-fashioned “library.” But truly, you’re here for the music, with a steady lineup of live concerts that bring the historic theater hall, circa 1917, back to its original glory. Expect up-and-coming national acts, as well as Maryland and Mid-Atlantic favorites, such as Annapolis’ indie-folk Pressing Strings and Baltimore’s bluegrass The Dirty Grass Players.

In true small-town fashion, Berlin also hosts a handful of annual Americana traditions to partake in. Be sure to plan a trip to coincide with the beloved Bathtub Race, now in its 32nd year, happening on June 10. Think of it like Hampden’s Toilet Bowl Races, with an evening parade followed by a different kind of porcelain flying down Main Street for the coveted Rubber Duck Cup. On August 6, the Peach Festival turns the town all afuzz, with thousands of visitors arriving for fresh peaches, peach preserves, peach ice cream, pie-eating contests, pie-baking contests, and all the businesses in on the fun with fruit- themed offerings throughout the day.

After bopping around downtown, from vinyl stores (Sound Storm Records) and indie bookshops (The Greyhound) to clothing boutiques (Fathom & Co.) and children’s toy emporiums (World of Toys), soak up the early days of spring by ambling around the picturesque neighborhoods and ogling their impressive magnolia, sycamore, and tulip poplar trees. After all, this is where 1999’s Runaway Bride was filmed, with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts.

AFTER ALL, THIS IS WHERE 1999’S RUNAWAY BRIDE WAS FILMED, WITH RICHARD GERE AND JULIA ROBERTS.

Soon enough, there will also be a new mural or statue of note to take in downtown, dedicated to another celebrity—this time a local one. Born in 1851, Berlin’s most famous son, Reverend Charles Albert Tindley, would go on to become one of the founding fathers of gospel music, credited with composing the iconic Civil Rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.” Approved this past August, the artwork’s exact medium and location are still in the planning stages.

→ TO THE BEACH
While there’s plenty of allure to Berlin being a salt-breeze getaway without the beach hassle during the off-season—aka before Memorial Day and after Labor Day, though those lines have blurred a bit thanks to COVID—there’s no reason to not take a quick jaunt and dip your toes in the Atlantic Ocean.

Of course, Baltimore knows Ocean City, and Berlin is directly due southwest of the love-it-or-hate-it resort town, which, during its summer peak, becomes the second largest city in the state of Maryland. Following Route 50 across Assawoman Bay, it’s a straight shot to the beginning of the boardwalk, where you can stock up on Fisher’s Popcorn and Dolle’s saltwater taffy, sate your sodium intake at Thrasher’s French Fries, and try your hand at the Skee-Ball lanes and claw machines of Fun City Arcade.

For our druthers, we head slightly southwest to Assateague, also located just 20 minutes from Berlin. A pedestrian-friendly bridge brings you to this magical barrier island, whose white sand dunes and seaside wildflowers feel like a world away from the Land of Pleasant Living.

Home to both an oceanfront state park and National Parks Service-run seashore, its protected terrain is perfect for biking, beachcombing, surfing, and spotting the island’s wild horses, which are said to have first arrived in the region after a Spanish shipwreck in the 1600s. Beware, they’ve been known to bite and break into coolers. But still, while you’re all the way out there, we suggest that you bring your camping gear. Should reservations be available, this is one of the state’s best places to sleep under the stars.

Gone are the days of the bookie, those unseen characters who took bets from gamblers on pay-phones or in shady backrooms at horse tracks.  Today, sports betting looks different—fancy, welcoming, and public.

Walk onto the carpeted casino floor at Live! Casino & Hotel in Arundel Mills, for instance. Over the tops of the slot machines and in prime real estate, a giant blue sign for FanDuel, one of the country’s top sports betting brands, stands out above a row of betting windows. And below 40 high-def televisions mounted above a fully stocked bar, there are more chances to try other wagering machines. This is the setting of Sports & Social, a $12-million, 200-plus-seat upscale sports bar that opened in April—and is about to become one of the state’s first legal sports betting venues.

“We’re ready,” says Rob Norton, president of Live! and Cordish Global Gaming, pictured, taking a seat at a high-top table overlooking the 13,000-square-foot space, with its dining booths, royal blue Bud Light taps, and largest TV tuned to the NFL Network. “Once the state processes are done, we’re ready to go.”

Of course, it’s been legal to wager on sports in Las Vegas since 1949. But recently, nearly 30 other states have adopted the practice. And now Maryland is hopping on the gravy train, too. Possibly by the end of the year—and in time for the NFL playoffs come January—the state will offer anyone 21 and over the chance to win or lose money legally gambling on sporting events at licensed venues like Sports & Social and the soon-to-come Caesars Sportsbook at the downtown Horseshoe Casino. (Legal online betting will come later.)

Similar to how marijuana lost its fully illegal status in the state a decade ago, voters overwhelmingly supported the idea of legal sports betting during the state elections of November 2020, passing a referendum that authorized it as long as a portion of the revenue would be used to fund public education. In May 2021, Governor Larry Hogan signed that legislation into law. Sports betting revenue will be taxed at 15 percent, with a projected $15 million or more each year to be invested in state schools.

In August, a new state commission said 17 businesses would be eligible for Class A retail sports wagering licenses—like the major casinos, as well as pro sports venues (although no sports books are planned at any of the stadiums yet), plus horse-racing facilities, off-track betting venues, and two commercial bingo halls. On November 18, the Sports Wagering Application Review Commission said five venues—Live!, the Horseshoe, MGM National Harbor, Hollywood Casino, and Ocean Downs Casino—could go live with in-person betting in 30 to 45 days, pending testing of systems with the state, including live demonstrations.

“We’re excited about it,” says Norton, who grew up in the Bahamas and Atlantic City as the son of a casino pioneer. “We expect that we’ll see a new crowd in here.”

[Editor’s Note: The following pieces were published as part of the Top Dentists package from our June 2021 issue. View more, and browse the list of winners, here.]

Early last May, roughly two months after the start of Maryland’s stay- at-home order, Governor Larry Hogan announced that elective dental procedures could begin to resume. Days later, the orthodontic offices of Issacs, Nawy, Stern and Isaacs would reopen. But patients returning for routine checkups would find that a few things had changed since their last visits.

“A lot of orthodontic practices are set up as an open-bay-type area,” says Dr. Jessie Isaacs, who treats patients at the Baltimore County-based practice’s Bel Air, Timonium, and Perry Hall locations. “Most of our offices are laid out like that, but with COVID, this posed a really big set of challenges for us. We had to figure out a way to maintain social distancing, and to keep patients safe.”

Luckily, her father, Dr. Robert Isaacs—affectionately referred to as the “office carpenter”—spent several years working in construction before switching career paths to become an orthodontist. Together, a month before the practice reopened, he and Isaacs installed a series of hanging partitions in each of its office’s clinics. Constructed using plexiglass roofing panels, the partitions span from floor to ceiling to divide patient chairs, which Isaacs says each have “their own kind of cubicle-type feel.”

The patient chairs receive multiple cleanings throughout each day in accordance with CDC guidelines, and laundry machines were installed in the offices to wash and dry reusable lab coats. These are worn by the dentists—all twice vaccinated—in addition to extra layers of personal protective equipment (PPE).

“We’re still doing double masks. We do an N95 mask with a surgical mask overtop of that,” says Isaacs. “Depending on what we’re doing, a lot of times, we’ll either wear face shields, or just big eyewear. And we do a surgeon cap, so our hair is pulled back. It’s definitely a lot of stuff.”

Across Maryland, more than a year since COVID-19 flipped life on its axis indefinitely, dental practitioners are more vigilant than ever when it comes to preventing transmission of the virus.

In office reception areas, plexiglass barriers separate front desk staff and patients, who are required to undergo screening for COVID-19 symptoms outside before entering. There are no longer magazines to occupy masked patients waiting in socially distanced seating areas, but plenty of ultra-violet air purifiers (which cost around $400 a pop) and even, in some cases, fogging machines, with chemicals that trap and inactivate viruses.

“Putting these things into place probably cost $10-20,000 for a lot of offices,” says Dr. Eric Morse, regional director of The American Academy of General Dentistry.

The Perryville-based dentist estimates that items such as N95 masks, gloves, and gowns “cost anywhere from three to six times more than what they did prior to the pandemic. It adds up very quickly.”

However costly and wasteful—most, if not all, PPE is tossed after patient contact—research shows that investments in virus prevention have more than paid off for dentists. A study published by the American Dental Association (ADA) found that fewer than one percent of dentists nationwide tested positive for COVID-19 last year. Based on data compiled in June 2020, in which nearly 22,000 dentists were surveyed, the study also found that 99 percent of offices were taking increased disinfection measures.

So, is it finally safe to start scheduling fillings and routine teeth cleanings again?

“I would say it’s very safe,” says Dr. George Shepley, Fourth District Trustee for the ADA. “The good news is this: Between the ADA and CDC research, there haven’t been any real known transmissions of corona between patients and staff in a dental office,” Shepley adds. “We’re all getting busier and people feel way more comfortable coming in.”

He says that attendance saw a momentary dip during last year’s winter COVID spike. However, last summer, Shepley notes that most dentists had begun to treat 85 percent of their patients. According to the North American Dental Group, a case study published around this time found that 65 percent of respondents had plans to visit their dentist before the end of 2021.

“I think because of the nature of dentistry, where you tend to see patients every six months, you kind of develop a rapport with them,” Morse says. “Once they’re comfortable with your office, they know that you do take their safety and their health into consideration.”

Nonetheless, despite the emergence of vaccines, which have mostly proven to be effective, many still err on the side of caution when it comes to re-entering public spaces.

“For some patients, we’re the first place that they’ve really gone to outside of their houses,” says Dr. Morgan Barker Hurwitz, a periodontist at Feldman, Slevin, Hurwitz & Choe in Towson (and Baltimore’s advisor on its 2021 Top Dentist survey). “A lot of these people haven’t gone to the store. And we’re asking them not only to leave their houses and go somewhere, but to open their mouths and noses and uncover themselves so that they’re vulnerable.”

But to reassure patients, Hurwitz tells them that dentists have always been cautious—and now more so with COVID. “We always treat everyone as if they could be a potential source of transmission of something. We’re going through every precaution that we’ve always taken, but now we’ve ramped it up even more.”

According to Shepley, these measures show no signs of loosening up in the near future. “COVID is not going to go away. Even if we get some herd immunity at this point, I think the feeling is that there will be other variants that come out,” the dentist says.

For now, this means that at Isaacs’ practice, the pandemic partitions will be staying put. So will the double layers of PPE, which make things hot—and fog up her glasses.

“But at this point, I’m so used to it,” she says. “I feel like I’d be naked if I didn’t have it all on, you know? It was weird for a while, but now it’s just kind of a way of life.”

Tooth Pain? You Can Blame COVID for That, Too.

Survey finds stress-related dental conditions continue to increase.

By Rebecca Kirkman

For most of us, an ongoing side effect of the coronavirus pandemic has been added stress—from genuine health concerns to the near impossibility of maintaining a work-life balance to the anxiety that comes with frontline jobs. That additional stress can show up in our bodies in many ways—especially in our mouths.

In a March study by the American Dental Association (ADA), more than 70 percent of dentists reported seeing an increase of patients experiencing teeth grinding and clenching, conditions often associated with stress. That’s an increase of 10 percent from a survey conducted last September.

“The increase over time suggests stress-related conditions have become substantially more prevalent since the onset of COVID-19,” says Marko Vujicic, Ph.D., chief economist and vice president of the ADA Health Policy Institute.

Board-certified periodontist Dr. Kyong Choe has witnessed the increase in symptoms with patients at his combined-specialty practice in Towson.

“Some patients are coming in saying the whole side of my face hurts,” Choe says.

The sudden onset of headaches or generalized pain in certain areas of the mouth can be symptoms of clenching, he explains. It’s one of several effects of parafunction—i.e., any habits outside of the normal chewing and swallowing, including stress-induced jaw clenching, tooth grinding, or nail biting.

“Looking at the group of patients who historically wouldn’t have a night guard or didn’t need one, we started to prescribe more of them than usual,” Choe says.

While appliances like mouth guards can help address the habit at night, they don’t modify behaviors during the day. “A lot of it is behavior management,” Choe says. “If you’re clenching and grinding at work, or at home dealing with the kids and trying not to fight with your spouse, you have to realize your teeth shouldn’t be touching, period. There are muscle exercises we tell people to do when they have the symptoms. It’s like physical therapy.”

While the pandemic has compounded the existing dental anxiety for some patients, Choe urges those with any pain or concerns not to wait to contact their dentist. Many practices, including Choe’s, now offer teledentistry appointments to triage the issue over the phone to determine if and when an in-person appointment is necessary.

“Don’t let it sit,” Choe adds. “Dentistry is not one of those things where an issue will resolve itself. It will stay the same or get worse.”

olleges often act as tiny cities, microcosms that serve as a reflection of society as a whole. When COVID-19 shut down Maryland in March, college campuses across the state became small ghost towns, with students moving back home, taking classes online, and staff working remotely.

For those who couldn’t leave—international students, mostly—designated quarantine halls were arranged in dormitories for anyone who displayed coronavirus symptoms and isolation halls for those who tested positive. Dining halls moved to carryout, and social activities were reinvented and largely moved to online gatherings (though McDaniel College got pretty creative when its soccer team wore inflatable body-bumper bubbles).

COVID-19 task forces formed, everyone had to be tested for the virus before returning to campus, and many schools adopted sentinel, or surveillance, testing, meaning a random selection of students are tested periodically to catch any emerging asymptomatic cases.

Some students even found themselves researching coronavirus, led by science and health professors.

Discord servers, where students could create and find new virtual communities, went up. Apps were developed for social events and campus dining meal reservations. Outdoor tented areas were erected for classes, pavilions utilized, and large theaters, dining halls, and study areas converted into more spacious classrooms. The era of COVID-19 has meant limited capacity in dorms and no roommates or visitors, and some schools have eliminated fall and spring breaks to limit students’ exposure to additional people.

COVID-19 has affected every aspect of college life—from the admissions process to classroom learning, socializing, dining, and receiving medical care and counseling services. By the end of the fall 2020 semester, schools had adapted to their new modus operandi, but many had not yet solidified plans for spring, knowing they’d need flexibility based on how well Maryland was handling the pandemic.

The learning curve when pivoting to online classes was often more challenging for faculty than students—in fact, most schools provided extensive training for faculty throughout the summer of 2020 so they could learn various programs and approaches to virtual teaching.

“We’re talking about a digital generation, a generation of students that was born in 1999, 2000, 2001, a generation that’s never not had cell-phone reception,” says Goucher College president Kent Devereaux. “The internet has never not been there. This is a generation that’s grown up with digital media in all its forms for their entire formative existence.”

After adopting virtual classes and meetings, faculty and staff across the state agree that they’ll continue to use these new technologies post-pandemic, for their convenience and ability to connect people in any geographical location. Schools have also found that virtual counseling services are typically preferred to in-person sessions by students, who already live a large portion of their lives in the digital world and enjoy therapy in the comfort of their own home.

Colleges became better equipped to handle emergency situations, too, and in addition to learning the benefits of virtual classes, they saw the advantages in opening additional outdoor, open-air classrooms and study spaces.

Among the chaos and hardships, the pandemic brought with it a few silver linings.

Bowie State University

Bowie State University in Prince George’s County began with a mission to provide educational opportunities for Black citizens and, more than a century after opening, has consistently ranked among the best HBCUs in the country, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as specialty certificates and doctoral programs. It also has a solid reputation for being one of the best values around. For the 20/21 school year, tuition for in-state students is $4,222 per term, including all fees.

Frostburg State University

For those who want to escape to the Appalachian Mountains while still benefitting from the low cost of in-state tuition, Frostburg State University in Western Maryland offers more than 100 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs, as well as miles of wilderness areas nearby to explore. On that note, its online M.S. in Recreation & Parks Management is ranked the No. 2 most affordable program in the U.S. by GetEducated.com.

Loyola University Maryland

Loyola University is a liberal arts school nestled along North Charles Street in an 81-acre wooded campus. The school prides itself on its small student-to-teacher ratio in its undergraduate and graduate programs. It’s also known nationally for Apprentice House Press, a publishing company run almost entirely by Loyola students.

Morgan State University

Located in Northeast Baltimore, Morgan State University is the largest HBCU in Maryland and offers bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate, and online programs. It’s well-ranked as a public research university, and its specialized degrees include an M.A. in African-American Studies and an Ed.D. in Urban Educational Leadership. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Morgan State University a National Treasure.

Salisbury University

For those who want to be close to the ocean, Salisbury University offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs at its campus in Salisbury, about a 40-minute drive from Ocean City. In 2020, Money magazine named it one of “America’s Best Colleges”

Stevenson University

Stevenson University, formerly Villa Julie College, is a liberal arts school with three campuses in Baltimore County. It offers bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and pre-professional programs, as well as its Bachelor’s to Master’s option, which allows students to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years.

University of Baltimore

The University of Baltimore is situated in Mount Vernon, a Baltimore neighborhood rich in art, architecture, and history. UB has gained a solid reputation for its law and business programs, but it offers a wide spectrum of undergraduate and graduate degrees and doctoral programs, with an intense focus on connecting students to community and jobs, ensuring a sustainable career path post-graduation.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland

A state institution that was founded in 1840, St. Mary’s College of Maryland has an undergraduate enrollment of about 1,500. Located on 361 acres in rural Southern Maryland, it’s ranked among the top 100 in the 2021 edition of U.S. News and World Report’s Best Liberal Arts Colleges. Its degree programs are wide-ranging, from the disciplines you’d expect to programs such as African and Asian studies; astrophysics; neuroscience; religious studies; special education; theater, film, and media studies; and women, gender, and sexuality issues.

West Virginia University

This state college is located in historic Morgantown, a charming and manageable town of 30,000 year-round residents surrounded by mountains, forests, rivers, and streams. It offers a wide range of degree programs, numbering over 130, from accounting, aerospace engineering, and art history to biomedical engineering, dance, acting, and Chinese studies. Other majors include fashion, finance, forensic examiner, and French.

Coppin State University

Coppin State University, founded in 1900, is an HBCU and a member institution of the University System of Maryland, set on 65 acres in the urban Mondawmin neighborhood of Baltimore.

The school offers 53 majors that span the arts and sciences, teacher education, business, social and behavioral sciences, nursing, and graduate studies.

Students come from across America and around the world to study there, representing 30 states and 25 countries.

In 2020, the school was named the No. 4 Best HBCU in the nation by College Consensus and No. 5 Best Value for online programs by Online School Center.

Like other schools, Coppin switched to online learning in March and then adopted a hybrid model in response to COVID, allowing students to be on campus if physical presence was required for a course, while all lecture classes were held remotely.

“We’d been following the events [regarding COVID] for weeks and having preliminary talks to prepare . . . so when it was upgraded to an epidemic, and then a pandemic, that’s when we started implementing plans that we’d been discussing,” says Angela Galeano, CSU’s chief of staff and project manager of the university’s COVID-19 Task Force. “By the second week of March, we had a pretty good idea of how to move forward—how to test, how to meet any increase on demand in IT and ensure everyone had access to technology . . . we like to be proactive.”

The task force, comprised of faculty, staff, and students, outlined multiple plans that are contingent on where Maryland is at with the pandemic and its rate of infection. Residence halls, for instance, would stay open at 50-percent capacity or 33-percent capacity, depending on the percentage of cases in the state. The meal plan for those living on campus was carryout only, which began on March 9.

“The majority of feedback through all this has been positive—from students, faculty, and staff,” Galeano says. “It’s been all hands on deck. Everybody has been really good about coming together to make sure we had our students covered with everything they needed.”

Size of student body: 2,724 Student to faculty ratio: 1:13 Annual tuition: $8,744 in state, $15,141 out of state Acceptance rate: 37 percent Popular areas of study: Nursing, business, biology, education, and criminal justice; rehabilitation graduate program

Goucher College

Goucher College, a small, liberal arts school in Towson, has been long known for its innovative approaches—not just in education but in campus life, sustainability, and its commitment to study-abroad programs. So it may come as no surprise that when faced with challenges due to coronavirus, Goucher has been one of the most proactive schools in the state.

In addition to providing testing for anyone entering campus and installing plexiglass where needed, they were the third college in America to implement wastewater testing, hiring the Rockville-based company CosmosID to install it.

They were also lucky to have invested in tremendous upgrades to technology on campus, making them better equipped to handle the change to remote learning. In January 2019, they’d upgraded all their Wi-Fi systems.

“Other small, liberal arts colleges had been resisting the move to [online learning]. We were incredibly fortunate,” says Goucher president Kent Devereaux.

Faculty got creative and innovative, too. Elizabeth Ahearn, for instance, chair of the dance department at Goucher, began teaching barre classes via Zoom from her kitchen. Some classes were held outdoors, and campus theaters were converted into classroom space.
“We’re making lemonade out of lemons,” Devereaux says.

As for their study-abroad program, it’s temporarily on hiatus.

“We require students to go abroad but waived that requirement this year,” Devereaux says. “But we’re not going to change our commitment to this. If anything, this pandemic has shown us how connected we all are. We live in a global world.”

Size of student body: 1,114 undergraduate students only Average class size: 16 Annual tuition: $47,100 Acceptance rate: 79 percent Popular areas of study: psychology, business management, communication, bio-sciences, sociology/anthropology

The Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University is a massive entity in Baltimore and has a solid reputation for its public-health and medical studies, as well as its world-renowned conservatory, Peabody Institute, in Mount Vernon.

As the first research university in the U.S. and with a heavy bent toward the sciences, it’s no wonder that JHU tracked the pandemic closely and, as provost Sunil Kumar told students in November, followed “all state and local COVID safety regulations and executive orders, as well as the advice of our own experts in public health and infectious diseases.”

JHU campuses went largely virtual in 2020, in response to the pandemic, with limited on-campus, low-density activities. Even if they remain virtual in the spring, they will expand their asymptomatic testing program to help protect the community and surrounding neighbors, as many students remain in Baltimore.

Amanda Hinton, a junior studying environmental engineering at JHU, returned home to California in March and struggled with not just the difference in time zones (one of her discussion-based classes started at 6 a.m. Pacific time) but also her dietary needs, as she has celiac disease and was suddenly sharing a kitchen with her family again, none of whom eat gluten-free, as she does.

Hinton became an RA during the fall 2020 semester—quite the extraordinary time to start in that role—and moved back onto campus in Baltimore, though the landscape had certainly changed.

“This semester has felt a lot more normal than last . . . but social life has definitely been a big adjustment. It can feel so isolating,” she says. “Some of my freshmen [in the dorm] haven’t had the experience of meeting people at the dining hall or in the dorms or joining clubs. It’s hard to make friends in online classes, where you can’t have side conversations with the person sitting next to you.”

She and other campus residents have found new ways to connect. As an RA, she’ll host Zoom parties, where she’ll hand out clay beforehand, and everyone builds sculptures together—but separately, in their own dorm rooms—or each resident will get a set of stuff like tea bags and facial masks for spa night, where they can hang out online.

Like many, Hinton has found her own positives amid the challenges.

“In the past, if I had a question about a homework problem, I wouldn’t want to walk all the way across campus to ask the TA a question during office hours. Now it’s easy to do that [virtually], so I’ve been doing that a lot more, and it’s helped my grades,” she says. “There are pockets of normalcy and a lot of silver linings.”

Size of student body: 29,091 Average class size: 24 Annual undergraduate tuition: $51,077 to $54,160 Acceptance rate for the class of 2024: 9.2 percent Popular areas of study: public health studies, international studies, neuroscience

McDaniel College

McDaniel College has the benefit of being located in a bucolic, countryside setting in rural Carroll County, while remaining in close proximity to Baltimore City, just a 45-minute drive from campus, giving students the best of both worlds.

Formerly called Western Maryland College, the liberal arts college closed campus in March in response to the pandemic, but opened back up to about 60 students over the summer for the school’s annual McDaniel Local event, which connects new students with local business owners to help build roots within the community that they’ll call home for the next four years.

“There were no other campuses, that we knew of, that were engaging in summer programming, but we really wanted these first-year students to be on campus so that even if they stayed online, they’d have that initial experience,” says McDaniel provost Julia Jasken, who also led the school’s Return to the Hill Taskforce to help plan how to navigate COVID. The summer orientations “gave us the opportunity to see how all our health and safety protocols worked,” she says. “It’s one thing to bring 60 students back for a couple days in the summer; it’s another thing to bring 1,200 students back. And it was a really wonderful experience.”

Despite a small downward trend in enrollment across the nation in 2020, McDaniel welcomed its largest incoming first-year class in the college’s history in the fall, with almost 85 percent of freshmen opting to live on campus. The school broke its 1,800-mark in undergraduate enrollment for the first time.

In conjunction with students returning to campus in the fall, the school unveiled its newly renovated and renamed Roj Student Center in the center of campus, a $11-million project that expanded the space by 2,328 square feet and added a green rooftop terrace and new college store.

Size of student body: 1,818 undergraduates; 1,211 graduate students Average class size: 15 Annual tuition: $45,876 Acceptance rate: 70 percent Popular areas of study: undergraduate programs in kinesiology, business administration, psychology, sociology, biology; graduate programs including Administrator I Certificate, Master of Science in Innovations in Teaching & Learning, Equity & Excellence in Education Certificate, Master of Science in School Counseling, and Master of Science in School Librarianship

Smartasset.com ranks the top 10 best-value schools in the state based on tuition, cost of living, and average starting salary post-college:

1. Johns Hopkins University
2. University of Maryland-College Park
3. University of Maryland-Baltimore County
4. Loyola University Maryland
5. Towson University
6. Frostburg State University
7. Salisbury University
8. Morgan State University
9. Bowie State University
10. University of Maryland-Eastern Shore

Whether you want to gain a new skill or explore one of your hobbies or areas of interest more deeply, community colleges are a convenient and affordable starting point for continuing-education classes. Four-year colleges and universities offer myriad continuing-education courses, too, and with multiple schools in the region, you can choose courses that span everything from paranormal studies to pottery.

Our Picks:

Anne Arundel Community College

Conversational Sign Language, Fall and Winter Vegetable Gardening, and Introduction to Zentangle, a relaxing way to be creative.

Community College of Baltimore County

Thai cooking classes, paranormal phenomena (including Ghost Studies, Tarot Card Reading, and Astrology), and courses in home improvement for those projects you want to tackle while spending more time at home.

CCBC Catonsville

Jewelry Soldering, Dog Obedience Training, and Basic Belly Dancing (to stay in shape and have some fun in the process).

MICA

Ceramics, quilting, portrait drawing, Design Your Personal Brand, plus classes to learn Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, for Baltimore’s creative community.

Montgomery College

UGotClass “Skills for the 21st Century” offers a suite of courses in human resources, management, marketing, professional developments, and social media, for the changing landscape of businesses.

Maryland Institute College of Art

Creativity practically bursts through the seams of Maryland Institute College of Art in Station North. Artists from all over the world, across all genres and disciplines, come together to study and inspire one another at the oldest independent, continuously degree-granting colleges of art and design in the U.S.

The school’s MFA programs were ranked No. 3 in graphic design, No. 3 in sculpture, and No. 4 in painting and drawing in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

MICA switched to an entirely virtual learning experience in March, and students moved off campus or returned home. But that didn’t stop them from creating art.

The college ran a suite of services (such as fabrication service bureaus, equipment checkout, and curbside library services for faculty) to support remote instruction and provided students with small awards of $300 each to establish their own “portable practices” wherever they were located.

MICA also partnered with Open Works to help create face masks and face shields with their 3D printers in the early days of the pandemic, while professors encouraged students to get creative with items they had on hand, as some had limited access to supplies.
“Professors, instructors, and staff have found new and innovative ways to engage students,” says David Bogen, provost and vice president for academic affairs, “including ways of making works of art and artifacts wherever they are in the world. . . . This idea of art and design work as ‘portable practices’ is something we are teaching as a professional skill.”

Juan Noguera, for instance, a professor in MICA’s Product Design program, created a series of modules for designing and building objects with materials and resources available to students in different locations. One project tasked students with creating a light fixture to be fabricated using laser cutting. Rather than using plywood, students created full-scale cardboard models of their ideas at home, which allowed them to experience how panels had to be assembled, the type of joints they needed, and how much material was needed for their design.

“The pandemic has caused us to need to reinvent our entire enterprise on a new set of platforms and practices,” Bogen says. “We have learned tons about our past ways of doing things and our assumptions about how even the most basic forms of social and professional life—the meeting, for instance—are organized.

“One of the most important things is how easy it is to bring together people from all over the world almost instantaneously to share in common events,” he adds. “The technology for doing this existed before the pandemic, but we weren’t doing this work, or planning for it, on a routine basis. Now, if I want to access an amazing artist or designer halfway around the world, I don’t need to wait for months and months until they can join us; I just send them a note, and they’re in class the next day.”

Size of student body: 3,500 Student-faculty ratio: 8:1 Annual tuition: $50,330 Acceptance rate: 64 percent Popular areas of study: illustration, graphic design, intermedia/multimedia, digital arts, painting

Notre Dame of Maryland University

Situated in northern Baltimore, Notre Dame of Maryland University is a private, Catholic liberal arts university offering certificate, undergraduate, graduate, and Ph.D. programs through its three colleges, including the only women’s college in Maryland.

The intimate, wooded campus became even quieter in March, when most classes moved entirely online as part of a comprehensive plan created by a university task force in response to the pandemic, and all athletics were suspended.

Remote learning continued through the end of 2020, except for a limited number of pharmacy and nursing labs, where in-person instruction was required.

Christian Kendzierski, associate vice president of university communications, says the school plans to continue with this arrangement during its spring 2021 semester, but Women’s College students will have the option for in-person, on-campus learning as well as remote learning for all programs, and residential hall capacities will also be increased.

Size of student body: 783 undergraduates Student-faculty ratio: 7:1 Annual tuition: $39,675 Acceptance rate: 88 percent Popular areas of study: nursing, education, biology, art therapy, pharmacy

Towson University

Perhaps the most dramatic pandemic-related scare at a Maryland college came in late summer 2020, when Towson had to abruptly cancel its plans to open campus for the fall semester and instead move to remote learning, after an alarming number of students who’d planned to return to campus tested positive for COVID.

In a matter of a few days, college staff and faculty shifted gears and rearranged and reframed what the semester would look like for the more than 20,000 students at its Towson campus—the second largest university in the state, after the University of Maryland-College Park. Part of the University System of Maryland, the school will remain fully remote in the spring.

“We’ve done a lot of virtual programming through the health center, which includes our counseling center, to provide some best practices and ways to help students manage all the different pieces they’re dealing with,” says Sean Welsh, interim vice president of university marketing and communications. “A lot of student organizations and affinity groups have gotten very creative in the way that they gather and continue to stay in touch and find a community in the midst of all this.”

Meanwhile, their main dining hall had been under renovation and was ready to reopen in the fall of 2020, but with limited dining venues, it instead reopened as a temporary study space during the pandemic, with huge windows that open up to a wooded area. Additional outdoor areas were created, too, and, in the spring, a new quad with outdoor seating and gathering space will open, a project that began prior to the pandemic but now seems prophetic.

“We learned a great deal this fall, not just how to operate a university in a pandemic, but how our students, faculty, and staff can adapt to challenging times,” Welsh says.

Size of student body: 18,730 undergraduate and 3,187 graduate students Average class size: 26 undergraduate students Annual tuition: $23,871 in-state; $38,007 out of state Acceptance rate: 79 percent for first-time freshmen, 90 percent for incoming transfer students, and 70 percent for graduate students Popular areas of study: undergraduate programs in business administration, nursing, psychology, biology, computer science and graduate programs in instructional technology, reading education, teaching, transformational educational leadership, and applied information technology

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

University of Maryland, Baltimore County sits on the Baltimore County line, offering students easy access to the city, as well as all the conveniences of suburban life. The large campus of more than 10,000 students went virtual in March and then to partial in-person, partial-remote classes in the fall.

Enrollment was down just 0.8 percent compared to fall 2019, while the graduate student population increased by 0.9 percent, and during the fall semester, 123 near-completers re-enrolled at UMBC after a period of absence through the school’s Finish Line initiative, taking advantage of the increased availability of online courses to finish their degrees. The students returned after a decade away from college, and some graduated as early as December.

Gabby Khan, a junior studying computer science at UMBC and an RA, said friends at UMBC and at other schools in the area decided not to return for the fall semester because they thought they wouldn’t receive the same kind of education in a virtual setting.

“I thought about it for about a day, but personally, I didn’t feel the need to take a break,” Khan says. “UMBC was giving its all, and I was still able to learn and do projects and get decent grades.

“I haven’t seen my friends a lot in person . . . but I virtually call my friends every day,” she says. “Everyone has made Discord servers to talk on, share pictures, and people can just be on the voice call—so people will see who’s on and go join them and chat about school or that kind of thing.”

She’s also joined events on campus, like socially distanced bingos, movie nights, and the annual hackUMBC hack-a-thon, a virtual tech marathon weekend when students build mobile, web, and hardware products. Some students made a Discord office-hour bot that teachers and TAs can use—which might be eventually implemented by professors.

Size of student body: 10,932 undergraduate and 2,565 graduate Student/faculty ratio: 17:1 Annual tuition: $9,420 in-state, $25,054 out of state Acceptance rate: 69 percent Popular areas of study: computing (computer science, computer engineering, information systems), biological sciences, social sciences (particularly psychology), and visual and performing arts

The summer heat has finally eased up, and a pre-holiday autumn glow has swept over Charm City. You can smell it on the crisp morning air, taste it in a rich apple cider, and hear it in leaves crunching underfoot. Whether you’re looking for some family fun, a new neighborhood to explore with friends, or just want to take in the fresh fall foliage, check out these events to ring in the season right.

FALL FESTIVALS

OCT. 11-13: SUGARLOAF CRAFT FESTIVAL
Maryland State Fairgrounds, 2200 York Rd. Timonium-Lutherville, MD 21093. $8-$10.
Meet the artists at this craft festival dedicated to hand-made works, featuring everything from ceramics and metal-work to fine paintings. Hundreds of exhibitors will show off their wares to the soundtrack of live music, and there will be plenty of tasty local food and activities for kids.

OCT. 12: CANTON FALL FESTIVAL
Patterson Park. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free.
For downtown Baltimoreans who need an escape, get lost in Patterson Park during this second-annual day of fall festivities. There will be live music, food trucks, beverage gardens, and kids activities, as well as an enticing Moscow Mule drink package.

OCT. 12-13: FELLS POINT FUN FESTIVAL
Broadway & Thames Sts. Times vary. Free.
Celebrate the historic beauty of Fells Point framed by an autumn explosion of colorful leaves. Enjoy dozens of drink options, shopping at local retailers, and two live music stages—one of which will be headlined by alt-rockers Gin Blossoms.

OCT. 18-20: FALL MARYLAND HOME AND GARDEN SHOW
Maryland State Fair Grounds, 2200 York Rd., Timonium, MD 21093. Free-$9.
Whether you’re just looking to spruce up your home’s decor with some fall flair, or you’re preparing for a total renovation, browse 300 home improvement exhibitions at this can’t-miss home and garden show.

OCT. 26-27: FALL FESTIVAL AT RYE STREET TAVERN
Rye Street Tavern, 13 Rye St. Free.
The Port Covington restaurant is transforming its waterfront into a fall wonderland complete with hay bales, lawn games, live music, and plenty of hot dogs and hamburgers to go around. Parents can sip whiskey cocktails from the outdoor bar while watching their little ones paint their own sugar pumpkins.

TO NOV. 3: FALL FUN FESTIVAL AT GAVER FARM
Gaver Farm, 5501 Detrick Road, Mount Airy.
Enjoy the scenic drive to this Mount Airy farm, which offers daily seasonal activities including a petting zoo, giant slides, jumping pillows, and a massive corn maze. Before heading home, don’t forget to stop by the farm’s onsite market for pre-picked squash and gourds, jams, honeys, preserves, candles, and lots of signature baked goods.

SEASONAL SIPPING

OCT 11: BALTIMORE HARD CIDER AND DOUGHNUT FEST
The Point in Fells, 1738 Thames St. Baltimore. $17-$28.
Indulge in the sweet and boozy celebration of your favorite fall flavors on the cobblestone streets of Fells Point. Check out premium hard ciders from five bars and restaurants, and choose pairings from more than 2,000 donuts

OCT. 12 & 19: CRUSH 19
Boordy Vineyards, 12820 Long Green Pike, Monkton. Sat. 12-5 p.m. Free-$15.
Head to Boordy Vineyards for the perfect boozy fall picnic featuring live music by the likes of Nellie’s Echo and The Crawdaddies, eats from Lib’s Grill and Keyes Creamery, and, of course, delicious wines. Be sure to swing by a few of the educational tastings to hear all about the the process of how Boordy’s grapes eventually end up in your glass.

OCT. 19: OKTOBEARFEST
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, 1 Safari Pl. 12-4 p.m. $29-69.
Do you love animals? What about drinks? Why not both? Stroll around the Maryland Zoo’s annual fundraiser to sip more than 70 seasonal brews while you enjoy food and music amongst your new furry friends.

OCT. 19: HARVEST AT THE HILL FESTIVAL
Manor Hill Brewing, 4411 Manor Ln., Ellicott City, MD 21042. 1-5 p.m. Free-$30.
Tour this beautiful 54-acre working farm in Howard County with live music, harvest games, and home-brewed beers from Manor Hill Brewing. Plus, there will be a full-blown food truck rally set against the backdrop of the farm’s hop yard.

OCT. 19: OKTOBERFEST LIVE!

Power Plant Live!, 34 Market Place. 3-7 p.m. $30-40.

Gorge on bratwurst and pretzels, do the chicken dance, and sample more than 125 craft beers at an Oktoberfest celebration that promises to knock your lederhosen off.

OCT. 25: PUMPKINS ON THE GREEN

Irvine Nature Center, 11201 Garrison Forest Rd., Owings Mills. 7-11 p.m. $150.

Join this community nature center for an “un-gala”—a blue-jean affair with music, wine tasting, and plenty of nature to go around. All proceeds directly benefit Irvine’s environmental education programs.

NOV. 2: BALTIMORE CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

Canton Waterfront Park, 3001 Boston St. 1:30-5 p.m. $40-55.

Baltimore is no stranger to appreciating beers. Come support your favorite local breweries or discover new releases from the 50-plus vendors, sway to the live music, or soak up the suds with fare from local food trucks. A portion of each ticket supports not only the brewers, but also Strong City Baltimore’s various community initiatives.

NOV. 9: R. HOUSE HARVEST FESTIVAL

R. House, 301 W. 29 St. 12-5 p.m.

Head to this Remington warehouse-turned-food hall for seasonal festivities like crafts, games, a petting zoo, and pony rides for the kids, as well as Harvest Punch and fall brews from Monument City Brewing Company. There will also be live music from local Americana group Rattlewood.

FAMILY-FRIENDLY FARM ADVENTURES

OCT 12: FALL HARVEST FESTIVAL

2175 Cromwell Bridge Rd, Parkville, MD 21234 10-4PM. Free.

From hay rides to apple butter-making, Cromwell Valley Park hosts comforting fall activities for the whole family. Try your hand at earth-oven cooking (an ancient method that bakes, steams, and smokes food in the ground) and beekeeping, or just take in the fall scenery.

OCT. 12: PUMPKINFEST

Irvine Nature Center, 11201 Garrison Forest Rd., Owings Mills. 12-7 p.m. Free-$15.

Enjoy hayrides, pumpkin painting, and other fall festival staples alongside the devoted nature center staff.

OCT. 19 & 26: GREENSTREET GARDENS FLASHLIGHT MAZE
Greenstreet Gardens in Lothian, 302 West Bay Front Road Lothian, MD 20711. 7-10PM.

Can you wind your way out of a corn-maze? How about in the moonlight? Grab some friends to take on this year’s Harry Potter-themed challenge with flashlights in hand.

OCT. 20: WHITELOCK HARVEST FESTIVAL
Whitelock Community Farm, 930 Whitelock St. 12-4 p.m. Free.

Join Reservoir Hill’s community farm for its annual cookout and fall celebration, which features a health and wellness fair, live music, and plenty of family fun.

NOV. 2: THE BLACK HARVEST: CHERRY HILL

Cherry Hill Urban Community Garden, 900 Cherry Hill Rd. 12-4 p.m. Free.

Nonprofits Blue Water Baltimore and TreeBaltimore are partnering with Cherry Hill’s community farm to host a tree giveaway which will also include food, live music, and live poetry.

TO NOV. 3: RODGERS’ FARM AND MAZE

1818 Greenspring Valley Rd., Stevenson, MD 21153. Free-$10.

With a petting zoo, hayrides, a pick-your-own pumpkin patch, and other attractions, this would seem like a pretty typical fall-themed farm festival. But don’t miss the hedge maze that has a different theme each year. This year’s inspiration? Emojis.

TO NOV. 3: SHARP’S AT WATERFORD

4003 Jennings Chapel Rd., Brookeville, MD 20833. Free-$11.

Here’s your chance to explore this 530-acre Howard County farm—which hosts open days and special fall events with outdoor activities like hayrides, campfires, nature trails, and an expansive corn maze throughout November 3.

TO NOV. 3: CLARK’S ELIOAK FARM

10500 Clarksville Pike, Ellicott City, MD 21042. Free-$8.

As if beautiful pastures with a petting zoo, hayrides, and organic produce isn’t enough, this farm just outside of Ellicott City also features an Enchanted Train and Enchanted Forest to keep the kids captivated by the magic of the season.

New York City might be America’s fashion capital, but Baltimore has quite the fashion-forward history itself. This October, delve into the archives of the Maryland Historical Society with Spectrum of Fashion: Celebrating Maryland’s Style. And for a little sneak-peek into the new exhibit, here’s a timeline of trendsetting styles from local icons and designers.

Street Style
1925

Lavish with velvet and fur trim, this coat was sold at Hutzler’s, the iconic downtown Baltimore department store in operation from 1858 to 1990. Not only did Hutzler’s pave the way for future department stores, they also brought luxury fashions from Europe to Baltimore at an American price.

Ready-to-Wear
1945

Hailing from Frederick, designer Claire McCardell helped define modern American fashion. Transitioning away from corseted waists and structured bodices, her “monastic” dress (this one in wool plaid and pleats) was made to be a versatile day-to-night look that would flatter most body types.

Power Suit
1960

A nationally recognized reporter at the Baltimore Sun, a producer, director, and writer of the TV series The Port That Built a City, and a Maryland congresswoman from 1985-1995, Helen Delich Bentley affirmed the strength of the “power suit” when wearing this wool outfit.

Crop Top

1970

Wallis Simpson may have been a sophisticated duchess, but that didn’t stop her from staying hip to the latest fashions, as evidenced by her vibrant silk and linen set—a classic look of the ’70s. And the story goes, Simpson had it made when she was 73 years old.

Bare Shoulder
2009

In one of his earliest designs, local designer Bishme Cromartie appears to have taken all of the trends we loved from the early 2000s and made them timeless. Who knew that ruffled skirts and a one-shoulder sleeve could come together so elegantly?

Color Block
2018

Baltimore’s got a knack for being home to great designers, and Christian Siriano is a prime example. Pairing red and fuchsia and topping it with a shoulder cape? Brilliant! It’s no surprise that Siriano has stunned the red carpet for over a decade.