Physical State of Matt #22: MARYLAND
- 50statesofmatt
- Jun 4
- 7 min read
Mother Nature finally caught up with me in Maryland...
My four hour drive from Pittsburgh to Annapolis was uneventful except for one thing. I’d clearly forgotten what it's like to live in a cold, snowy climate because I forgot to dig the snow out of my car’s cowl (the space between the hood and the wipers).
When salt spatters on my windshield began obscuring my view, I pulled the handle to spray the wiper fluid. But instead of spraying up on my windshield, it soaked the snow in the cowl. I drove to the next exit with limited visibility. By the time I got there, the wiper fluid had frozen. Not wanting to soak my gloves, I dug blue ice balls out of the cowl with my bare fingers in 20-degree, windy conditions, cursing the whole time.
MARYLAND
I picked Annapolis because 1) it's not Baltimore, which I would say is the obvious place, 2) my friend Larissa had a conference there that week, and 3) I had to visit Maryland at some point. Maryland isn’t a state I’d spent a whole lot of time thinking about. Although I’d certainly driven through it before, I couldn’t tell you for sure whether I’d ever spent the night or not.
When you look at a map of Maryland, the long, narrow panhandle to the west and the L-shaped Delaware chunk missing from the eastern coast, it begs the question: how the hell did that happen? The answer is simple and a little sad: Maryland had a handful of land disputes with neighboring colonies and lost them all. The state is what was left.
In Maryland's royal charter, the northern border was set as the 40N latitude line. The problem was that line ran right through the middle of Philadelphia. After a lengthy, and at times violent, dispute with Pennsylvania, the border was shifted to run 15 miles south of South Street in Philly. This new border was surveyed in the 1760's by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon.
This "Mason-Dixon Line" took on even greater significance the following century when it was used to divide the northern free states and the southern slave states in The Missouri Compromise of 1820. Today, it's still used informally to represent the cultural divide between the North, and the South.
When the Dutch, who had been occupying Delaware, were booted from the American Colonies by England in the 1600’s, Maryland made a claim on their land. They lost their claim due to the wording of their royal charter. The charter said that they got the lands within a certain area that were uncultivated by Christians. Since the Dutch had already occupied the land, the charter didn't technically include Delaware. They later lost even more land when a cartographic error was made in Delaware’s favor.
Finally, the tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, which looks by all accounts like it should be part of Maryland, is actually part of Virginia. Although Maryland’s royal charter technically included it, Virginia had already settled the land. Since Virginia was an older and more influential colony, Maryland ended up with the short end of the stick again.
These political losses, combined with the Potomac River, which makes up Maryland's southern border, created the most oddly shaped state in the union (though I think West Virginia is a close second). Its narrowest point is just two miles across, which means that you could cross the state on foot in a half hour going at a brisk pace.
Maryland has the nickname “America in Miniature” because it includes nearly every natural feature except for desert and is statistically one of the most diverse states - in race & ethnicity, religion, education, and socio-economic class.
ANNAPOLIS
Annapolis is Maryland's capital. It rests along the Chesapeake Bay, equidistant from Washington DC and Baltimore. In fact, it serves as a bedroom community for many who work in DC. Its geography is broken up by several fingers of water that flow in from the bay. Getting anywhere in the city took longer than it should have because I had to loop miles out of my way to go around these waterways wherever I went.
I pulled into my Airbnb in the late afternoon. I had booked a place in Eastport, an affluent neighborhood on the south side of the Annapolis Harbor. The space was a small apartment, connected to the larger house. In fact, looking around, it appeared that by opening a couple of doors, the space could function as an extension of the main house. It didn't have a full kitchen, but a small kitchenette with a microwave and mini-fridge.
The apartment was very comfortable and finely appointed. Various sculptures adorned the many surfaces, the majority made from twisted wire. It felt strange that someone would decorate a rental space with objects that were clearly so delicate and valuable, but it made sense when I imagined it as part of the main house. It turned out that the man who owned the house is the artist who made all of the sculptures.
A large TV hung in the living room above a small gas fireplace which was embedded in the wall. They would both get a lot of use during that week.
The house was on a main road, a quarter-mile down from a strip mall that contained a few restaurants. I ate at Sammy’s Italian Pizza Kitchen that first night.
The next morning, I walked the mile down to the harbor for breakfast at the Bread and Butter Kitchen. The day was overcast and the wind was biting. Boats bobbed quietly in the harbor. Dark clouds loomed on the western horizon, foreshadowing what was to come.
At the cafe I ordered a breakfast burrito with scrapple, which I’d heard of but never eaten. Scrapple is a regional cuisine. It’s basically a loaf made of pork scraps, organs, and cornmeal, which is sliced and then fried. It's better than it sounds.
Over the Christmas holiday, I had collaborated with Steven, my host in Iowa, to design a logo for 50 States of Matt. I talk with a lot of strangers each week on this trip and I had found myself wishing on many occasions that I had something to give them which would direct them to this blog. I decided on stickers.
But I didn’t leave it alone with just stickers, no that would be too easy. I uploaded the design to TeePublic, where they can sell and make items to order - shirts, hoodies, phone cases, pillows, totes, you name it. I went a little merch crazy and had it all shipped to Larissa’s.
That evening, I drove into town to meet Larissa. She met me in the lobby of her hotel with a very large box of goodies. We then walked around historic downtown Main Street. The holiday lights were still up, which gave the chilly streets a festive cheer.
We settled on the Rams Head Tavern for dinner. I ordered the crab dip appetizer with Old Bay Seasoning - when in Rome... Maryland blue crab and Old Bay are two of the things the state is most known for.
We discussed the week ahead. One of the things I had considered doing was to tour the famous naval academy, but she broke the news that it had been closed to the public for the week due to security concerns. After dinner I went back to the Airbnb and hunkered down for the winter storm that was supposed to hit that night.
It seems like meteorologists always present the most dire forecast for “weather events” - they were calling this one a big bad Arctic Blast!! I imagine that's because scary extreme weather makes for good ratings, and they don’t want to be accused of leaving the public underprepared, which could lead to injuries.
I’ve been let down by so called “storm of the century” predictions so many times, so I didn’t give it much credence. Thankfully though, I respected the possibility of a big storm enough to stock up on some food I could prepare in the microwave - mainly cans of soup.
The next morning I woke up to find the city blanketed under 6 inches of fresh snow, and it was still falling. I dug in for the next few days. I wrote cards (on my new branded stationary), I finished painting the miniature I’d started in Pennsylvania, I caught up on some Netflix including Squid Game season 2, watched in horror as fire engulfed Los Angeles, and ate a lot of soup.
Very few cars drove by those first couple days. It was mostly emergency vehicles. And I never once heard a plow come by. After the snow finally stopped it had accumulated 10-12 inches, roughly the amount Annapolis gets in an average year. I guess the city never invested in the infrastructure to deal storms like this.
After a few days the roads were good enough for people to get around slowly, and for some businesses to open back up. I discovered that Nam Bros Pho, the Vietnamese restaurant at the strip mall down the street, was open, so I walked down.
The sidewalks were treacherous. Most of the home owners apparently hadn’t invested in shovels and salt - or couldn't be bothered. A single, narrow path led past most houses, an icy trail made by dozens of footsteps, uncomfortably close to the street. I made my way very carefully. When I finally arrived, I ordered and devoured a large bowl of pho. I know, an odd choice considering how sick of soup I was, but you can’t beat a bowl of fresh pho - especially when it’s cold outside.
I met Larissa downtown at Miss Shirley’s Cafe for brunch on her last day in Annapolis. I ordered their famous coconut cream stuffed french toast, which was more that I had bargained for. I closed out the day visiting a chiropractor I’d found to work on my back, which had gotten stiff sitting around for a few days. Then I visited Third Eye.
I learned about Third Eye Comics when I started selling comics on eBay a couple of years ago. They are one of the largest and best known comic shops in the country. They have several stores, but Annapolis is the OG. I had to see it in person.
What I didn’t realize until I showed up was that Third Eye has three different stores side by side in one long building. One for comics, one for music & video, and one for games. Each store was massive and had everything I could think of. I spent a couple of hours there, lost in my happy place. Because I am traveling light however, I limited myself to a few small purchases.
I felt bad, not having seen much of anything in Annapolis, but the weather was out of my control, and I had to roll with the punches. Maybe I’ll come back in better weather and give it another chance. But that was the week, and the next morning I was off to North Carolina. News reports said the Arctic Blast was going to push freezing temperatures down into the Midwest and further south along the East Coast.
Yes, and…
Matt
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