Around the Maryland Beltway

Your real estate connection for Anne Arundel County, Maryland - Home of Fort George G. Meade, Northrop Grumman, BWI and the U.S. Naval Academy 

Maryland Real Estate is not the only thing that REALTORS in the D.C. Metropolitan area have to offer relocating buyers - we are privileged to live and work in an area that celebrates culture, history, and recreation, enriching life every day for local residents.  When someone buys a home around here, they get the whole package!  Take a look at some of the sites around the Maryland side of I-495, the D.C. Beltway:

Start by visiting Fort Washington Park, which was built over 180 years ago on the banks of the Potomac River to defend the nation's capital.  From there, you will admire views of both George Washington's home in Virginia - Mount Vernon - and Washington, D.C.  

Andrews Air Force Base, probably best known to civilians for being home to Air Force One, the President's official airplane, is headquarters for the USAF 316th Wing, which maintains emergency reaction rotary-wing airlift and other National Capital Region contingency response capabilities critical to national security.

As you travel around the Beltway towards Montgomery County, you can exit on Rt. 50 E towards Annapolis for a tour of the United States Naval Academy or many historic sites in Annapolis - that could be a separate day trip, in itself.

Or continue on the Beltway to Baltimore Washington Parkway, I-295, which will take you to the NASA/Goddard Visitor Center and Museum, where you can get a first-hand look at the miracles of space flight and then come right down to earth with model-rocket launches.

Not far from there is the College Park Airport, established in 1909 by Wilbur and Orville Wright.  Yes, THE Wright brothers!  Stop by the College Park Aviation Museum, where an animatronic Wilbur Wright greets you at the world's oldest continually operating airport.  A 1911 Wright B is one of several historic planes on display, and you can break for lunch while watching planes land amid all this history.

Just a few blocks away is the University of Maryland College Park campus, chartered in 1856 as an Agricultural College, and now one of the world's eminent research universities.  You will be impressed by Comcast Center, home of Terps Basketball, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, which hosts the annual William Kappel International Piano Competiton and the beautiful rolling expanses of open space on campus.

Heading North towards the Beltway along Rt 1, if you keep going a short way, you may find yourself watching for birds at the National Wildlife Visitor Center and Patuxent Research Refuge.  A tram tour offers a scenic introduction to 13,000 acres of forest, wetlands and meadow environments that make up the only national wildlife refuge created to study man's impact on nature.

Never been to the horse races?  Now is your chance, since you're close to Laurel Park.   Then back to the Beltway and on to...

The Clara Barton National Historic Site, the first headquarters of the Red Cross relief organization. Just a ring toss away is Glen Echo Park, a turn-of-the-century amusement park that's been restored and features a marvelous 1921 Dentzel Carousel.

The Potomac River turns rapid around Great Falls, a series of rocky cliffs and outcroppings that now lie within the boundaries of the C&O Historical Park. Stroll along the tree-lined canal and take a mule-drawn barge ride. A more recent - but just as romantic - method of transportation is on display at the nearby National Capital Trolley Museum, featuring historic trolley cars from America and Europe. Climb aboard one of the working cars and take a quick spin!

For more information about this area, check out my online Area Guide, with links to many additional venues PLUS local resources and communities.

Copyright 2007.  Margaret Woda.  All rights reserved.

CROFTON MD REAL ESTATE: For referrals to Crofton MD or anywhere in the D.C.-Baltimore-Annapolis triangle, contact Margaret Woda at RE/MAX Vision in Crofton MD.  (410) 451-1900.