Calvert County has attractions that existed long before the county was founded in 1654. It was called Patuxent County until 1658, when the name was changed to that of Maryland's founding family. Visitors can dig further into the past on the beach at Calvert Cliffs, where prehistoric sharks' teeth and other fossils are found along the shoreline. Examples of the prehistoric creatures whose fossils have been found at the cliffs are at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons. There are also exhibits on important industries in Calvert County, such as boat building and oyster packing. The museum's 1883 cottage-style lighthouse, where the lighthouse keepers once lived, shows another kind of lifestyle on the water. Follow the trails through Battle Creek Cypress Swamp Sanctuary, where more than 100 acres of bald cypress trees are found. This is one of the northernmost areas of these trees in North America. In St. Leonard is Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, an environmental preserve where more than 70 archaeological sites trace Maryland's history back 9,000 years. Flag Pond Nature Park near Lusby has 327 acres of woods, ponds, swamps, freshwater marshes and Chesapeake Bay beaches. For a sharp contrast to the fossils found at Calvert Cliffs, visit their neighbor, the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. 

Charles County is a treasure chest of Maryland's early history. The life of Native Americans -- especially the Piscataways -- before European contact is documented at the Maryland Indian Cultural Center in Waldorf. The Afro-American Heritage Society in LaPlata has artifacts that depict the life and history of African Americans in Charles County.

Founded in 1658, Charles County was named for Charles Calvert, third Lord Baltimore. In Port Tobacco, one of the oldest communities on the East Coast, you'll see the home of Thomas Stone, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the restored Port Tobacco Courthouse, the original county seat, that also houses exhibits on tobacco and local archaeology.

The Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Home Museum in Waldorf recalls the life of the doctor who, in 1865, treated the leg of John Wilkes Booth, President Abraham Lincoln's assassin.

Besides fishing in the many rivers in the county, you can hike at Smallwood State Park, one of four state parks in Charles County, or visit Smallwood's Retreat, the restored plantation home of William Smallwood, a Revolutionary War general and fourth governor of Maryland.

From the time when 140 hardy adventurers first stepped ashore in 1634, St. Mary's County has been welcoming travelers.  Shaped by the Chesapeake Bay and its mighty tributaries, the Patuxent and Potomac Rivers, the verdant peninsula has fostered a traditional lifestyle anchored in the natural bounty of the Tidewater. 

Travel back in time at Historic St. Mary's City, the state's colonial capital, where you'll enjoy a welcome from the crew of the Maryland Dove.  Stop in for a visit with the mistress  of Godiah Spray Tobacco Plantation or explore the Woodland Indian Hamlet.  Travel one century and a few miles up the peninsula to Sotterley Plantation.  Enjoy the panoramic riverfront setting, investigate the rambling Tidewater Manor House, and hear stories of slave life at the Slave Cabin.  Stand watch where Union Soldiers stood at Point Lookout at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay.  Climb to the top of the Potomac's Piney point Lighthouse, then march forward into the future at Patuxent River Naval Air Museum and learn about the U.S. Navy's quest for aviation excellence.  Glimpse St. Mary's gentle Amish at the Farmers' Market and in buggies along the county's scenic by-ways.  Chart new courses on a skipjack cruise of the bay and sample its bounty at one of St. Mary's finest-andfriendliest waterfront eateries.