If your meeting program calls for intriguing destinations boasting affordability, accessibility and top-shelf meeting facilities, Baltimore and its Maryland coordinates on the Eastern Shore are ideal options.
"Charm City" continues to upgrade its considerable meetings portfolio while retaining the maritime heritage that sets it apart. More charm in quaint destinations and seasonal boardwalk excitement comes to groups that gather on the Eastern Shore in Talbot County, Salisbury and Ocean City, Maryland’s primary anchor on the Atlantic. Three centuries of Chesapeake Bay heritage characterize these locations as well, in addition to nature preserves and modern diversions like antiquing and sailing.
Baltimore
When about 5,000 expected delegates and exhibitors arrive in Baltimore for the Americas Meetings & Events Exposition (AIBTM) this June, they’ll find over $11 billion in downtown developments to fulfill nearly any meeting and networking agenda.
"AIBTM is a great marketing opportunity for our city to show off what we have done in the past decade," says Tom Noonan, president and CEO of the Baltimore CVA. "We are a dramatically different city with lots of new product. Our famous walkability is now even easier than ever with our new circulator bus.
"Meetings customers, especially our medical groups who come here for Johns Hopkins Medical Center and others in that sector, find that Baltimore is more affordable than most major East Coast cities," Noonan continues. "What we lack is public perception. Sherman’s Travel and Lonely Planet.com have both put us in the top 10 most underrated American cities."
Inner Harbor is Baltimore’s downtown meetings central, where major hotels, attractions, shops, restaurants and the Baltimore Convention Center are within steps or "two feet of each other," as locals like to say. Hotels connected to the convention center are the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel, Hyatt Regency Baltimore and Hilton Baltimore. Across the street is the InterContinental Harbor Court. New boutique hotels such as Hotel Monaco and Hotel Indigo are also in the nearby mix.
Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Baltimore will open in the nearby Harbor East neighborhood late this year next to the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront.
For off-site venues or leisure time lures, Inner Harbor offers plenty of impressive attractions, including the National Aquarium in Baltimore; Maryland Science Center; Geppi’s Entertainment Museum; and Camden Yards, where "play ball" can always be heard. Water taxis whisk visitors around the harbor, another easy way to navigate the city and its neighborhoods, including historic Fells Point, boasting three centuries of maritime heritage and unique homes and storefronts. There’s also Little Italy, where homemade cuisine has been a specialty for generations.
Baltimore also has a large portfolio of performing and visual arts houses, including the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Museum, where 55 centuries of art from around the world is on display.
Eastern and Atlantic Shores
It’s only a short eastward drive from Baltimore to a dramatically different pace.
As urban landscapes give way, farmland and languid waterways come into view. This is the route to Maryland’s premier bay and Atlantic seaside destinations as well, where groups can find shorelines devoid of development and boardwalks with a vibrant vibe.
Talbot County’s charming towns include Easton, St. Michaels, and Oxford, where groups encounter three centuries of maritime and colonial history. With the heritage comes the elegance of another era along with modern meetings properties like Harbour Inn, Marina & Spa; Harbourtowne Golf Resort & Conference Center; and the Tidewater Inn.
The Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels is an Orient-Express hotel with 24 suites and 5,000 square feet of function space to accommodate up to 200 people. The inn’s gardens reach down to the gentle waters that border this original colonial mansion and provide a perfect retreat atmosphere, though it is located only two hours or less from Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Brian M. Plaska, director of sales and marketing for the inn, says his property has an enviable location.
"Long viewed as the ‘Crown Jewel of the East Coast,’ Maryland’s Eastern Shore is bordered on one side by the Atlantic Ocean and the other by the beautiful Chesapeake Bay," he says. "The region is rich in history to explore, along with wonderful shopping, including some of the finest antiquing in all of North America. The historic village of St. Michaels is filled with Victorian storefronts, antique shops and restaurants, as well as homes and sites of historical significance that date to the early 1600s."
One of those historical sites is The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, where groups may explore the lore and history of life on the bay. Log canoes and other wooden boats that have been so important to Bay watermen are on display. Also on exhibit is the skipjack Rosie Parks. Visitors learn about the museum’s efforts to save the remaining skipjacks, including the 32-passenger HM Krentz, which is available for charter by the hour.
The Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa and Marina in Cambridge offers a 400-room retreat on the banks of the Choptank River with 35,000 of meeting space. Nearby is Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, with 27,000 acres of marshland in a preserve that is sometimes called the "Everglades of the North." It’s the place to see lots of migratory birds, especially ducks and geese, as well as other wildlife.
Delmarva Peninsula has a "foot" in three states, and one of its main cities with great meeting facilities is Salisbury. The Atlantic Ocean is only a half-hour away, and the Chesapeake Bay is even closer. Outdoor activities, including golf on 20 local courses, bird watching and tours of the Assateague Island National Seashore preserve, are plentiful around Salisbury.
The city’s group venues include the multipurpose Wicomico Youth and Civic Center for up to 7,000 people; Holiday Inn Salisbury; Holiday Inn Express Salisbury; Marriott Courtyard Salisbury; Residence Inn Salisbury; and Country Inn and Suites Salisbury. The Fountains Wedding & Conference Center, Salisbury University and University of Maryland Eastern Shore offer meeting facilities as well.
For off-site events and Eastern Shore culture, there’s no better local setting than The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art. The contemporary museum has one of the world’s largest collections of wild bird carvings, and groups may enjoy the galleries and carving demonstrations during tours or private events.
Ocean City is the Eastern Shore’s boardwalk central, and its Victorian-era heritage resides in its beachside cottages and Trimper’s Amusement Park, where Thrashers Fries and Fisher’s Popcorn entice of beach-goers.
Groups have a range of diverse seaside sites to take advantage of in Ocean City, including full-service hotels like Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel, Holiday Inn Oceanfront and the Princess Royale Oceanfront Hotel and Conference Center.
The Roland E. Powell Ocean City Convention Center is the destination’s primary group facility, and it is expanding its function space.
"The expansion of our ballroom and exhibit areas are scheduled for completion in fall 2012," says Rick Hamilton, director of the center. "We are extremely pleased to be able to provide existing clients their normal space requirements without any interruption of service during the construction process."
