The region that encompasses Baltimore, Annapolis and the Eastern Shore enjoys a rich maritime heritage that planners should tap into during a meeting.
While CVB representatives across the entire region uniformly recommend booking a crab feast as well as waterborne activities and waterfront hotels in their respective destinations, each locale offers unique settings for groups.
From the pedestrian-friendly and high-energy Baltimore to the charming and remote Talbot County, and to the fun zone that is Ocean City, the area will meet any planner’s needs for a memorable Mid-Atlantic meeting.
Baltimore
Baltimore has a history rooted in maritime connections, according to Tom Noonan, president and CEO of Visit Baltimore. As a major seafaring and trading community, the city played a key role in events that shaped the nation’s history, including the American Revolution.
Today, Charm City is a waterfront meetings destination with a convention center located just blocks from the Inner Harbor, a model for urban waterfront development around the world.
Noonan says the city’s walkability is a huge draw for planners who’d rather not worry about the expense of bussing attendees.
“With our tight radius of hotels, restaurants, shopping and attractions, visitors can park their cars once and navigate the city on foot, bus or via Baltimore’s water taxi system,” he says. “Nowhere else on the East Coast will you find a convention package that includes an active waterfront city.”
Even Visit Baltimore’s marketing images and efforts often highlight its waterfront appeal, including a new virtual tour app, BaltimoreInSite, which allows the sales team to visually demonstrate the waterfront’s connection to the city’s meetings package. PageBreak
“We actively promote ways for groups to experience the waterfront,” Noonan says.
Among them is a visit to the popular Fell’s Point, a waterfront neighborhood where groups will find a variety of pubs, boutiques, restaurants and a pre-Revolutionary War coffeehouse; waterborne adventures aboard vessels operated by outfitters including Seadog; exploring Baltimore’s maritime history and its connection to the African American community at Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park Museum; and crab feasts at waterfront eateries including Captain James Crabhouse & Restaurant and Bo Brooks.
Several of Baltimore’s meetings-friendly hotels enjoy waterfront positioning, including Four Seasons Baltimore, Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace, Hyatt Regency Baltimore, Royal Sonesta Harbor Court and Pier 5 Hotel.
Annapolis/Anne Arundel County
“Our destination has what I call a ‘casual sophistication’ that attracts celebrities, millionaires and just very cool people,” says Connie Del Signore, president and CEO at the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Conference and Visitors Bureau. “Much of that has to do with the maritime heritage and the area’s transformation over the past decades.”
Del Signore says Annapolis has evolved from a seaport village known for boat-building and harvesting from the Chesapeake Bay.
“Getting on the water or near the water is a huge draw for leisure travelers as well as meeting planners,” she says. “We market ourselves as Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay because it has not only a sense of place and location, but a dreamy, romantic sensibility.”
The Annapolis Yacht Club sponsors Wednesday night sailboat races that groups can either watch from a restaurant or other scenic vantage point, or participate in.
Planners are also encouraged to tap into unique settings for crab feasts, including the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, located at the U.S. Naval Academy.
“It’s special for groups in that they can meet on the upper deck of the conference facility at the stadium overlooking the football field, and they can have the name of the event on the scoreboard,” Del Signore says.
At City Dock, a waterfront destination with shops and restaurants, the Annapolis Marriott Waterfront Hotel features Pusser’s Caribbean Grille, ideal for group dining.
South of the city in Chesapeake, the Chesapeake Beach Resort and Spa is a group favorite along the water, with balconies directly overlooking the Chesapeake Bay and the Calvert Cliffs. Groups can take boat excursions from the property’s marina. PageBreak
Eastern and Atlantic Shores
Across the bay in Stevensville, the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club is a premier choice for waterfront gatherings.
Farther south, Talbot County has long been recognized for its waterscapes and big-sky vistas over Chesapeake Bay, according to Debbi Dodson, director of the Talbot County Office of Tourism.
“We offer a more relaxed environment and increased focus for meeting attendees and executives,” she says.
The county encompasses Oxford, situated on the Tred Avon River and home to some of the finest restaurants in the Mid-Atlantic region, Dodson says; Tilghman Island, where sport fishing opportunities, kayaking and canoeing abound; and St. Michaels, a charming waterfront town where groups will find eateries, shops and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.
Water-inspired activities here include outings aboard Patriot Cruises, team building via the HM Krentz or Rebecca T Ruark skipjacks, crab feasts by the water at area restaurants and outdoor waterfront picnics.
The Inn at Perry Cabin, Harbourtowne Golf Resort and Conference Center and Harbour Inn, Marina and Spa, all in St. Michaels, and the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa and Marina, located south of Easton in Cambridge, are popular waterfront meetings properties.
Wicomico County, home to historic waterfront towns like Salisbury and Whitehaven, boasts miles of waterways that entice groups to get outdoors for kayaking, fishing and other pursuits.PageBreak
Among the activities groups might enjoy, according to Kristen Conn, spokeswoman for the Wicomico County CVB, are a visit to Bordeleau Winery, which is situated on the water and touts bald eagle, snowy egret and other wildlife sightings; tours and off-site gatherings at the waterfront Ward Museum; a ride aboard the Whitehaven Ferry, which began operation in 1688; and kayaking or cycling tours with Adrenaline High.
In Ocean City, with a setting that makes it the perfect location for every water sport imaginable, according to Fred Wise, director of sales and marketing at the Ocean City CVB, nearly all lodging options are waterfront, and the newly renovated and expanded Roland E. Powell Convention Center overlooks the Isle of Wright Bay.
“With thousands of oceanfront guest rooms and more than 20,000 waterfront restaurant seats, we are a maritime paradise,” he says.
Outings to the boardwalk, Assategue State Park and Assateague Island National Seashore, home to wild miniature ponies that have roamed the barrier island for centuries, are all hits with groups.
Meetings-ready properties here include Hilton Suites Ocean City Oceanfront, Courtyard by Marriott Ocean City Oceanfront, Clarion Resort Fontainebleau and the Princess Royale Oceanfront Hotel and Conference Center.
Freelancer Carolyn Blackburn looks forward to spending an afternoon in Baltimore’s Fells Point.
