Annapolis

The Maryland State House holds a genuinely rare distinction: it is the oldest state capitol in the United States still in continuous legislative use, and for a brief period after the Revolutionary War it served as the nation's own capitol, the building where Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris. As a working legislative building, some areas may close during active sessions. Down at the waterfront, Annapolis City Dock preserves the city's colonial-era working harbor at the foot of historic downtown — still the sailing and maritime heart of Annapolis, free to walk, with individual boat charters, restaurants and shops setting their own prices. Across the water in the Eastport neighborhood, still within Annapolis city proper, the Annapolis Maritime Museum occupies a working-waterfront oyster-packing house and tells the Chesapeake Bay's maritime and oystering history — a story genuinely distinct from the city's naval identity. That naval identity centers on the United States Naval Academy, the undergraduate service academy of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, whose Beaux-Arts campus and chapel crypt, holding the tomb of John Paul Jones, are open to visitors on guided tours; as a working military campus rather than a static monument, valid photo ID and security screening are required of every visitor.