The city of Annapolis, Maryland, is rich in history and culture. Tourists can learn about the city’s history and culture from its museums. This guide explains what makes each of these museums enlightening and informative.

1.) Annapolis Maritime Museum

Located at 723 Second St., this museum focuses on the city’s nautical history and Chesapeake Bay’s ecology. Its exhibits consist of three thematic segments: Bay Health, Oyster Economy, and Annapolis Waters. Visitors can enjoy such educational demonstrations as a realistic hologram of a Bay waterman they can interact with and a boat they can board to experience a virtual reality setting of the Bay itself. There’s also a beautiful gallery displaying rotating artworks that pertain to Annapolis’s maritime heritage and Chesapeake Bay.

2.) Banneker-Douglass Museum

Formerly known as Mt. Moriah African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Banneker-Douglass Museum at 84 Franklin St. is Maryland’s official state museum of African-American heritage. The museum is named for two notable African Americans who lived in Maryland — Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806), a mathematician and astronomer who, among other accomplishments, assisted in the initial surveying of the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., and Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), a runaway slave who crusaded against slavery and for racial equality.

The Banneker-Douglass Museum houses a permanent exhibit on Maryland’s Black history with fascinating attractions. For instance, there’s an advertisement for the slave auction where Kunta Kinte, Alex Haley’s abducted West African ancestor and the subject of his celebrated book “Roots,” was sold. Another interesting relic is a reward poster for Harriet Tubman, a runaway slave who helped other slaves escape to freedom in the north through the Underground Railroad.

The museum also has rotating exhibits. One interesting past temporary exhibit was dedicated to Walter S, Mills, an educator who campaigned for black teachers and principals to receive equal pay in Annapolis’s county of Anne Arundel County. Another past exhibit celebrated the accomplishments of African-American athletes in Maryland’s colleges and universities.

3.) Charles Carroll House

This house at 107 Duke of Gloucester St. was the birthplace of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832), the only Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence and the last signer to pass away. His father Charles Carroll of Annapolis had the original building erected in the 1720s.

The family inhabited the place until 1852 when a Roman Catholic congregation of priests and brothers, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), acquired it and made it a novitiate, a school for training men for the priesthood. The edifice was also utilized as a center for missionary activity in the Eastern United States and Canada. The congregation still owns the house today, which is now a tourist attraction undergoing historical restoration. The house is part of a vast garden, which also contains three terraces and falls, a seawall, and large boxwood allees.

4.) Hammond-Harwood House

This edifice at 19 Maryland Ave. has an intriguing history. It was constructed in 1774 for a tobacco planter named Matthias Hammond (1740-1786). He never inhabited the house but he rented the north wing to jurist Jeremiah Townley Chase in 1779 to use as a law office. After Matthias’s demise, his family continued to own the house (although they didn’t live in it) until 1810. That year, Ninian Pinkney, who served as clerk of the council of Annapolis, purchased it. The following year Pinkney sold the house to Jeremiah Chase.

Chase’s daughter Frances and her husband Richard Loockerman took up residence here. Their descendants continued to stay in the house until 1924. Because the last family member to live here, Hester Ann Harwood, did not leave a will, the building went up for auction

In 1926, St. John’s College obtained the house to use it as a classroom for students taking up decorative arts. The owners experienced financial difficulties during the Great Depression of the 1930s and St. John’s sold the building in 1938 to the newly established Hammond-Harwood Association. This organization converted it into a museum, and it remains so today. Among the fascinating artifacts visitors can study in the Hammond-Harwood House are paintings by the noted artist Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) and furniture pieces by the distinguished Annapolis cabinetmaker John Shaw (1745-1829).

5.) Hogshead

This building at 43 Pinkney St. is an extant example of a humble middle-class dwelling in 18th century Annapolis, with its wood-frame structure and gamberel roof. It was probably used as barracks for military recruits during the American Revolution. Today, people can make appointments for group tours where guides in colonial attire display both authentic and reproduced artifacts. Through these tours, visitors learn about how people lived in Annapolis during the early American period.

6.) Museum of Historic Annapolis

As the name indicates, this historic 18th century building at 99 Main St. explores the history of Annapolis, particularly the Civil Rights movement. Visitors can look at the various displayed artifacts such as a colonial printing press, buttons from an American Revolution uniform, and ceramics from a prosperous black family’s home in the post-Civil War South.

7.) U.S. Naval Academy Museum

Annapolis is home to the U.S. Naval Academy. It makes sense that the city should have a museum dedicated to this national maritime institute of higher learning. Visitors to the U.S. Naval Academy Museum at 118 Maryland Ave. can not only learn about the history of the Academy but of the U.S. Navy as well. It has an immense collection of 17th and 18th century ship models.

What else is there to see here? People can study an impressive collection of prints depicting famous ships and naval scenes throughout history. And there are many other attractions, such as Oliver Hazard Perry’s noted “Don’t Give Up the Ship” flag from the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812 and a fragment of the USS Monitor, an ironclad warship utilized by the Union Navy during the Civil War.

8.) William Paca House and Garden

William Paca (1740-1799) was, like Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was also the third governor of Maryland. Paca had what is now the William Paca House and Garden constructed in the 1760s. He sold it in 1780, and it remained a family home until 1801. For much of the 19th century, this Georgian mansion functioned as a rental property.

In 1901, tennis player William Larned purchased the place and converted it into a hotel called Carvel Hall. Tourists flocked to the hotel until 1965. When it closed down that year, the State of Maryland purchased the property. In the following years, its 18th century trappings were restored, and now it’s a historical site. Located at 186 Prince George St., the William Paca House and Garden is a lovely and impressive example of colonial architecture.

As these attractions reveal, there is a lot to absorb about Annapolis. Visitors can find out about the city’s significant role in American historical events such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and they can learn about Annapolis’s remarkable citizens such as William Paca. Anyone visiting Annapolis will be entrhalled by its beauty and captivated by its landmarks that make American history come alive.

If you love being in the island city of Key West, you are not alone. It seems not even celebrities can resist the seafood, fishing, scuba diving, snorkeling, sublime coral reefs, glorious weather, white sandy beaches, and great nightlife on offer there. Here is a list of seven famous American celebrities that are strongly associated with Florida’s southernmost city:

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway was a famous American novelist in the mid-twentieth century. Hemingway was known for his subdued, reasonable writing style. Hemmingway’s most notable works of fiction include The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, and The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1953.

Earnest Hemingway adored Key West. He lived on the island for eight years between 1931 and 1939. He shared a house on Whitehead Street with his wife while living in the city. Anyone can visit Hemingway’s home in Key West. The Hemingway Home and Museum is open to visitors daily between nine in the morning and five in the afternoon.

Harry Truman

The thirty-third president of the United States was Harry S. Truman. Truman served as president from 1945 to 1953 and played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement. He desegregated the military and banned racial discrimination in the civil service. He spoke out about civil rights issues publicly.

Truman had a winter vacation home in Key West. He affectionately named it Little White House. Truman conducted national government business from this Key West vacation home. The house is on Front Street and was once a home for navy officers. Today, the Little White House is a museum. If you like political history, consider scheduling a visit there the next time you are in Key West.

Wallace Stevens

Wallace Stevens was one of America’s most esteemed poets during the twentieth century. Born in Pennsylvania in 1879, Stevens was famous for his unique style and impressive vocabulary. However, he did not gain recognition until late in life when he won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in the 1950s. Stevens worked as a lawyer to earn a living.

Wallace Stevens vacationed at Key West for two or three weeks each winter between 1922 and 1940. He stayed at a luxury hotel called the Casa Marina Resort. In 1934, Stevens wrote a poem entitled The Idea of Order at Key West. This six-stanza poem is about hearing a female singer singing a beautiful song on the island of Key West.

If you are interested in staying where Wallace Stevens stayed when vacationing in Key West, the Casa Marina Resort is still open today. Lavish Casa Marina Resort is on a private beach. Amenities at this luxury hotel include a fitness center, water sports, a life-size chess board, bocce ball, fine dining, and a sparkling pool.

Tennessee Williams

American screenwriter and playwrite Tennessee Williams wrote a lot of well-known American dramas during the twentieth century. Some of his work is still relevant. For example, you may have heard of A Streetcar Named Desire or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Williams wrote thirty-eight poems during his life.

Tennessee Williams was a huge fan of Key West during his lifetime. He visited and lived in the island city between 1941 and 1983. Williams allegedly penned many of his greatest works in Key West, including A Streetcar Named Desire.

Today there is a Tennessee Williams Museum in Key West. The museum is on Truman Avenue. It is a three-minute walk away from Ernest Hemmingway House. The Tennessee Williams Museum is open from Thursday to Sunday each week. It is devoted to the heritage of the celebrated playwrite.

Judy Blume

Judy Blume is a celebrated American novelist. She writes literature for children and adolescents. She has published more than twenty-five novels during her long career as a young person’s novelist. Blume is best known for the books Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.

These days, Blume lives in a walled residence in Key West with her second husband, fellow novelist George Cooper. Judy Blume is one of the co-founders of a non-profit independent Key West bookstore named Books & Books. The Books & Books bookstore is a communal hub for writers and bookworms on the island.

Jimmy Buffet

Jimmy Buffet is an American singer and businessman. He is renowned for his famous 1970s song about the Florida Keys entitled Margaritaville. Many of Buffet’s songs are associated with vacations and island fantasies. During the nineteen seventies, Buffet lived on Waddel Street in Key West.

Today, Buffet is a highly successful businessman. His business ventures include gift shops, an international franchise chain of Margaritaville Cafes, alcoholic drinks, frozen food, and footwear.

Do you want to visit one of Buffet’s Margaritaville Cafes while you are in Key West? There is a Margaritaville on Duval Street. It serves Key West fast food favorites such as burgers, fish and chips, and coconut shrimp.

Bronson Arroyo

Are you familiar with former baseball pitcher and musician Bronson Arroyo? Arroyo has played baseball for some legendary teams over the years. These include the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Boston Red Sox, the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Cincinnati Reds.

Bronson Arroyo is also a singer. He has covered songs by alternative rock bands such as Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters. He was born in Key West in February 1977

Art and Culture

Key West is a city full of art and culture. Many famous artists and celebrities have called the place their home. Tourists appreciate the effort to preserve the culture of Key West. If you are a fan of the arts, it is well worth absorbing the culture of Key West by visiting its famous museums, resorts, and restaurants.