Highlights:

• Washington's Smithsonian Institute and the city monuments
• Chesapeake Bay and Baltimore
• Historic homes of Annapolis
• Town of St Michaels, Maryland
• Colonial Williamsburg
• Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello and Maymount Plantation
• Virginias “crowning glory” National Scenic Byway-Skyline Drive and The Shenandoah Valley

Distance: 40 miles

Travel onwards to the city known as “Charm City” - Baltimore - where its not so much a place as an experience. And after close to three hundred years of history, this city can deliver more fun-filled days (and romantic evenings) to make any stay memorable. Since the city was redeveloped by James Rouse in the late 1970s, millions of people have come to see Baltimore's Inner Harbour, where one can ride the elevator 27 stories to the Top of the World Observation Level and Museum in the World Trade Center, explore the inside of the World War II submarine Torsk and visit sharks, dolphins, sea turtles and thousands of other aquatic animals at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

If it's shopping, than Baltimore has an astounding array of choices from upscale malls to antiques and designer shops. Also, check out the city's fantastic restaurants, and the “lively restored area of Fells Point., where many old bars and pubs have been restored. He can sample an astonishing array of cuisines, along with world-famous Chesapeake bay cuisine - it doesn't get any better than that!

Distance: 51 miles

Take the next two days to explore Maryland's Eastern Shore. Visit the beautiful Chesapeake harbour town of St. Michaels's. Here, you can feast on the local specialty - crab - whilst overlooking the small picturesque harbour. Browse through the town with its antique shops, ice cream parlours and cafes and simply sit back and enjoy the delightful ambiance of this quaint town.

Southwest of St. Michaels is Tilghman Island, home port for many of the Chesapeake Bay's remaining skipjacks. Another old town is Oxford, once a major port and shipbuilding center. You can get to Oxford by taking the Oxford-Bellevue Ferry, the longest cable-free ferry in the U.S. The 1684 port town of Cambridge, the county seat, has many historic homes, buildings and museums with agricultural, maritime, industrial and Native American displays. The Brannock Maritime Museum houses exhibits on Maryland's "Oyster Navy" and Chesapeake Bay history. Outside of Cambridge, the Dorchester Heritage Museum has exhibits on aviation, archaeology and local history, and the Richardson Museum focuses on the Bay's long heritage of wooden boat building. The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is an important nesting and feeding area for wild geese, osprey, swans, owls, muskrats, rare Delmarva fox squirrels and bald eagles. South Dorchester County has been called the "Cape Cod of the South" for its quaint watermen's villages and ferry bridge.

Distance: 120 miles

You may want to stop in Richmond today, en route to Charlottesville, to visit the White House of the Confederacy, Maymount Plantation, or the Museum of Art. Then, your journey is through an area which Thomas Jefferson called the “Eden of the country.” You can visit his home, Monticello, atop a moun­tain in Albemarle County. It is described as one of the country's foremost architectural master­pieces. Today, Charlottesville is a charming college town with many shops, restaurants and tea rooms. See Ash Lawn-Highland, the plantation home of President James Mon­roe, is a 535-acre estate preserving Monroe's house and furnishings. The grounds host farm and craft demonstra­tions, outbuildings, peacocks, boxwood gardens and entertain­ment.