Since its founding in 1729, Baltimore has been one of the most important seaports on the east coast, supplying the country's interior with goods from overseas and developing an export market that helped drive the Industrial Age. While many groups were responsible for the growth of Baltimore's port, the contributions of the African American community are often overlooked, which makes Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park such an important stop for any student of American history. Located in the heart of Baltimore's Fell's Point neighborhood, the park has a wealth of exhibits related to African American maritime history, with exhibits on noted abolitionist Frederick Douglass (who lived and worked on the nearby Baltimore docks) and Isaac Myers, who began his life as a caulker on clipper ships and eventually helped integrate the maritime labor unions. This Living Classrooms Foundation facility has a learn-by-doing ethos, with interactive exhibits and a collection of marine memorabilia from the past three centuries. There's a fascinating retrospective on the founding of the Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company, which became a symbol of the racial strife in the post-Civil War years. For those of us who pine to work on ships one day, a shipbuilding exhibit details the many small jobs that go into making a vessel seaworthy. It's an eye-opening look at one of the most important chapters in American maritime history. Starwood has hotels throughout Baltimore, including the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel.

[image via Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park]