tourism and leisure

Anne Arundel County native Vince Vaise — best known by his fans as the ever-enthusiastic "Ranger Vince" — may no longer officially work in Baltimore after 27 years, but he can't stay away.

Howard Marion Gamse, a former vice president of Gamse Lithographing Company, died Aug. 11 of cancer in his Guilford home. He was 89.

Dottie Freeman has served as the face of the Farm Museum since 1994 when she was promoted to administrator, but her tenure will soon be over.

We are in the midst of Howard County Restaurant Weeks right now. They end on Aug. 4.

Baltimore's tourism industry continues to grow, according to Visit Baltimore's annual report, with 23.9 million visitors to the city spending a record $5.15 billion last year.

This month, Baltimore confirmed its desire to replace its waterfront volleyball courts with a park-topped parking lot. How many cities want to turn their highly-popular waterfront area into a parking lot, removing a key discriminator between themselves and other cities trying to recruit young professionals and spending $32 million to do it?

With its four terraces of thriving plants sloping down toward a babbling lily pond, Jim Duke's garden could certainly be considered a healing place.

Starting Sunday, the 51-year-old from Norfolk, Va., will try to sail the Chesapeake Bay, from Norfolk to Annapolis, alone in a Laser dinghy, a one-man sailboat.

Public and private leaders of the Jordanian city of Aqaba visited Baltimore on Wednesday to learn about creating a tourist destination from an industrial port.

The Pearl Mist, a 335-foot cruise ship that was readied at a Salisbury shipyard for the last year after a protracted legal dispute between its owner and builder, will embark from Baltimore on its maiden voyage on Wednesday.

Column on the Baltimore harbor, potential

Harford County's fifth annual Restaurant Week started Monday and will run through June 14, offering all kinds of valuable dining experiences around the county at a fraction of the normal cost.

The National Aquarium must balance the moral case for releasing its marine mammals with its status as a prime driver of Baltimore's tourism economy.

Visitors trying to shake off a particularly snowy winter and rainy spring could give a boost to Maryland's tourist destinations this summer compared to last year.

Dressed in skinny jeans, flats, a white shirt and still wearing her stage makeup, the petite Ashley Blair Fitzgerald sits cross-legged in a small conference room after her matinee performance in "Smokey Joe's Cafe" at Arena Stage in Washington.

Authors tell stories of reading to an empty room, sick kids and sleeping in their truck while on tour

The Maryland Seafood Marketing Program has started up its fourth season of chef education tours

Guilford centennial celebration to end with benefit gala for Sherwood Gardens

Under Armour opens its largest specialty store to date today in SoHo, hoping to attract tourists from around the globe

Preservationists and city hope to restore, draw visitors to structure built in 1828

The eighth annual Come Home to Howard County fair on Saturday, April 12 attracted 900 people who spent half of a sunny, 70-degree day at Long Reach High School, sitting in information sessions, taking community tours and hoping to win a housing lottery.

Passengers on the Grandeur of the Seas left Baltimore for the Bahamas after ship was scrubbed after second wave of stomach illnesses

For the second time in two weeks, a Baltimore-based cruise ship is dealing with an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness.

Monster trucks, wild animals and figure skaters draw millions to Feld Entertainment's live shows each year. But some of that magic comes from an unlikely arena — an industrial complex in Jessup.

Baltimore's hotel market is at a crossroads as investments pour into properties new and old amid a nationwide pickup in business and leisure travel. As new hotels open, older properties scramble to remain competitive in a market in which demand for rooms remains healthy but has yet to rebound to pre-recession levels.

If you work in Maryland, you have good reason to be concerned about climate change and to be in favor of more clean energy like land-based wind power. Unfortunately, a bill moving in Annapolis right now would severely handicap Maryland's ability to pursue onshore wind development within our borders.

Haiti travel

Harford County is close to receiving elusive state authority to levy a tax on hotel and motel room rentals, thanks to a backdoor legislative tactic deployed by the leader of the Maryland Senate, with the blessing of a leading candidate for county executive.

Rehoboth Beach recently joined the growing ranks of coastal resort towns that ban smoking on the beach so why not Ocean City?

This year marks the first time since its opening in 1966 that the Carroll County Farm Museum has kept its doors open in the dead of winter.

Cruises recreation

While most of us are looking forward to maybe getting out to Sunday brunch soon, one lucky person will be winning an entire year of dates in a contest sponsored by Howard County Tourism.