Flower Mart (Baltimore, Md.; 410/323-0022; www.flowermart.org): This 2-day festival is held the first weekend in May, beside the Washington Monument on Charles Street. You'll see ladies wearing flower-bedecked hats, plenty of flowers, and traditional Baltimore foods such as crab cakes and the yummy lemon stick. (Halve a lemon, stab it with a peppermint stick, and suck the juice through the candy.)
United States Sailboat Show (Annapolis, Md.; tel. 410/268-8828; www.usboat.com): Boat dealers fill the city dock with an array of sailboats, some spartan racing boats and others luxurious floating living rooms. Wear sneakers or boat shoes, and you can climb aboard them all and dream. It takes place the first weekend in October. The Powerboat Show is held the following weekend.
Waterfowl Festival (Easton, Md.; tel. 410/822-4567; www.waterfowlfestival.org): You'll see paintings of canvasbacks, herons, and Canada geese; decoys both practical and fanciful; and sculptures so lifelike you'll want to smooth their feathers. There are sometimes even tiny sculptures worked in gold. For fun, stop by the duck-calling contest, too. The festival is held the second week in November.
Christmas at Longwood Gardens (Kennett Square, Pa., in the Brandywine Valley; tel. 610/388-1000): Thousands of lights -- or maybe it's millions -- turn the gardens into pure magic. Everyone forgets that it's cold as they slow down to gaze at all those twinkling lights. Then they go into the conservatories to see all the poinsettias and Christmas decorations. "Winter wonderland" is so cliché, but it's really true in this case.
