Baltimore is Maryland’s largest city, although it’s not the state capital. Perched on the River Patapsco, at the top of the northwestern fork of the Chesapeake Bay, it gives direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. In the key days of European settlement, Baltimore was the westernmost ocean-going harbour. The Inner Harbor area is symptomatic of the city’s forward-looking prejudice. Baltimore clippers (ready two-mast schooners) were once built there; now the salt away successfully combines business, s…