The gun laws are tough but it's not as bad as you guys make out. As long as you don't Cowboy around with your firearms out in the open you shouldn't have any problems. I still see a few pick up trucks with gun racks in the rear window. They do state the ammo has to be transported in different locations other than the firearms and not easily accessible. I have even carried a hand gun into the State Police Barricks in Frederick to have it transferred from a friend with no problems, yes it was in a hard case. The Officer doing the transfer said it didn't need to be brought inside and should have been left in the vehicle but still didn't get crazy about it . If it was in Baltimore, Rockville or PG county it may have been a little different. Heck when I lived in Brunswick I was looking for a dog with rabies, had my Ruger Super Blackhawk 44mag in hand walking down the street looking under cars, when the police arrived ( they wouldn't get out of the car or come near me, they even back up as I approached the car) I was only asked to unload it and return to the house that they would look for the dog. Let me clear this up a little, I had just got home from hunting and was cleaning the pistol so it was already in hand and ammo was close by. I did this in deffence of my children who had seen the dog and I had been cornered by it when I went to get my children to safety , I did drop the hammer on the dog in my yard but in the rush to get to my children I didn't load the gun and it was empty. I dropped the hammer twice with no bang, luckily no one was bitten and the Police didn't find the dog.
I think Mike will tell you it's not that bad here since he is a State Trouper and it depends on the Officer you encounter.
As far as good eating I like the Restaurants on Kent Island around the Narrows , Harrison's, The Fisherman's, Holley's are all good places to eat and Harrison's is my favorite. If you should get up around Thurmont on US 15 Fitzgarald's is excellent also.