Interestingly, Maryland isn't as blue as you might think. While trying not to get political, the city of Baltimore still leans heavily blue, and since that's where the largest percentage of the population is in Maryland, the state remains blue. However, the county I live in is about 2/3 red to 1/3 blue, and neighboring counties are very similar. They just don't have the population to influence the overall state's vote due to having a lower population.
As far as regional attitudes and perspectives, it took me a few years to get used to life here. It's definitely not as friendly as the South, but it's also not as abrupt as the North (generally speaking, of course). There's an influence of both in the area, and once I got used to it, I like living here.