Day #318 - Baltimore, MD
June 14th, 2009Last night as we were headed to our “Last Supper” the weather looked a little threatening. It seems we avoided bad weather again as it passed without incident.
Not wanting to miss what might be their last opportunity, the girls took a moment to pose. Hard to believe, but they had not rehearsed that.
We had a great dinner and will really miss their company. We made a pact to meet, somewhere, sometime for the six of us to have a reunion. Thanks, Bob and Deb, for the friendship and the memories. Safe travels and happy boating.
Today was an absolutely perfect weather day. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed 80 degrees, sunny, low humidity and a gentle breeze all day. It was the ideal day to do our “tourist” exploring. We bought the water taxi tickets and off we went.
Out first leg was from the marina to a downtown stop, then to Fells Point.
Fell’s Point is a neighborhood in Baltimore. It is home to a variety of shops, restaurants, coffee bars, music stores, and over 120 pubs. Located on the harbor and famous for its maritime past, it now boasts the greatest concentration of pubs and bars in the city, they are everywhere.
This waterfront community is a much-visited location in Baltimore, accessible by water taxi, freeway, and several bus lines. The neighborhood has also been the home of large Polish, Irish, and Mexican-American populations throughout its history. In recent years a steadily increasing numbers of middle to upper middle income residents have moved into the area, driving up property values. Fell’s Point is one of several areas in and around Baltimore that are listed on the National Register of Historic Districts.
As a side note Michael Phelps, Olympic Gold Medal winning swimmer, came from Fells Point.
Our next stop was Fort McHenry. We passed this on our boat on the way into Baltimore and were glad to go back and explore. Below is a relief of the fort which was said to be shaped like a star.
During the War of 1812 British warships continuously bombarded the fort. The British ships were largely unable to pass Fort McHenry and penetrate Baltimore Harbor because of defenses including a chain, sunken ships and the American cannon. The picture below looks out over the harbor that we entered through three days ago.
Several reenactments took place while we were there and they had sample living quarters and ammunition sites for us to tour. The building in the background was one of areas where the soldiers actually lived.
Francis Scott Key, witnessed the bombardment from a nearby truce ship. An over sized American flag had been sewn by Mary Pickersgill for exactly $405.90 in anticipation of the British attack on the fort. When Key saw the flag emerge intact in the dawn, he was so moved that he began that morning to compose the poem “The Defense of Fort McHenry” which would later be renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner” and become America’s national anthem.
One of the volunteers who had worked there for more than 30 years took our picture. He even let Patti wear his hat.
It is Flag Day and they are going to have the US Army Band from DC and fireworks in celebration at Fort McHenry. Wish we could have stayed, but we hope to watch them from our boats at the marina.
The Inner Harbor was busy on a beautiful summer day.
We came back on the water taxi to the marina and all took siestas before getting together for dinner. We were all thankful for another beautiful day on our adventure.
