This Memorial Weekend we decided to strike out to Baltimore, Maryland as it's only a little over and hour away, and explore Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine.
It's $7 per adult (16 years and older), you pay at the Visitors Center that also has a nice little museum area. There was a movie that played (about 10 minutes long) that was actually pretty good. It highlighted the battle that spurred the creation of our National Anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key. They play the anthem at the end, the screen rolled up to show a window perfectly framing the large flag flying over the fort. Unexpected & impressive introduction! You really have to see this fort in person to get a good idea of it... pictures do not do it justice! Amazing to think this fort fought off the British all night and only had four causalities!
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| "O'er the Ramparts" |
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| Entrance is rather unassuming |
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| With my boys! |
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| My good little history loving tourists! |
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| They're all getting big! |
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| A "bombshelter" of sorts |
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| Magazine to keep the ammo safe - 7-10 ft thick walls! |
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| It wasn't very windy, so the flag wasn't as easy to see |
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| Found a bench to grab a quick snack while walking around |
The best way to see this fort, is a way that's not easily possible... from above! So here's a pic I found online of it to show you!
Afterwards we had planned to go to the nearby Inner Harbor of Baltimore, but there was an Orioles game and traffic was already getting nutty. So we stayed in the area near the fort and had lunch before heading home. It was nice to be able to spend the first part of the day doing a little sightseeing and then have time to come home for naps then we hit the pool! The boys were thrilled.
Happy Memorial Day!
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
