Fort McHenry

After visiting the B&O on Saturday we headed to Ft. McHenry. My history professor father had never been there before this trip but he could have told me a million stories from the War of 1812 to the Civil War. Tonight is the opening celebration of the new visitor center. I've heard they will have reenactments and fireworks. It is chilly so dress warmly.

Dad even told the park ranger a few things. We were standing on the ramparts. Dad was geeked about the land formations and told us they would take the impact of the bombs bursting in air. If you don't know, Ft. McHenry is where Francis Scott Key penned our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. He was inspired by the flag still waving after the British retreated. That actual flag hangs in the American History Museum in DC. This is the way the National Anthem should be sung at a Super Bowl.

Source

I've been to the fort countless times. Dad told me that the star shaped fort was first designed by the French. It was cool hearing Daddy teach me the "strategery" of a star shaped fort. It is impenetrable. If you put a little latter on one of the ramparts and tried to sneak into the fort you'd get shot. The star points make the defender have a great advantage. If it was square the defender would have such a good vantage point.

The ramparts are very high. The man walking gives you an idea of just how high. The bunker also had magazines built into them for gun powder. It was wild seeing this huge cruise ship leaving the Port of Baltimore just beyond the fort.

The flag wasn't waving while we were there but I had a few photos from previous trips.

 

Did you know you can help change the flag every day around 4:10 pm?

 The Park Rangers are so knowledgeable.

I took these shots in December. This is the magazine where the canon balls and gunpowder were stored.

After our wonderful visit we headed to Gertrude's for a crab cake.

I lucked out. Doug made coconut cake with bourbon ice cream that day. He hand delivered it to the table with John F. Gilligan for a nice visit.

Thank you to all the military men and women who have fought and died for my freedom. Dad, thanks for the cool history lessons too. Doug, thanks for the coconut cake. It was amazing and I should have finished it at the restaurant. E. stole the rest at our house.

Holiday Things

Merry Christmas Eve. We have had a very full and fun week and feel blessed beyond measure. This is going to be a bit of everything post. I added fresh cranberries to our boxwoods for a red and green pop of color in the house.

We can not get enough of these Clemintines. They are the perfect sized snack.

I love the red and green lights at Stieff Silver. They change the bulbs for the Christmas, Fourth of July and Halloween.

I had two events last week in the Harbor Club room at Pier 5 hotel. 

The room has one of the nicest views of the Inner Harbor.

This is a benefit of being an event planner. I brought them to the office to decorate for our holiday breakfast.

It snowed last week on Thursday in Baltimore.

I watched the USS Constellation get shoveled. They dumped the snow right into the harbor.

Charles Street looked beautiful.

I love the red doors and green granite at the United Methodist church on Mt. Vernon's circle.

I just can't get enough of our tree and our little sparly skirt. Just need Santa to visit with some prizes.

I planned our staff holiday event which included a tour of Ft. McHenry. The snow looked so beautiful.

The ramparts were covered.

Our guide was wonderful. All of the Park Service rangers are fantastic, frankly!

It was so quiet on the water. Can you see the Key Bridge way in the distance?

I've been to the Fort a dozen times since I've lived in Baltimore. I could listen to the guides three dozen more times. I love history! My Daddy was a history professor and he is the best story teller ever! 

The War of 1812 has some fun connections to our family in DC. The Treaty of Ghent was signed at the Octagan House to end the War of 1812. Col. and Mrs. Tayloe welcomed Dolly and James Madison when the White House burned. Dolly had the good sense to grab the Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington!

These were the barracks for the enlisted soldiers.

We headed to lunch at Cafe Hon in Hampden. Life is short! Start with dessert. The coconut cake at Hon is so unbelievably good.

There was a great assortment of delicious shrimp salad, chicken salad and hummus sandwiches.

My work buddies told me they really enjoyed the luncheon. We had the Hon Bar all to ourselves. I know there is a lot of controversy over Cafe Hon and the trademarking of the term "hon". I love that people are so passionate about Baltimore. The fact that the people of Baltimore feel that they all own the term is a good thing in my humble opinion. 

We had a little time to explore Hampden and I wanted to visit places I hadn't been before. I chose Lovely Yarns.

This is the knitting shop that is responsible for the tree hugger sweater outside on The Avenue. The knitters have made all these teddy bears and are sending them to Africa.

The walls were covered.

The stockings were hung with care too.

I would love to learn how to knit.

I also got to meet Santa at the B&O Railroad Museum! Ho, ho, hi there Santa!

I had cookies delivered for the team for the best cookie break of all time.

I popped into the Fells Point Visitor Center on the last leg of the day. There were two archivists cleaning off a piece of metal.

The old buildings and streets are haunted in Fells Point. This elevator shaft could set the scene of many a nightmare, couldn't it? Yikes.

I also went to the Sound Garden for the very first time. I had no idea it was so large.

From the outside it looks like a tiny row house. The music stacks go back for days.

There is even a John Waters section.

The final part of the day was a cocktail party at Pier 5. it was a great place to unwind from a long day of touring our beautiful city.

With good pals. E. even made it to the party, but we forgot to take a photo together.

Merry Christmas to all!