My cousin, Janice Magnuson, lives in Alexandria, Virginia. I don’t get to see her very often and I am excited that she is driving up to Baltimore to spend the day with us!!!
She picked us up and we went out to Fort McHenry. Shortly after we arrived there was a short film that they showed about the history of the fort and the battle which moved Francis Scott Key to write the poem which would become our National Anthem. As the film ended and the Anthem was being sung, a heavy curtain on the wall was retracted exposing a glass wall. Behind it was this scene. It was very moving.
We walked around the Fort, which has been in use since the famous battle in 1813. It was used during the Civil War to control the townspeople. There were local southern sympathizers who attacked Union soldiers from Massachusetts as they changed trains in Baltimore killing several soldiers. The Union put cannons up on fort and aimed them toward the town as a threat against any more riots. The fort was also used as a hospital during WWI.
General George Armistead was the commander here and wanted a flag large enough so the British could see it from the water and have no doubt that it was American. He hired a local seamstress named Mary Pickersgill to sew a flag 30 feet by 42 feet. That is a huge flag!!! The original flag is currently in the Smithsonian being restored. My cousin told me that workers are suspended over the flag to work on it. They are removing the linen backing, fiber by fiber, that had been added to it at a later date.
A park Ranger was giving an information talk so we wandered over. It was mostly about the flag. The photo above is not the size Mary Pickersgill sewed though. The Ranger had a replica flag of the original and had everyone there help roll it out.
Ross and Janice as the flag is being rolled out.
Big flag, huh? I can’t imagine sewing this. The original flag was made out of wool.
We walked though the various buildings and they had some nice displays. This shows what the barracks of the enlisted men would have been like. 4 soldiers to a bunk! I suppose 2 of them would be on duty and 2 off? Hope so or it would be tight quarters on the bunks.
There were some re-enactors who were playing music and dancing. They would answer any questions. Would should have asked, but Janice and I kept wondering who picked the color white for the trousers, and how did they keep them clean? Guessing they probably didn’t.
After the fort we went to Felling Point, an area close to the harbor. We had a nice lunch in the garden area of One Eyed Mike’s.
We the strolled around Felling Point. Lots of pubs, eating establishments, and shops. Of course we decided we needed ice cream so stopped in at Maggie Moo’s. Janice treated.
Ross being a Hiner, would there be any doubt what flavor he’d choose once he saw this?
Janice chose pistachio and Ross is trying to swipe a taste.
There are water taxis that run to various stops all over the harbor. For $10 bucks you can ride all day, unlimited stops. This was just one of the stops and the tourists are boarding here. We walked.
Before Janice headed back to Alexandria and to her kitty, Peter Pan, she stopped on board to see the
ODDYSEA.
She looks right at home at the wheel.
Later on the evening Ross and I walked up to Little Italy. It is an area that has generations old row houses. Some which have been passed down and are still in the same families. There are family operated restaurants everywhere, and oh does it smell heavenly!
Our noses led us to Sabatinos. Not sure, but we think the guy at the next table was from the Soprano family!!!
Just kidding, but he sure looked and sounded like it.
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