First stop: Inner Harbor. Sadly for us, it wasn't as warm as we had hoped. The forecast had put both weekend days in the low 50's but with the onset of rain and low clouds it was very humid and still chilly. Not desperately, bitterly cold like Syracuse, but chilly.
Complete with touristy shops and restaurants, this section of town was recommended as one of the most interesting. Here Dave is educating me on the different types of devices to keep boats from drifting away. This is called a "cleet".
A beautiful lighthouse that once guided colonial ships into Baltimore's busy commercial port is now surrounded by a growing skyscraper skyline.
The USS Taney, one of the survivors from the Pearl Harbor attacks. We had planned on touring it with the rest of our Maritime Museum tickets but, arriving at 4:30 they had already closed the ship (it was supposed to be open to 5!!)
It was still an impressive ship to see in the harbor.
After buying tickets to go to the aquarium, we ambled around the Inner Harbor trails and then headed into the USS Constitution museum and on to the ship. This is a replica cannon out in the plaza, ready for photo opps.
On board the USS Constitution, we had a brief demonstration of the ship's cannons. Once used as an antislaving ship, it was the last all-wood ship built in the Navy's fleet. It caught slaving ships leading up to the Civil War and was in commission for various purposes for over 100 years. This is the third deck (I forget all the names) where the crew would sleep. They said it would be extremely damp and hot on this deck and the crew would stay away as long as possible until forced to retire for the night. I don't blame them.
This is the second deck almost even with the water where the guns were fired. They would require 9 pounds of gunpowder to fire!! The ship had 20 of these cannons as well as 2 rifle-style guns on the top deck for longer-distance firing. It's amazing to relive the toil and effort and time that went into protecting our country. Not to mention the amount of people involved in just running a ship like this!!
On the upper deck, pretending to steer the ship
Dave's learning the ropes. Great lesson in history, but we both realized that the sailor's life was NOT for us! It was amazing to walk through the different compartments and think about being sent out to sea for months and years at a time. It truly was a different lifestyle, complete with jargon for all the working parts of the ship, the different roles of the men and boys aboard, and the utter unpredictability of being at war on a wooden ship. They had done a fantastic job of describing the life aboard the ship including a display on the different foods they would dry and store, the contraptions for keeping light in the belly of the ship without exposing the gunpowder to flame, the variety of thick and thin ropes, and of course the weapons of the ship with cutlasses (pirate swords) and cannons.
Then, we were off to the National Aquarium. I'm not much of a fish person and honestly I'm glad to see them walled off behind glass where they don't stink as much, but the aquarium was very well-done and had exhibits from the Atlantic, Pacific, Rain Forest, Australia, and more. These are some rays that swam around with the sharks.
One of my favorite lurking sea creatures...an octupus!
Waiting for the dolphin show to start, making fish faces...
Not sure the inspiration for the piano fish, but I had to snag a picture!!
We then went back to tour more ships. This is touring the USS Torsk, a submarine that served in the Pacific during WWII. Dave admires the torpedos and torpedo tubes...
Atop the USS Torsk. It was cool to see how compactly and efficiently the space in the submarine was used. Everything had its place and its label. It's no wonder that the armed forces are required to display a high degree of discipline...there's no room to be messy or disorderly!! Surprisingly, though, as we were touring the bunks, a group of rowdy and disrespectful teenagers that hinted of being in ROTC bounced through tapping the tanks and laughing as they joked about falling onto their bunkmates. I waited with Dave to let them pass through before continuing on because it really bothered me how disrespectful they were being.
Personally, it was inspiring to think of the amount of manpower required to keep that ship operating, the sacrifice of thousands of bright-eyed boys and men heading out to serve their country, never knowing if their names would later be etched onto memorial lists of those that didn't make it back. And, I thought of the mothers waiting at home and receiving letters of their boys operating the ships that would cruise enemy waters, hardly knowing what the inside of the ship or the conditions their sons were living in. Hardly the subject of joking. I'm very grateful for reminders such as this submarine that teach me how blessed I am thanks to the sacrifice of generations before me.
Finishing the submarine tour and prevented from touring the USS Taney, we headed back for a nap and then dinner in Little Italy (sorry no pictures...). We had GREAT food and finished the night cuddling up to a movie.
Sunday was a drizzly, rainy day. Not heavy enough to keep us from going outside though!! We headed to tour Fort McHenry, famous for its role in the War of 1812 and the site of inspiration for Francis Scott Key's words of the Star Spangled Banner.
We began the tour watching a movie on the fort's history that ended by looking out towards the flagpole and hearing the National Anthem in a rousing and beautifully strong arrangment by the Naval Academy Choir. Dave and I then headed into the fort itself.
A cool picture of the replica barrels of supplies inside the fort.
These cannons were part of a later era than the famous War of 1812...the Fort was used as a detention camp for Confederate prisoners during the Civil War, then as a hospital following WWI into WWII and was functional until declared a national monument and historic site in the 1980s. These cannons were amazingly heavy (listed as upward of 50,000 lbs) and moved around on tracks at the base, installed during the Civil War and shortly thereafter. Luckily, the fort itself only saw action during the War of 1812 and didn't come under fire any time afterwards.
This is the famous flagpole in the same spot that it was during Key's days. While captured and forced to remain on an American Truce Ship during a British advance on Baltimore, Francis Scott Key saw the fort come under fire and listened to the bombardment through an antagonizing 3 days of warfare. On the final morning, the guns silenced, and a gigantic 30' by 42' American flag rose triumphant over the smoke, inspiring him to pen his poem that would later accompany an English drinking song to make our National Anthem. What a cool piece of history!!
Standing at the gates to the main courtyard inside the fort.
A statue dedicated to Key
The main gates of the fort.
We finsihed the day as we drove to visit Dave's parents and then head back to Syracuse. It turns out that the weekend had been unusually pleasant in Syracuse and Spring had sprung during our absence.
We were glad for a break, though, and now head into the second half of the semester busy with wedding plans, school work, work work, callings, and personal lives in full swing!! Wish us luck.
2 comments:
Sounds like a fun trip. I love being able to see and experience all of that history. I want to hear about more wedding plans! Enjoy the hopefully warmer weather.
That looks like so much fun! I wish Mike and I had time or money for a weekend trip. I guess we'll just have to settle for a month in Asia instead.
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