Weekend day trip: Baltimore

So, yeah, it's been like forever since I wrote anything. I've been bad like that.

Le sigh

Anyway...

So, this being the bicentennial anniversary of the War of 1812 (Wikipedia entry here), various historical sites in Baltimore have been hosting special exhibits to commemorate this anniversary. The overarching theme is Star Spangled 200. They were (and, I believe, still are) offering a package deal called the Star Spangled Baltimore Pass, which gives access to four sites: The Maryland Historical Society, the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, and the display at the Fells Point Visitor Center.

I first heard about this on the radio, and, having an interest in American history, thought it might be a neat trip to make (especially since we live ~40 minutes away). So, mousecat0 & I talked it over and decided to do the day trip. I bought the passes online, loaded up the cooler with ice and water and off we went.

Our first stop was the Baltimore Visitor Center to pick up the passes. Except, for whatever reason, I missed that part and tried to hit the Historical Society first. And in the process of doing that, we went to East Monument Street instead of West Monument Street, and was very confused when all I found was the State Highway Administration.

Well. Thank heavens for smartphones. A quick check of the website revealed the problem, so I reprogrammed the GPS and we were on our way. We picked up our passes without further issue and headed to the Historical Society.

We walked through four of the exhibitions at the Maryland Historical Society: The first, of course, was the "In Full Glory Reflected: Maryland during the War of 1812". While there, we also had the privilege of sitting through a short performance by an owner of an 1812 coffee house who filled us in on the events that let up to that night - the night before the attack on Baltimore/Ft. McHenry. The guy was good and did his best to engage his audience of 8. We also walked through the "Inventing a Nation: Maryland in the Revolutionary Era", "Divided Voices: Maryland in the Civil War", and "Nipper's Toyland: 200 Years of Children's Playthings" exhibits. The "Nipper's Toyland" held the kids attention the most (well, except for F and the exhibits of weapons throughout the other exhibitions); I recall one "Duck Hunt" toy set - small duck stand-ups with a toy gun that shot little wooden projectiles. I remarked to mousecat0 that there was no way that would get approved for sale today.

Our next stop was the Fells Point Visitor Center. Unfortunately, when we arrived, there was a sign saying that the door was locked and they would be back in 10 minutes. I walked across the street and watched the bay for a while, letting the warmth, the salty air, and the breeze take me back to the days of my youth, where I would watch the sun go down over the bay on Long Beach Island. mousecat0, mouseling1 and F. wandered over after a few minutes, and spent time watching the waters as well. After about 20 minutes, they opened up, and we went inside.Not a huge display in the back, but some interesting facts and artifacts were there. We picked up an ornament from the gift shop and headed out. We weren't sure we were ready to have dinner yet, but we did stop at Daily Grind for a snack.

From there, we visited the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, which was the home of Mary Pickersgill and her family, who sewed the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key. Nice little movie to start things off, followed by a tour of the house. The tour guide was...well meaning but his attitude was a bit off-putting. He knew his stuff, no question, but his attitude and mannerisms irritated me for some reason. Whatever. It amused us to no end as he was showing us numerous kitchen tools from the 1800s, most of which the kids had already seen (and knew the function of) on "Good Eats".

Since the Flag House is right near Baltimore's "Little Italy", we decided it was a good time for dinner. We chose to dine at Caesar's Den, in no small part because they advertised that both casual clothing and children were welcome. We chose to partake of their prix fixee menu. I don't recall most of the specific names for the menu items, but mousecat0, and F had the Mozzarella Caprese as an appetizer, while mouseling1 had peppers in olive oil and spices, and I had clams with tomato and garlic. I think the peppers were the best of them, but all were good. For dinner, mousecat0 had the veal, while mouseling1, F., & I had clams, mussels, crab & shrimp in a lovely garlic sauce over fettucine. Again, I give my children credit: They had not had either clams or mussels before, but both tried them. F. liked the clams, but not the mussels, mouseling1 didn't care for either. Dessert was equally delicious. If you're ever in the area, I recommend you try them.

Finally, we headed for Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine. We arrived just in time for the Twilight Tattoo Ceremony and Concert. It was quite nice; mousecat0 enjoyed both the music and the ceremony. We walked around Ft. McHenry as the music played, watched the ceremony proper, then left as the speechifying began.

At that point, we were quite done for the day, so we headed for home. An excellent day filled with history, food, fun sites, and each other.