Oct. 27 Fort McHenry

We visited Fort McHenry today. It is the Baltimore fort in the Chesapeake Bay that was besieged with bombs and mortars from British ships in the harbor for 25 hours during the War of 1812. (The bombardment actually happened in Sept. 1814). Francis Scott Key, an American, was on a ship in the harbor during the battle. He wrote the words for The Star Spangled Banner the next morning when the fight ended and he could see that "the flag was still there".

While a few of the facts presented in this you tube video vary from what the National Park Service present, it is still a pretty good representation of what happened, if you want to refresh your memory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaxGNQE5ZLA

The fort is well preserved and was a really interesting tour with  information on how it has been utilized in the years since the War of 1812,

This evening we went for ribs at a place that Tom has been bragging about. It was voted Best Ribs in Baltimore and is famous for it's "fall off the bones" ribs. It certainly lived up to Tom's build-up. We all had a wonderful meal and celebrated Jim and Joe's birthdays while we were all together. We had to have some dessert to go with the sundaes that the birthday boys got!

Was happy to see the picture of the Girl Scout in this video of what The Star Spangled  Banner means to people.

Oysters on the half shell, anyone? 

Jim and one of the British cannon balls 

They fly different sized flags depending on the weather. This one is next to the largest size. The big one is the size of the original that is now displayed in the National Museum of American History.  

To the Corner Stable for ribs! 

Bread Pudding 

Molten Lava Chocolate Cake