Yesterday, the kids and I had a wonderful day exploring Baltimore.
We had a couple of reasons for traveling the almost 2-hour drive to
Charm City:
We had a couple of reasons for traveling the almost 2-hour drive to
Charm City:
1) Lydia has been studying about the American Flag and the Pledge of
Allegiance, so I thought it would be fun to visit Fort McHenry, the
site of a major battle in the War of 1812—which inspired Francis Scott
Key to pen the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
2) My sister, Ruth, (I only have one sibling) and my brother-in-law,
Raymond, were spending an overnight layover in Baltimore prior to
embarking on a week-long cruise to Bermuda. Since we haven’t seen Ruth
since May 2011 and Raymond since December 2010, we wanted to make the
journey to fellowship with them and catch up a bit during their one
evening in town.
To start our day, we went to Fort McHenry, which is both a National Monument and a National Historic Site.
Fort McHenry is the site of the Battle of Baltimore, a crucial battle on September 13-14, 1814, during the War of 1812 against Britain.
The brave defense of the fort inspired Francis Scott Key to pen the words to a poem, "Defence of Fort McHenry"...which later became famous and is known to us all as "The Star-Spangled Banner".
CANNONS, CANNONS, and more CANNONS...
Entrance to the fort...It was so BEAUTIFUL!
Christopher was ready to scare the girls as they came out the door,
but they are too smart and suspected him of such things. So, they came out the back door ;-) LOL!!
The kids didn't find it humorous that I made them go into the old jail cell. I promised them I wouldn't close the door, but I wanted them to experience just a taste of what prisoners from years ago would have felt. ;-)
"Where's the bathroom?" one of them asked.
Hmm...Good question! :-P
"Where's the bathroom?" one of them asked.
Hmm...Good question! :-P
Working on their Junior Ranger booklets in the enlisted barracks of the fort. They learn so much as they become Junior Rangers; they worked on their books throughout the afternoon. Yes, for a homeschooling family, field trips are just school days with a twist ;-)
This is actually the ORIGINAL cross brace used to hold the flag, the ACTUAL "Star-Spangled Banner" during the 1814 Battle of Baltimore!! Wow!
The girls enjoyed examining other artifacts found during archaeological digs throughout the years.
Other pics from inside the fort...
Educational moment: Have you ever really thought what the phrase "O'er the ramparts we watched" in The National Anthem really means? What is a rampart?
Well, a rampart is a defensive wall, so the ramparts that Key wrote about were the stone walls that protect the fort. We just learned that ;-)
The kids worked SO hard filling out their workbooks and earning enough points to qualify as Junior Rangers.
Congratulations all of you!!
GOOFY PIC!! Perfect end to our Fort McHenry visit :-D
Educational, patriotic, and fun :-)
It was the beginning to a very memorable day!
