Oh, Say Can You See

 We went to Fort McHenry, yesterday!  It was a rare warm (pushing 60) day in late February, and there was a light breeze coming off the harbor.

Perfect!

We went with two other families, so we got an extra teen (very fun!), a sweet little baby, and a gratuitously cute toddler, as well as a big bunch of kids in the middle.

Naturally, I locked them all up while I explored the fort.  That's why they put the jail so near the entrance.  As you can see, they loved it!

But eventually, they made enough noise that a ranger let them out, and we all toured the exhibits.

We learned a lot from the barracks which have been set up to recreate the environment of 1814, and they were great places to warm up out of the wind.

But, really, it's all about the cannons for us.


 Here's Choclo pretending to be a cannon ball!  Can you tell which one is him?

I guess it's all about the cannons, and the cannon balls, and the powder magazines, and the bombs.  

They have an array of cannons from the War of 1812, the Civil War (it was a prisoner of war camp), and World War I (it was a hospital).

 Almost as good as all those, are going down into the "bomb proofs,"  the early bomb shelters from 1812, then climbing up and walking the battlements.

You can walk along the star shaped wall of the fort, or along the cannon laden earthworks which ring the fort.

Originally, there was a third star shaped ring of earthworks, but that has mostly vanished into history.