During the War of 1812, the British occupied and burned Washington in August of 1814. They next sent a 19-warship fleet to invade Baltimore, a key American trading port. Starting at 6am on September 13th, the fleet pummelled Fort McHenry outside Baltimore with over 1,500 rockets and mortar shells. Twenty-five hours later the British gave up and withdrew. When Francis Scott Key saw the American flag hoisted over the fort early the morning of the 14th, he was was inspired to write the “Defence of Fort M’Henry” that later became known as the “Star-Spangled Banner” and was designated the US national anthem in 1931.

Trip highlights from December 5th, 2016 in Baltimore follow. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps

Lunch Position: -76 35.50, 39 16.33 We rode our bikes to Fort McHenry and stopped along the way for a good lunch at J.R.’s Bar and Grill tucked into a residential area in the Locust Point neighbourhood southeast of the marina. Baltimore seems to have a lot of appealing neighbourhood pubs like this one.

C. Steinweg Position: -76 34.96, 39 15.91 C. Steinweg was founded as a shipping agent in 1847 in Rotterdam by Constantin Steinweg and has since developed into a multinational logistics group. This statue outside their Baltimore terminal is the company’s logo. In Baltimore C. Steinweg handles break bulk, project, forest products, steel, metals, and RO-RO cargo. We were particularly interested in stacks and stacks of what looked like aluminum ingot around the facility.

Fort McHenry Position: -76 34.80, 39 15.92 Fort McHenry was completed in 1803, among the first forts built by the post-revolutionary American government. It is now a National Monument and Historic Shrine, the only site to have both designations.

Battle of Baltimore Position: -76 34.80, 39 15.92 The museum at the fort had excellent displays describing the War of 1812 and the Battle of Baltimore.

Movie Position: -76 34.80, 39 15.92 The museum showed a movie re-enactment of the Battle of Baltimore, including how Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the “Star-Spangled Banner”. At the end of the movie, the screen raised to show the fort behind, with the Star-Spangled Banner flag flying. Most effective.

Fort McHenry Position: -76 34.76, 39 15.79 The fort itself is in excellent condition, with additional museum displays inside.

Guns Position: -76 34.78, 39 15.78 Looking southeast across the Fort McHenry guns to the Patapsco River. In the Battle of Baltimore the British ships would have been slightly to the right of the picture.

Flag Change Position: -76 34.78, 39 15.80 Twice a day at Fort McHenry, visitors can help the rangers raise and lower a reproduction of the Star-Spangled Banner flag. Also as the Great Garrison Flag, this flag was specific to Fort McHenry and featured fifteen stars and broad stripes, representing the total states after Vermont and Kentucky joined the Union.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise. On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps.