Sailabration 2012

Quick history factoids for you:

1. The Star-Spangled Banner, penned by Francis Scott Key, was written not during The Revolutionary War, but actually in 1814 after Key witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.  

2. Francis Scott Key did not intend to write the national anthem when he penned the poem, "Defence of Fort McHenry."  (Not a typo, he actually spelled it as "defence" and we'll blame the Brits for it!) 

3.  The poem was printed as a song in the Baltimore Patriot and The American  on September 20, 1814.

4. Herbert Hoover signed a law on March 3, 1931 establishing The Star-Spangled Banner as our national anthem. 

Fantastic! But what does all this mean?  Well, Baltimore takes a certain level of pride and yes, even a bit of ownership with regards to the National Anthem, since it was written in Baltimore. So, Baltimore held a massive festival last weekend honoring the 200th anniversary of the bombardment of Fort McHenry, which was the inspiration for our national anthem.

The Inner Harbor was packed!  The hubs and I went down later in the day on Saturday after I ran the Baltimore 10 Miler.  We specifically went later in the day after the Blue Angels air show because I've already seen them, the hubs was indifferent, and we wanted to escape as much of the heat and crowds as possible!

I really wanted to go down to the Harbor because there were over 40 tall ships in the Harbor for the celebration.  They were incredibly beautiful, romantic, and majestic.  Even though most of these boats have modern pieces they still evoke the imagery of a time long ago. 

Don't you wish you could be a kid sometime and just enjoy splashing in sprinklers during the summer?  Man it was hot out and I was envious of the little ones.

The first tall ship in the photo above was from Brazil and she was breathtakingly beautiful.

Oh no, the Inner Harbor dragons are attacking! Run for your lives!  Just kidding. 

The National Aquarium looks right at home with paddle boats, a submarine, and a few gun ships.

Funniest sight all day (yes, even beats the people getting married at Pier 5 and their fancy guest freaking out about the crowds) was seeing these three sailors from Ecuador loading up on electronics and taking them aboard their ship.  Somehow when I think of a sailboat I don't think of flat screen tvs!

While the Inner Harbor was jam packed, the hubs and I slipped over to Mex at Power Plant Live for a quick meal and a few drinks. Air conditioning + guacamole + beer + baseball on giant tv = awesome.

I welcome any excuse to wear my favorite maxi dress from Banana Republic.  If only I felt that baby was work appropriate because if it was I would wear that every casual Friday! 

The sun was starting to dip lower in the sky and the hubs and I wanted to get home before the fireworks began.  Not because we hate fireworks we don't, but because we wanted to be home in case the pups could hear them in the distance.  July 4th is not a favorite holiday for the dogs.

Thanks for the beautiful ships Baltimore.  I don't know if we'll make it around to Sailabration 2112, but we certainly enjoyed the 200th anniversary party.