24 Jul - Baltimore: Lighthouse, Star Spangled Banner Flag House, Babe Ruth's Home, Irish Bar

 

This morning we headed Northeast about 20 miles to Baltimore MD. Yes, that is how close we are to it, and how far we are from Washington DC!  We took highway 295 also called Baltimore Washington Parkway.  I could not believe how rough certain parts of it were.  Part way there we heard a noise like I had hit a road hazard of some sort, but I did not see anything so we kept going.  After we returned I noticed the rough road had jarred my left front hub cap completely off and it was gone.  I checked with my RAM dealership at home and they provided the part number and price, which was $209.00!  Yeeouch!  So I did some Internet searched and found one substantially cheaper in-stock.  It will be waiting for us at the Pittsburgh KOA along with a bunch of other items.

This is the right front with the hub cap on there.

This is the left front with the hub cap missing.

Before long we arrived at Baltimore and drove past the entrance to the parking lot where we will park tomorrow at the Baltimore Orioles baseball game.  

Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse
We continued on to our first stop at Inner Harbor called the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse.  This lighthouse is built from iron in 1856. It is 47 foot high and round in shape. It was built by rolling iron plates into a curve and riveting them together. This lighthouse used to be located out in the water about 15 miles southeast on the Chesapeake bay and was manned until 1948. Rather than supporting it with masonry, it was supported by nine "screw piles".  They are anchors that are screwed into the Bay bottom.  In October 1988 the City of Baltimore took over the lighthouse, relocated it to Pier 5 where it sits today and restored it.  

Inner harbor with the lighthouse in the background

Beautiful area down here.

The lighthouse was closed today so we could not climb it or access the interior

The iron "screw pile" supports underneath are visible here.

See the deterioration of the iron screw piles over the years.

How it looked when it was located in the Chesapeake Bay

Star Spangled Banner Flag House
We left the truck parked in the lot near Pier 5 and walked a few blocks to the Star Spangled Banner Flag House.  This was the home of  Mary Pickersgill, a local flag maker.  In 1813 Mary was commissioned to sew a huge 30 foot by 42 foot garrison flag and a storm flag for Fort McHenry, a nearby army fort.  She enlisted the help of some relatives and African-American servants to complete this massive project.  The resulting flag flew high above Fort McHenry.  On 14 Sep 1814 Fort McHenry withstood a 25 hour bombardment by the British.  This bombardment throughout the night and Mary Pickersgill's flag flying high above the Fort inspired Francis Scott Key to write the lyrics that would become our National Anthem.  

We are fortunate that we have gems like Mary Pickersgill's house preserved so tourists like us can learn from it and enjoy it.  They have not only preserved and restored the original house, but they have also built a beautiful garden area and a new museum.  The focal point in the garden is a replica 30 foot by 42 foot flag, the same size Mary Pickersgill created.  Some pictures:

The garden area with the size-correct flag in the background

Doreen, dwarfed by the massive flag

Mary Pickersgill's house to the right and the old museum to the left

Mary Young Pickersgill

Artifacts from around the house site.

Remnants from the flag.  The actual flag is in the Smithsonian Institute Museum for American History

"By Dawns Early Light"

Entrance to the museum which is behind the huge flag.

We finished in the museum and then toured Mary Pickersgill's house.  

Part of a replica size-correct flag

Mary Pickersgill

One of the bedrooms

How she stitched the two foot wide stars 

The stitches used on the two foot wide stripes

The kitchen area

We then walked back to the truck, passing a couple interesting sites.  One is the defunct Columbus Park.  On 5 Jul 2020 violent protesters toppled a statue of Christopher Columbus and threw the statue of the Italian explorer into the harbor.  Instead of  using a process through the city to move the statue into a museum, they destroyed it.  Maybe we should destroy all of our history and that will surely make it all better, huh?

All that remains is the base of the statue.

Across the street from Columbus Park is the old Sewage Treatment Plant, probably the coolest old sewage treatment plant I have ever seen!!

We then drove west and lucked onto a parking spot just a block from George Herman "Babe" Ruth's birthplace.  In amongst block after block of row houses stands the house in which he was born.  It is now a museum, open for viewing.  Unfortunately it was closed due to a temporary power outage, so we walked south a block to a little neighborhood Irish pub called Quigley's Half-Irish Pub.  This pub is one of the "watering holes" that was frequented by Babe Ruth later in life.  

So it looked closed, but the door was ajar so I stuck my head in and asked if they were open.  They were not yet, but the proprietor invited us in for a drink.  He poured us a beer and told stories of the history of the pub.  Such an interesting place!

 We finished our drinks and headed back to the Babe Ruth Museum which was now open.  They basically took his two-story house and displayed his baseball history throughout.  They preserved the bedroom where he was born.  Some pictures:

George Herman "Babe" Ruth's birthplace

The neighborhood row houses and brick streets

Entrance to the Museum

Babe Ruth was born here 6 Feb 1895

The Great Bambino

Babe towers over Doreen!

We watched a movie in this theater - uniforms and pennants on display

George's family

Babe Ruth was great with kids

His Livingroom

After the museum we returned to the campground and stayed here the rest of the day.  Doreen put a nice pork roast and veggies in her instant pot and created a great supper.  

Tomorrow we head back into Baltimore for an Orioles vs Nationals baseball game.