I woke up early, drank a quick coffee and ate a quick piece of toast, and then hopped on my bike for a quick ride from Butcher’s Hill to Fort McHenry to meet up with the rest of the (relatively) early risers for this year’s Defender’s Day historical bicycle tour with Baltimore Heritage. I got to do part of the narrating this year, and we had A. along to change flat tires, something he is really good at. I talked about what started the war, when we started memorializing it, why we memorialize some parts and not others, and E. talked about how privateers are just pirates with government contracts, why you might not want to build row houses out of wood, and the other forts in the city that aren’t Fort McHenry. Continue reading
War of 1812
View of Canton From Fort McHenry
It was the last day of this much-needed vacation weekend, and oh, it was lovely weekend. I finished it up with a coast down the hill to pick up R. for a ride out to Fort McHenry on the promise of froyo at the end. I snapped this picture looking out toward Canton across the bay. Fort McHenry was behind us, all nostalgia for the great days of the War of 1812, that mostly-forgotten second revolutionary war. Continue reading
Battle Monument at Calvert & Fayette
Today was bike tour day, so I woke up early, kinda nervous, and reviewed my notes for our six-stop tour of historic War of 1812 sites in the city before bringing Brompty downstairs for a good ride over to our starting point at Riverside Park, one of the oldest parks in Baltimore. A small group gathered, and we made our way over to Sharp-Leadenhall, where I talked about the history of African Americans in the early Republic, and especially in this neighborhood, the oldest African American neighborhood in the city. Continue reading
Wooden House at Wolfe & Aliceanna
As you might know if you read this blog, I love riding my bike, and I also love local history, so you can imagine my glee when E. asked if I’d like to help lead a bicycle tour of historic War of 1812 sites in Baltimore in September. Um, yes! My not-so-secret desire is to someday be a park ranger, so it seems like bicycle tour guide can only be good experience for a late-in-life career change. Continue reading
USCT Graves at Chalmette National Cemetery
Jazz Fest is here in New Orleans, and the weather just couldn’t be better for it. I’m not going this weekend, opting instead for the more affordable and more my speed Festival International Louisiane in Lafayette. Before heading off for music galore, though, I decided to take a day riding around this beautiful town, away from crowds. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 