I sincerely hope everyone in the Baltimore area has taken
advantage of the historic, monumental commemoration that has engulfed our city
for the past few days! If not, go check out the tall ships before they leave
tomorrow morning! I am not a connoisseur of tall ships--nor am I a huge fan of
the Blue Angels, as their booming sound and uncomfortably close proximity to
buildings freaks me out--but I have been totally loving the Star-Spangled
Sailabration! The festival has been a genuinely exciting way to kick off the
War of 1812 Bicentennial and show off our city to a wide swath of visitors. For
someone who truly loves history, being able to share my adopted hometown's rich
heritage with so many interested visitors was a dream come true!
One my favorite moments of the festival was attending the
Star-Spangled Symphony, my first time hearing the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra,
(Governor) O'Malley's March, or the U.S. Navy Chorus. I absolutely love that
tickets were only $15, opening the doors to the gorgeous Meyerhoff Symphony
Hall to new audiences (including me). The Philip Glass premiere was very
exciting, but the rousing American tunes that followed truly made my heart
swell with patriotism and pride (the huge 15-star, 15-stripe flag draping the
back of the stage probably helped too). O'Malley's March was pretty darn
cool--the Governor has a gift for songwriting and some serious stage presence
(no surprise there). The finale, of course, with red, white & blue confetti
was really something to remember!
In addition to the symphony, I loved wandering around the
Inner Harbor admiring the tall ships and of course, people-watching too. I have
seen so many awesome American flag shirts and sweaters in the past five days
(seriously, I love Americana and patriotic kitsch). The festival set-up at
Fells Point was a delightful surprise as well. I didn't make it to two of my
favorite places in Baltimore--Fort McHenry or the Flag House--this weekend but
I am sure they were packed with enthusiastic visitors.
I can only imagine all of the many, many hours of hard work
that went into planning this event of international proportions--kudos to all
involved at the War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission and Star-Spangled 200! I
can't wait to celebrate the Baltimore of Baltimore in September 2014!
Here are some photos from the weekend. I realize there were many great photo ops but I seemed to have missed all of them! I went a few
different days so that explains the change in lighting...
