BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: INNER HARBOR

In Baltimore, "Inner Harbor" refers both to a body of water (part of the 39-mile-long Patapsco River, which flows into Chesapeake Bay) and to the developed waterfront area.  I was surprised to learn that it was in this harbor that the Battle of Baltimore took place during the War of 1812. It was where Francis Scott Key was held in a British ship during the conflict, and from where he saw the huge American flag flying over Fort McHenry on the morning of September 14, 1814. It seems too far away from the fort for all of that.

The Inner Harbor is a little bit quirky. For example, check out these dragon boats:

That glass-topped building behind them is the National Aquarium (I'm not sure why it is the "National" one), which is the biggest tourist attraction in Maryland, drawing 1.5 million visitors annually.

Did we go there? No. We should have, just like we should have gone to this colossal Barnes & Noble and the Hard Rock Cafe. 

Instead we visited the Historic Ships exhibits. My husband likes ships more than I do.

Four historic ships are docked in Inner Harbor and have been turned into floating museums. We first stopped to see the USS Constellation, "The Flagship of the Anti-Slave Trade." It was built in 1854 and used during the Civil War for many things, including blockades of the South:

Men in cute sailor uniforms showed us around the ship:

There was a long line of menacing cannons pointing out the windows:

A cannon-eye view out the portal:

I was very impressed by these tidily coiled ropes. I wish my garden hoses looked like this:

Yummy plastic rations:

I have a tendency towards sea-sickness, so I don't think these swinging beds would be very restful:

Top-side again:

Another ship we explored was the USS Torsk, a World War II submarine that has the distinction of sinking a Japanese coastal defense frigate in 1945, which just happened to be the last enemy ship sunk by the United States Navy in World War II.

This room held 8 of the sub's 24 torpedoes:

Everything was very tight inside, not a comfortable experience for my claustrophobic husband:

Clothes and personal belongings were stashed in shallow draws under the bunks:

The mess hall could seat 24 men at a time:

The officers got slightly better dining accommodations:

This kitchen prepared all the food for the 81 men on board:

Information on board notes that 52 submarines carrying 374 officers and 3,131 men were torpedoed during World War II. It would have been a awful way to go.

Altogether there are five ships that are part of the exhibit, and we only had time for two. One ship we did not board was the Chesapeake, a ship that acted as a lighthouse in waters too deep to build a traditional lighthouse:

The Inner Harbor Historic Ships would be a fun place for kids to have an unrestricted game of hide-and-seek.