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August 1 was Francis Scott Key’s birthday. Which was the perfect time to visit Fort McHenry in Maryland, US, and learn about the battle that inspired Key to write the words of the American national anthem The Star-Spangled Banner.
The fort sits on the Patapsco River and it is from the river, about eight miles out, that Key wrote his famous words on September 14, 1814.
Park ranger Jim Bailey, who leads the re-enactors who meet every Saturday and Sunday at the fort in their 1814 garb, will set the scene for you: An American civilian, William Beanes, was taken hostage by the British.
Key, a lawyer in Georgetown, was to negotiate for his release. After dining with the enemy on their ship in the river, Key
persuaded them to let Beanes go.
By then the battle at Fort McHenry had broken out and they were stuck on the water.
The bombardment from the British ships on Fort McHenry lasted 25 hours, killing four Americans and wounding 24.
Captured exact feelings
In reality, Bailey admits, Key would have had to “see [the battle] with spy glasses”.
But even if he didn’t really see “the rockets’ red glare” or “the bombs bursting in air”, what he felt, Bailey says, and what came out in his poetry was “what the entire city saw and felt ... He captured the feeling over the fort.”
See the (rather hokey) movie in the visitor centre when you first get to the fort to learn the story about Key.
Then watch the re-enactors, especially if you are interested in early 19th-century weaponry.
They are knowledgeable about the War of 1812 and the Key story. What’s cool about the fort is that the earthworks (mounds of dirt used as fortification) are still visible.
You can walk around and imagine the 1,200-odd American soldiers fighting the British.
The fort has lots of information about the daily life of those soldiers.
Notice the big American flag with 15 stars and 15 stripes, waving in the wind — a replica of the one that Key depicted. (The real flag, flown at the fort when the Americans won the battle, will be back on display at the renovated National Museum of American History soon.)
The fort is a beautiful place to be on a sunny summer day. Watch the boats on the river.
Sunbathe on the grass. Run around the path that circles the fort. And learn a little American history, too.
Go there ... Baltimore ... From the UAE
Emirates and American Airlines fly daily via London and Chicago.
Fare from Dh5,380
Virgin Atlantic flies daily via London.
Fare from Dh5,300
Delta flies six days a week via Atlanta.
Fare from Dh4,430
Qatar Airways flies daily via Doha. Fare from Dh4,190
— Information courtesy:
The Holiday Lounge by Dnata.
Tel: 04 4298576
Information
When to visit
Visit it between noon and 3 pm to see the re-enactors. The ticket costs $7 (Dh26), free for kids younger than 16.
If you have more than three hours, tour the Star Spangled Banner Flag House at 844 E. Pratt St, Baltimore.
This is where Mary Young Pickersgill lived and, with the help of her mother and daughter, where she made the flag that inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
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