Civil War Museum

The President Street Station, now the Baltimore Civil War Museum, was my first stop. It tells the story of the Battle of Pratt Street. Did you know there was a battle in Baltimore? I didn't know that. President Street Station was the depot for two railroads that came into Baltimore from the north: the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad and the North Central Railroad. There were other depots on the other side of the harbor for trains running south and west. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Depot was on Pratt Street at Camden Yards. Around 1830, Baltimore passed a law that said that there would be no railroad engines in the downtown area.

So to get from President Street Station to Camden Station, your railroad company would hook your car up to horses and pull you across town.

In April 1861 at the very beginning of the Civil War, the Sixth Connecticut Company of soldiers was heading to Washington to reinforce the nation's capitol. Their train had stopped at President Street Station and the soldiers were marching in formation down Pratt Street to Camden Station to get on the B & O Railroad to Washington. A conflict started as they marched down Pratt Street.

Angry Baltimorians who wanted the South to win the War threw bricks and bottles at the solders in an effort to keep them from continuing their trip to Washington. After keeping cool heads for a while, the soldiers finally lost their patience and fired a round of bullets over the crowd and into a wall. This made the townspeople even angrier. Even the mayor at the time, George William Brown, got into the action by marching in front of the troops. Finally the rest of the Connecticut troops arrived and the battle ended.

By the time it was over, ten soldiers and ten citizens were killed. The northern papers called it "The Lexington of 1861." They compared it to the battle of Lexington and Concord at the start of the Revolutionary War. The people who died on April 19, 1861, in Baltimore were the first deaths in the Civil War.

Port Discovery Children's Museum

After spending my morning in such a serious place, I think I'm ready for some fun. How about you? One of Baltimore's newest places to visit is the Port Discovery Children's Museum. It has all kinds of activities for children.

There are activities on three floors. I know its going to be fun by just looking around inside the entrance.

Can you tell how the kids get up to each floor? I would like to tell you that I tried it, but I'm just not brave enough yet. This time I took the stairs. It's hard to watch and not participate, so they let adults join in the fun, too.

There are all kinds of materials in the mask making center. I had a hard time deciding what to make. How's this? Now I'm ready for Halloween. How about you? What kind of mask would you make? Be thinking about it so you'll be ready when you go to Port Discovery

Have you ever played Clue? The Mystery House is a little like Clue? You have to find one of the missing members of an imaginary family by looking for clues in each room.

Port Discovery has a building center where you can work with wood and build things. There are always trained adults along the way to help you with materials and safety rules. I was thinking that I would love to stop and build a model ship for my grandchildren, Michael and Melissa. But I have so many things yet to see. Better still, I'll bring them with me next time so that they can make their own creations. Outside one of the activity centers is a conveyer belt like they have in factories.

Have you ever seen the episode of "I Love Lucy" where the chocolates go down the belt really fast? That's how I felt as I tried to put pegs into wooden pieces as they came by on the conveyer belt. I bet you'll be better at it than I was - the belt seemed to be going a little too fast for me.

I had so much fun at Port Discovery I really didn't want to leave. I didn't get to visit the Library or see the real Television Station. I feel like you do when the teacher says, "Let's get going!" just as you are really getting into what you are doing. But I still have one more stop to make.

USS Constellation

Around the early part of the 1980's, the US Navy gave Baltimore a famous sailing ship called the USS Constellation. The ship was built in 1854 and was used in the Civil War and later to help stop the slave trade. For awhile, it was thought that this ship was the same as another famous ship, also called the Constellation, built in Baltimore in 1797. But they were not the same - they just had the same name. Like the Starships Enterprise. There have been lots of those. Did you know that there was even a Baltimore Clipper ship called Enterprise? It was built around the same time as the original USS Constellation and Chasseur, the original "Pride of Baltimore." Sailing people like to reuse the names of older ships. It helps keeps their memory alive.

The USS Constellation is almost twice as big as the Pride of Baltimore II. It was built as a warship. But like all wooden ships, it was at the mercy of the wind and water. Two years ago, it had to leave the harbor and have a lot of repair work done to it. It was just brought back to its place of honor in the Inner Harbor on July 2, 1999. Everyone is glad to see it back.

There's still a lot to do on the ship. You can see the men working below deck. Mr. Tunis, part of the ship's crew, gave me a grand tour. Some thing to check out are the sleeping quarters. They were always much nicer for the officers. I also saw the ballast. Big sailing ships had to add weight to the bottom around their keels so that they could keep their balance. They used the strangest things - brick, rocks, old lumber, anything that was heavy and useless.

When I returned to the deck, Captain Jack (I think that's just his nickname) was polishing the change of shifts bell. It rings on the half hour to signal one shift to rest and the other to start working. I was in luck. It was going to be 1330 hours (1:30 PM). Do you know how it feels when there is an assembly at school and the actors come through the audience and pick someone to participate? That's how I felt when they asked me if I wanted to ring the bell.

After that I helped them lower their flag. Can you see from the picture how large it is? If you look carefully, you can see Pride II's masts in the background in the top left corner.

Good Bye For Now

I have to end my tour at the Constellation because my week is up. There will be more information about Baltimore when your next teacher, Carol Corwell-Martin, comes aboard next week. I can't wait to tell my family and friends all about my trip. My son Rob is moving to Arizona so he'll probably see this on the Internet before I get a chance to tell him. He'll love the cannon part. I think I'll get some of Erin's recipes for my two daughters-in-law, Kim and Kim. Then I'll thank the Captain and crew for all their help in teaching me about life aboard Pride of Baltimore II and welcoming me onto their floating home.