Star Spangled Sailabration!

The War of 1812:During the bombardment of Fort McHenry, the fort flew an enormous flag with 15 stripes and 15 stars. As long as it swayed in the wind, no one doubted that Fort McHenry remained in American hands. Anchored not far away were Americans detained by the British, among them Francis Scott Key. They watched the bombardment all day, heartened at the site of the large flag above the fort. Then nightfall came and with it suspense: would the flag be flying in the morning? At daybreak, Key not only saw the stars and stripes still flying above the fort, but the British weighing anchor. The city of Baltimore remained free. Key was so moved he wrote a poem on “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” and our national anthem was born.   (from Boatus.com)

Imagine standing outside Fort McHenry 200 years later, singing the Star Spangled Banner with thousands of others, while saluting a replica of that flag.  What a moving moment.  And that is exactly where I was Saturday afternoon.  We actually went to Baltimore to see the tall ships that had sailed into the harbor earlier in the week.  We saw a couple of ships:

But mostly what we saw were the throngs of people

The lines to do anything were phenomenal, so we decided to go back out to Fort McHenry for the Air Show.  We had actually gone there earlier because there was a free shuttle from our parking lot.  We walked all around the fort, but decided it was too early to wait for the air show.  We grabbed hot dogs from a street vendor, and a bottle of water before we hopped on the shuttle again.  Unfortunately, one bottle of water for two people in the sun for over two hours is a recipe for disaster.  I got overheated and had to sit under a shade tree for a portion of the show, but got back up and into the sun for the Blue Angels portion.  Just let me say......Oh. My. Gosh.  They were so awesome. 

These photos are from the Web, because my camera batteries chose this inopportune time to die.  Although I think that was actually a blessing, because I think the show was much more enjoyable to watch without the camera!  What those guys do is absolutely amazing.  I haven't been to an Air Show for probably about 30 years, but I won't wait so long to go again!  We left before the very end to head for the shuttle buses.  We were both totally exhausted from being in the sun so long, and from all the walking we had done earlier.  We had talked earlier about how smoothly the city had everything running:  the parking, the shuttle buses, traffic control, etc.  Someone dropped the ball when it came to organizing the outgoing buses.  What a disaster.  I was worried there was going to be a riot as people were rushing and pushing to get on the buses.  I'm here to tell you, there are some nasty people out there!  My biggest concern was that I was going to pass out while waiting in line.  Remember that one bottle of water?  Well it was long gone.  I finally got up the courage to ask a stranger with a cooler if I could buy a bottle of water from him.  He gave me a funny look, but the water was handed over.  First, I rolled it all over my face and neck, then I actually shared a few sips with DH.  After all, he was going to have to drag my body out of there.  LOL!  But I survived, we finally got on a bus, and the rest of the day was uneventful.  Except for the part where I went to bed at 9:30 and slept for 10 hours. 

I didn't have the strength to do any stitching when we got home, but I did spend a couple of hours on Friday night, (FNSI) stitching hexies together.

I wasn't sure I liked the randomness of my hexies when I first started sewing them together, but as I get further into it, I'm liking it better.  But I still don't like sewing them together!!!!! 

A couple of weeks ago, DH discovered this in one of his herb pots.

This morning, it had 'mushroomed' into this!

And then he had the nerve to pick them, so I took the opportunity to photograph the underside.

Sorry, I've always had a fascination with such things.  Just look at how intricate this is.  Isn't it beautiful?

On that note, I really must go do some stitching.  Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Stitching to my heart's content....Sunny