We Today, we visited Fort McHenry where Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the Star Spangled Banner 199 years ago. There was a very moving video about the battle, including the performance of the song. During the song, the screen was raised to reveal the flag flying over the fort. It actually brought tears to my eyes – and I wasn’t alone in my reaction.

There is a project underway to sew a replacement flag of the same dimensions – 33′ x 42′. We were able to view one unfurled and it is quite impressive.

We headed downtown, and after an hour’s drive, covering about five blocks, we had lunch at Bubba Gump, where Paul excelled at Forrest Gump trivia. His prize?  The tab.

The Harbor was very busy with costumed young people, who were attending Otakon, the annual convention of the otaku generation. This is a celebration of Asian pop culture, including music, anime, manga, etc. No…I don’t know what that means! But they were fun to look at.