Choate Historical Society

With Spring now upon us, we have had a couple opportunities to visit some local historical sites again.  Thanks to my nephew Corbin, we had a chance to go on an adventure with Flat Stanley.  For those unfamiliar with Flat Stanley (like I was up until a couple months ago), this is a school project where the kids color a picture of a boy – Flat Stanley – and send him to someone in a different state.  Then they go on an adventure and send back some information about that adventure.  Since it is the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 which was the war that produced the Star Spangled Banner and which was written right here in Baltimore, we decided to go back to Ft. McHenry.  We had gone before, but with the kids a little older now it was fun to watch them learn as well as just enjoy a day in the Inner Harbor.

Here are a few pictures from our adventures with Flat Stanley at Ft. McHenry and the Baltimore Inner Harbor.

When you start visiting the same spot more than once, however, you know it’s time to start broadening your horizons a bit.  So for our next adventure we decided to head north to Philadelphia and see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.  It was an absolutely beautiful day, both of the kids behaved, and everything went smoothly – well, except for the 4 way lane change I had to make at the last minute in order to make it into the parking garage, but if the city of brotherly love can’t overlook a tourist driving like an idiot, then we’re all in trouble.  Anyway…

Here are some pictures of our adventure to the birthplace of the United States – Independence Hall.

While we were there, we just so happened to eat lunch in the right place to experience a visit from the Philly Fanatic.  The Park Ranger jokingly said that it’s like the 4th of July every day for them since they get to talk about the Declaration of Independence every day.  We didn’t realize how serious he was until we got an impromptu parade through the dining area.  I’m not sure that Tyler completely understood what he was looking at here, but (frankly) I wasn’t quite sure how to explain the Fanatic either.