Day 31: Rock Hall to Baltimore

A morning of low cloud and rain showers, but it's forecast to improve as the day wears on. We're reminded of an old adage we learnt growing up (and it's almost always true); "Raining at 7, fine by 11."

Another short voyage today, across the Bay and into the Inner Harbour at Baltimore. We enter another broad estuary, this time the Patapsco River and sail serenely into the midst of downtown Baltimore and the Inner Harbour Marina. Jan will recognise the Rennaisance Harborplace Hotel, just across from us.

Francis Scott Key (1779 –1843) was a lawyer well-known as the person who wrote the words that eventually became the American National Anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. He served eight years as District Attorney for the District of Columbia and although he was a slave owner and represented owners of runaway slaves, he publicly criticised slavery and at times provided pro-bono representation to slaves seeking freedom. He was immortalised in the naming of the 1.6-mile/2.6 km Francis Scott Key Bridge, the second-longest in the US and third-longest in the world, carrying Interstate 695, a beltway around Baltimore, and used by 34,000 vehicles each day, including 3,000 trucks, many of which hauled hazardous materials barred from the two harbor tunnels. In March 2024, an outbound container ship collided with a bridge support, causing the entire structure to collapse causing the death of six construction workers. After many months, the ship and the bridge wreckage were able to be removed, and today as we sail into Baltimore we pass this sad site. Reconstruction, which will include demolition and removal of the remaining spans, has commenced and the job will take many years.Read more