2 Best Sights in Baltimore, Maryland

This star-shaped brick fort is forever associated with Francis Scott Key and "The Star-Spangled Banner," which Key penned while watching the British bombardment of Baltimore during the War of 1812. Through the next day and night, as the battle raged, Key strained to be sure, through the smoke and haze, that the flag still flew above Fort McHenry—indicating that Baltimore's defenders held firm. "By the dawn's early light" of September 14, 1814, he saw the 30- by 42-foot "Star-Spangled Banner" still aloft and was inspired to pen the words to a poem (set to the tune of an old English drinking song). The flag that flew above Fort McHenry that day had 15 stars and 15 stripes, and was hand-sewn for the fort. A visit to the fort includes a 15-minute history film, guided tour, and frequent living-history displays on summer weekends. To see how the formidable fortifications might have appeared to the bombarding British, catch a water taxi from the Inner Harbor to the fort instead of driving.

The Aberdeen Proving Ground is a 75,000-acre U.S. Army installation on the Chesapeake Bay, about 30 mi northeast of Baltimore's Inner Harbor. On its premises is the U.S. Army Ordnance Museum, one of the world's foremost military museums. If you thought that the Sherman tank in your hometown's square was fun, wait until you see the largest collection of armored fighting vehicles in the country—230 at last count, spread over 25 acres. A huge 16-inch American gun from World War I is on display, as well as the first surface-to-air missile, devised by the Germans in 1945 along with "Anzio Annie," the giant Nazi railroad cannon used to shell Allied beachheads. The collection of small arms includes a 15th-century matchlock—a musket whose powder ignites from a slow-burning wick.