Tall Ships

Baltimore will launch its commemoration of the War of 1812 by land, sea and air this week, starting with parachute jumps into Camden Yards and a parade of tall ships into the harbor. The history-filled week features music, fireworks and an air show over Fort McHenry. The festivities kick off Wednesday with the arrival of 18 tall ships boasting sails on masts several stories high and dozens of Navy vessels. Visitors - as many as 1 million are expected, according to organizers - can catch glimpses of the ships in full sail entering the port and then tour and mingle with the crews.

Amid a flurry of international flags, thunderous fireworks and rowdy pirates Tuesday, Baltimore invited the world to its star-spangled salute to the bicentennial of the War of 1812 that starts next week. State and local officials gathered to publicize Sailabration, a maritime and air festival that begins its six-day run in the city on June 13. The city will welcome 18 tall ships and dozens of Navy vessels to its harbor and all will be open for free tours throughout the festival. The Navy's celebrated Blue Angels will perform shows over Fort McHenry and numerous activities for all ages are scheduled throughout the city and at Glenn L. Martin Airport in Baltimore County.

About two weeks from now, a cargo ship 21/2 football fields long will squeeze under the Key Bridge and deliver the future of the port of Baltimore. On its deck are four massive cranes built in China that state officials and the maritime industry hope will turn the already bustling Seagirt Marine Terminal into a conduit for mountains of goods delivered by the world's largest ships. Baltimore will join Norfolk, Va., as the only East Coast ports with 50-foot-deep berths and cranes able to accommodate vessels up to 1,200 feet long, which will begin using a widened Panama Canal in 2014.

They departed the northwest coast of France two months ago — 26 crew members each aboard two historic French Navy schooners headed to North America. With relatively calm seas, a chef well-versed in French cuisine and plenty of technological updates to the World War II-era ships, the boats made an easy voyage to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. On Sunday, the public got the chance to tour them. The schooners made the journey as part of the bicentennial of the War of 1812. The Etoile, or Star, and the Belle Poule, or Beautiful Chicken, left Brest, France, on March 8. The boats stopped in the Caribbean and Florida, participated in a tall ships race in Savannah, Ga., and docked on Friday in Annapolis.

Barb and Greg Damon traveled to Maryland from Oregon to run a marathon and left with an unusual souvenir. The Damons were among the first people who went to Fort McHenry Monday to purchase commemorative coins created by the United States Mint to mark the bicentennial of the War of 1812. Barb Damon said she and her husband ran in the B&A Trail Marathon over the weekend as part of a quest to complete a marathon in every state. She said they also collect coins and couldn't pass up the chance to purchase a coin on the first day it was issued.

When the Coast Guard's tall ship Eagle glided under the Key Bridge on Wednesday morning, it looked a lot better than it did when it arrived at the Inner Harbor four months ago. A fresh coat of white paint covered the upper hull. Six miles of ropes and rigging were tightrope-taut. And from the ship's bow jutted a regilded eagle, its talons gripping the Coast Guard crest. "She's done and she's looking good," said John Downes, a Baltimore native who supervised the team of Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard workers that carried out the $5 million refurbishing, from keel to mast tip. Escorted by a Maryland Natural Resources Police boat and two tugs, the 295-foot ship turned down the Chesapeake Bay on its way to the Atlantic and its home port at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.

Ever since Tina Cappetta Orcutt and her family moved to Maryland last summer, she says, her 9-year-old son Adam has been paying close attention to Maryland license plates, especially the commemorative tags that tout the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. "He'll go, there's another Fort McHenry fan!" whenever he spots one of the red-white-and-blue plates featuring the Star-spangled Banner and the fort, Cappetta Orcutt says. "I don't correct him. " Cappetta Orcutt recently became superintendent of Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, one of Baltimore's best-known attractions and the scene of the battle in 1814 that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became the national anthem.

Navy Lt. Mark Tedrow has no problem reconciling an air show with a commemoration of the War of 1812, an era that precedes flight by almost a century. The Blue Angels pilot said he looks forward to flying over the Inner Harbor, Middle River and Fort McHenry - birthplace of the national anthem - during a bicentennial celebration in June. "It will be outstanding to perform multiple maneuvers over Fort McHenry," he said. "It will show just how far we have come. " Tedrow and his co-pilot flew into Martin State Airport in Middle River on Thursday to give a small preview of what the Navy's renowned flight team will do for the bicentennial maritime and air festival that kicks off June 13. "Stake out your places on the waterfront so you don't miss a thing," said Lt. Cmdr.

With cannon booms, a drum roll and the Navy at the ready, the state unveiled its plans Thursday to celebrate the bicentennial of the War of 1812, a series of events designed to showcase Maryland's role in the conflict. The Pride of Baltimore II, numerous Navy vessels, the Coast Guard's Eagle and at least 10 other tall ships, many from foreign shores, will berth at the Inner Harbor in June to launch the commemoration. Organizers expect about 1 million people to attend the weeklong event.

The reproduction tall ship Pride of Baltimore II returned Friday to Baltimore's Inner Harbor after sailing the Chesapeake Bay, the East Coast and the Great Lakes for five months. The ship, which was built to look like a "1812-era topsail schooner privateer," will sail two more times — from 2 to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday — before ending its 2011season. Tickets are $45 for adults and $30 for children 12 and under. Free dockside tours of the deck will also be given between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. On Sunday, park rangers from Fort McHenry will be present on the ship and dressed in period uniforms to learn about the ship's operations from the crew.