Inner Harbor & Fell's Point Walk

Welcome to Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and to the USS Constellation, a sloop-of-war and the last sail-only warship designed and built by the United States Navy. She was built at the Gosport Shipyard in Virginia between 1853 and 1855, and named for an earlier frigate that had been broken up. In 1859 she became flagship of the Africa Squadron, patrolling against the Atlantic slave trade. On September 26, 1860, she captured the barque Cora, with 705 enslaved people aboard, who were then freed in Monrovia, Liberia.

Later she served 22 years as a training ship for midshipmen. For decades many believed she was the original Constellation of 1797, and she was even modified to look like it. Research in the 1990s proved they were two different ships. She came to the Inner Harbor in 1968.

After a 7.3-million-dollar restoration, finished in 1999, about half her original, badly rotted wood had been replaced. Today she's a National Historic Landmark, part of Historic Ships in Baltimore.

This is the Baltimore World Trade Center, rising 405 feet from its plaza between Pratt Street and the harbor. It was designed by the firm of Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, with principal architects Henry N. Cobb and Pershing Wong. Planning began in April 1966, construction started in October 1973, and it was completed in January 1977.

Look at its shape. It's the world's tallest skyscraper built on a regular pentagon. And notice how it's positioned, with one corner pointing out toward the water, suggesting the prow of a ship. At night, xenon spotlights at each of its five corners light the tower from the ground up, and mirrors at the top send the light out in V-shaped beams, loosely inspired by the lighthouses of the Chesapeake Bay.

The lighting can be seen from seven to 10 miles away in good weather. On the 27th floor is an enclosed observation level called Top of the World, with a 360-degree view of the city, and the 9/11 Memorial of Maryland.