Don’t rock the boat

Usually, if you’re on a trip and you have to make your way back to the hotel in the middle of the day for a second shower, it’s not a particularly good day, but we are having a great day, and we’ve stopped for a little mid-day soap and water.  When we got moving this morning, the plan was to rent kayaks.  We got ready particularly slowly, monitoring the weather apps on our phones, as they gave us thunderstorm warnings and great green blob shapes floating across the radar screen over where we are.  We saw a break in the weather, then made our way to the front door of the hotel, only to see that the rain had resumed by the time we got down there.  Our backup plan was a museum, and we were debating that, but we ultimately decided that we had planned for water, anyhow.  

We were going kayaking.  So, we headed for the riverfront location of Urban Kayaks, who say they open at 9 am.  Well, they had been watching the weather, too, and their plan was to open at noon.  We were about 40 minutes early.  So, we went for a walk, sat on a bench, booked online to pre-pay so the process would be quick when noon hit, then made our way back.  We were the first two kayaks in the water today, and we had a great time.  We paddled past lots of the same beautiful buildings we had seen on the architecture tour, and we also heard other tours going by.  I didn’t pick up any new information, though.  We didn’t paddle at the speed of a large tourist boat.  

The weather was perfect, we had adequate sunscreen with us, and the kayaking was very fun.  After that, we stopped at a restaurant with outdoor seating and plenty of shade.  Both were necessary, as we probably smelled a little like we’d been rowing kayaks on a river for an hour and a half.  We split a pair of sandwiches and had a glass of sangria each, then headed back to the hotel for a very necessary shower.  Our next move is to head back to the river later on in the evening.  I found a local band who is playing at a riverside venue tonight, and there is no reason not to check it out.  Following that, we’ve got tickets to the Skydeck, which is at the former Sears Tower (Now, it’s called the Willis Tower.)  I suspect Sears had to sell it off when they went belly up, but nevertheless, the Skydeck is still there, and we pretty much have to go up and look down.  More on all of that later- for now, we’re drying off and getting ready for the next thing.  

Please enjoy several photos Cas took through a Ziploc bag: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2sYnZaQSheDb6sfJ6