Kayaking on the Charles

This past weekend was filled with lots of good and bad. On Saturday, Paul had an all day Marketing Conference. That left me home alone. With that time, I decided to organize some closets and make some pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. One of Paul's favorites.

Saturday night, our friend Nelson was working the sound for an Armenian Festival in Watertown, MA. I must say, it was great. The people and the culture were beautiful. Their passion is amazing. You could see this especially during the beautiful singing of their anthem. They've gained their independence less than 20 years ago. It's seriously a beautiful site to see. So many people so happy to be together celebrating their culture.

Sunday came and I knew I wanted to do something outside. Paul and I agreed to do the 1 way kayak trip on The Charles River with Charles River Canoe & Kayak. We rented our boat in Cambridge and did the 5 mile stretch to Allston. It was more than 5 miles for us though - because he had to double back ... twice.

We started off pretty shaky. We realize that our paddling techniques are both good... just not when we do them together. We had never ridden in a tandem kayak before. I decided I probably never will. I prefer a smaller boat, and one I feel closer to the water in. I also like paddling myself and not having to worry about what someone else is doing. I think Paul just decided he really does hate kayaking... regardless of on what kind of water or on what kind of boat.

It was a beautiful 9/11 day and I wanted to honor all those lost, all those brave, and all those heroes by showing them what they've given us... a life of beauty and freedom. So we set out - and on our way were stopped by a member of The Tactical Force Team... woops, apparently that part of the river is closed ... because of a 9/11 memorial service. Needless to say security was tight. We clearly looked innocent because after making fun of our lovely paddling skills, he let us turn back without arresting us. Which he did warn us... was the actual course of action usually used in this situation.

This is MIT displaying their patriotism on 9/11's 10 year anniversary.

The rest of the 5 miles were uneventful, save for a few arguments of who was paddling us in circles and whether or not the speeding motor boat was going to kill us.


After jumping out in Allston, we took our wet butts over to Harvard square... which left my toes a little blistery. Note to self, walking in wet watershoes on a hot day on pavement = blisters!

In the end we had a great day and it was a chance to really enjoy the beauty that is the USA!

We ended the day with some beers and some football.... J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS (I wont lie though... I fell asleep on the couch sometime in the 3rd quarter).

A view of Boston from the Charles