Sweet Breeze Boat in Fort Wayne

 

Yesterday we rode the Sweet Breeze canal-style boat on Saint Mary's River in downtown Fort Wayne. These tours are operated by the Parks and Recreation Department.

A narrator wearing a headset mic told about the bridges we went under and some history of the Miami Indians who had an important settlement called Kekionga along the banks of the river. 

I must confess I found the wooden chairs uncomfortable. There was a head (potty). Passengers were allowed to go out on the front of the boat in the fresh air. One father took his kids out there. The narration though interesting to me became a bit boring after 30 minutes. Kids' attention spans are short.

The first bridge we passed under was the Harrison Street Bridge on the east edge of Promenade Park. 

The dark "mud" you see on the overhang are actually swallow nests. 

Lots of people out on the river in kayaks and privately-owned boats. The kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards can be rented at the park. 

Headwaters Park adjoins Promenade. Once under Harrison Bridge, most of the landscape and bridges we saw are on the banks of Headwaters. I wish the narrator had talked about the Columbia Street Bridge as I would have liked to know who made the globe lights.

The Saint Mary's River joins the Saint Joseph River and then those waterways become part of the Maumee River. 

Significant buildings we passed were the water filtration plant and the replica wooden Old Fort.

Though it was not the largest settlement of the Miami tribe, Kekionga on the shore of the Saint Joseph was a central ruling village. Here important decisions were made. The Indians were involved in many wars against the white settlers (French, British, and American). Little Turtle was the admired war chief. 

William Wells who had been abducted by Indians from Kentucky as a teen ended up living among the Miami for several years. He married one of Little Turtle's daughters.  Her name was Sweet Breeze. 

Fort Wayne has done quite a bit of beautification of its bridges. The Martin Luther King bridge is pictured below.

Spy Run Bridge has been renamed or will be renamed Veterans Memorial Bridge. Current status not clear to me.

We parked on Harrison Street just south of Superior. On the weekends the metered parking is free. Across from our car was a mural on a building at the start of The Landing (a pedestrian shops/restaurants area). 

Since Kilwin's Ice Cream was about 2 blocks from our car, we indulged.

As we headed back to the car, we stopped to chat with a lady painting a picture on the cement above the storm drain. This is a project that Fort Wayne does from time to time to bring awareness to storm drain safety (not dumping stuff). The artist told us that special waterproof paint is used, then some kind of a varnish is applied so that the drawings will last at least two years. This was her first time to participate.

Out of Our Rut

 As the summer moves along, we decided we needed to change our routine a bit, a vacation of sorts.

Friday we went to the Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend. The weather was beautiful. Everybody and his cousin decided to enjoy the nice day at the zoo. The main parking lot was full. My husband found a spot about two blocks away next to the adjacent park but not near the zoo entrance. He said there were only two other parking places and that people that came after him were parking in front of houses on the streets in the neighborhood next to the zoo. He had dropped me off at the entrance. I have a handicap parking placard now, but all of the designated places were full already. 

The zoo is relatively small. It has been upgraded in recent years.

It is laid out by continent, with South and North America combined. There is no Europe. 

One of the reasons I picked this zoo is because they have electric carts that you can rent.

You can feed the giraffes lettuce for a $3 fee, but they have other feeding options so that they sometimes ignore the people wanting to feed them.

Helen accommodated them. I overheard her name spoken by the zookeeper. I did not feed her, but they allowed folks like me to come closer to take photos. 

The lines were long for the train, feeding the giraffes, and especially for people buying lunch at the Lodge. 

The leopard was awake and alert unlike the lions. We only got a glimpse of the tiger as he chose to enter his "den" shortly after we arrived. 

We spent about 3 hours there (waited about 20 minutes to get food). 

Saturday we drove to nearby Columbia City and had breakfast at Pickles Cafe. The decor is garage sale hodgepodge.

Since Pickles sits right on the courthouse square, we walked around the Farmers' Market a bit. I was not feeling up to much shopping.

I bought a bouquet of flowers put together by 2-year-old twin boys re their father who owned the booth. He showed me video on his phone. They were not giggling nor bickering. They were quite serious about their job with colorful results.

With our lovely weather continuing today, we attended the boat-in worship at Oakwood Resort on Lake Wawasee. Attendance was down compared to past summers. We had to take a round-about route through the farm fields and country because Highway 13 has construction between North Webster and Syracuse. I wonder if that affected the turnout. 

We also did a jigsaw puzzle this weekend. My husband's sister has loads of puzzles and gave us some. 

Now we are heading out to Texas Roadhouse. I especially like their pork chops and tossed salad and rolls. Makes me hungry just thinking about them. It has been a while since we ate there.

Back to our routines next week except also a few medical appointments in Fort Wayne. It is going to warm up more next week, too. Glad we enjoyed the beautiful weather while we could. The freedom of retirement.