Take me to the river.

My boss was out this morning since he had to drive back from Cleveland in the wee hours of Thursday. He had attended a gala event last evening, the christening/renaming of one of our client’s freighters. Renaming a Great Lakes freighter is a big deal and a joyous occasion, so the company gathered friends, family and colleagues to celebrate the renaming of the freighter to honor the founding father of VanEnkenvort Tug & Barge.

I knew Robb would be arriving at the office later today, thus affording me some extra time to dawdle a bit at Council Point Park if I wanted to, or, perhaps to go on a different excursion than my usual morning journey.

So, I scurried out the door very early to head to the River ... the riverfront at Bishop Point Park to be exact. I decided if Robb was going to be checking out the big ships, I too, should go to the pier and catch a glimpse of the Christopher Columbus replica ships, the “Nina” and “Pinta”, that are docked at Bishop Park through Sunday evening. I had already read about the two ships at http://thenina.com/

I decided to get there early to avoid any crowds and so I could take some photos of them. The riverfront was quiet and peaceful with the two ships clearly visible in the background.

I managed to get a silhouette effect of the largest ship, the “Nina”, in this shot.

Just as I suspected, more people arrived and they began to linger throughout Bishop Park, cameras or phones in hand, to capture images of these two ships. The “Nina” is billed as “the most historically accurate replica of a Columbus ship ever built” and the “Pinta”, a smaller ship, is equally impressive.

A pleasure boat drifted by, causing gentle waves that lapped against the dark wooden hulls of both ships, causing them to move ever so slightly. As you can see, there was a fence around the sidewalk near where the ships were docked, to keep visitors from accessing them until the museum/tour was open. I was disappointed there were no sails rigged but I thought it was still a picturesque scene nonetheless.

As I moved in for a closer shot of the “Nina”, there was not a single crew member to be found, but there was some hustle and bustle going on inside the ship; perhaps breakfast was being served or Captain Stephen was commandeering the crew to do their ship chores before company was expected later. I tried to peer inside, but it appeared dark. The living quarters for the crew are located way below deck since the rest of the space is essentially a floating museum and where the tours are conducted.

So, I took these photos, mostly after strolling along the riverfront looking for the best angle to beat the sun’s rays and capture the glory of these replica ships. I turned around for one final shot and then it was time to explore a bit, pounding the paved sidewalk which runs along the riverfront. There I dodged a few walkers, joggers, dogs and their owners, plus moms pushing baby strollers. Then, I walked along the pier from end to end, where I passed a half-dozen fishermen, their lines cast and hoping for the best.

I was not the only one this morning with my ducks in a row as you see below. This entire group of ducks suddenly swam out from beneath the pier where I was standing, quacking their heads off.

If you closed your eyes, and only heard the screech of the seagulls, who were either lined up along the riverfront railings, or constantly dive-bombing nearby, you would swear that you were at the seashore.

I walked along the riverfront twice, and each time I saw this one seagull who was more stationary than the rest of his brethren, so I figured I’d get a photo of him sitting on the railing. Soon, I found myself chatting with a couple of walkers who pointed out that this sedentary seagull was standing on one foot because the other foot was injured by a fish hook and line that was hanging from it.

I told them that I would contact the DNR when I got online today, which I did via e-mail, and hopefully they have a local veterinarian who could help this poor seagull in peril.

To boost my steps some more, after leaving the riverfront area and Bishop Park, I checked out all the shops on both sides of Biddle Avenue.

The excursion was a change of pace from the usual stomping grounds at my favorite nature nook and this outing gave me a chance to see a little bit of history and understand better Christopher Columbus’ ships and crew that we youngsters learned about, and chanted about, in that childhood rhyme all those years ago ... “in fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”

You can catch up on my blog posts before I started blogging at Patch in August 2013 by going here: http://lindaschaubblog.net/