Paddlefest Come And Gone

We almost missed it!  I guess due to not reading the fine print (or me not doing the worrying thing

like I usually do) we almost missed out on our annual paddle down the Ohio River from Coney to downtown Cincinnati...8.3 miles.  We were the last to put in...about an hour behind everyone else.  Our goal was to pass the Coast Guard boat and catch up with the rest of the boats.

 

But first we needed to stop for a little snack.

The river is shut down to all motorized traffic.

girls boat

boys boat

This is about the spot in the river when we passed Wyatt, his dad and grandfather.  Can't believe that out of thousands of boaters we would find them.

And this is why Ellis and Alaire love to paddle down the river...

I think this year they managed to go under about 6 times.  All I know for sure is that the boat had a ton of water in it and it weighed twice what it did when we put in.

River Rats!

It is tradition to stop for lunch at Eli's after the race.  Since being voted #1 in Cincinnati for Best BBQ,  the place was packed.  A 40 minute wait for our lunch.  Ellis loves to collect bottle caps.  He really serious about searching.

  Lunch was amazing and well worth the wait but we missed seeing Porche behind the counter!

Eli's was really the appetizer.  We had a little blue cheese burger and grilled corn feast once everyone got cleaned up.

 

We enjoy eating outside under the pergola.  And the hot tub makes the perfect sideboard.  And it is an excellent place to sit to work out all those muscles you wore out coming down the river...in the hot tub of course!