A Tale of Two Boats

Sometimes you have to go outside your comfort zone to get the good stuff!  Boats are not my comfort zone.  I prefer to see my azure blue waters from the sandy shore sitting in a beach chair or enjoy a river from a nice riverside cafe with a glass of wine.  It must be my new maturity, now that I have entered another decade of life but I voluntarily went on two boats in the last month.  Two very different and yet very similar boat tours.  While I am still not going to line up to ride in anyone's speed boat I have a new respect for leisure boating.

Before we went to Portugal I had read about the famous caves in the cliffs along the coast.  Everything I read said the coast was best viewed from the water, which meant a boat would be involved.  As much of a "non-boat person" I am, I am even more a "spectacular view" person... so I found some courage and scheduled a boat tour of the caves.  It was the best time I have ever spent on a boat!  

Our water craft

 I was "all in" and could not wait to see the sights.  When we entered the first cave I was hooked.  The colors on the rocks went from purple, to green to gray.  Against the blue water it was so stunning I totally forgot I was on a boat.  Bring on the next cave and the next one and .....

Going in...eerie and stunning.

Going out....breathtakingly beautiful!

 I was always in awe of the color of the water when we headed out of the caves.  I think we were lucky to tour on a clear, relatively calm day.  It was purely by luck and not design.

I think the heart formed by this ceiling says it all!

 The sole motivator for this tour was to see this one cave.  Benagil Cave is famous.  I guess if you were/are a good swimmer, like TJ and our friend Yvon are, you could swim to the cave.  But then where would I keep my camera?  As we rounded the corner into this cave it absolutely lived up to its billing.  Jaw dropping and like nothing I've ever seen before.  We saw 20 caves and each one was a bit different.  The views from the water were definitely worth an hour or so in a boat, driven by a very handsome young man.  I could have been on a magic carpet for all I knew.

At this point in the tour I wanted to jump out of the boat
and join in the circle of love in the sun!

 Fast forward a week to Chicago.  It was time to celebrate my birthday with my three daughters.  I may just celebrate this birthday for the rest of the year!  Why not?!
One of the weekend activities was a lake and river cruise... a two hour tour.  (now once again to the Gilligan's Island tune)  It was a hot day in the windy (literally) city.  The tour began cruising up and down the river while being awed by and educated  about the architecture.  They really have done a wonderful job upgrading the river walk and cleaning up the river.  The ride was peaceful and scenic.

Calm, clear blue waters and some pretty sweet views!

Then we left the river and headed out into Lake Michigan.  On this hot, windy day the lake was a bit choppy.  This is the point in the tour when I remembered why I am not a boat person.  There were a few times I wondered how far out we were going to go into the lake and exactly how long we were going to be there.  This is usually how every boat ride goes with me, how long are we going to be on this thing?  I will say that the view made it worth the ride in this case.

Goodbye Chicago.....

The lighthouse and tall ship were beautiful distractions.

Ahhh, back in the safety of the river....are we there yet?

Safely back in the river I breathed a deep sigh of relief!  I never knew how welcome the river would feel.  The city certainly showed its best side from our view in the water.  

Two very different boat trips.  One in a small craft being blown away by nature's architecture and the other in a very large boat being awed by man's architecture.   Our world is a feast for they eyes!  Maybe I am a boat person after all.....only if the view is worth it!