I've lived up to the promise I made to my daughter and kept up with the weekly horseback riding lessons. She can now ride alone and guide the horse herself, as well as trot and gallop and do all kinds of other fun stuff like ride sidesaddle. But the boy and I are stuck watching her on the farm and last week I could tell he was a little bit jealous. I told him the next day we would do whatever he wanted, and when I asked him what he wanted to do he said, "Ride on a BOAT."

Having let our membership to the Yacht Club lapse, I was left scratching my head (I'm not serious about the yacht club, people). Then I remembered there was a company that did daily tours of the Detroit River on an old ferry. The girl put on her sailor dress, the boy his high-waisted sailor pants, and we hopped on the popscycle and a few minutes later we were crossing the gangplank and looking for a seat on the crowded ferry.


When we passed the Detroit Yacht Club on Belle Isle, the girl asked me what a "yacht" was. I said, "Yacht is what rich people call boats."


The views of the skyline were pretty great from the water.


We even got a view of the underside of the privately-owned Ambassador Bridge, something that Matty Moroun's shotgun-toting goons don't allow from city property they've fenced off under the bridge. This photo could be used by terrorists! It must be destroyed!


The tour lasted two hours, and I was so glad I brought snacks because there might have been a mutiny if I hadn't sated the swabbies with juice boxes and raisins. The kids' favorite part of the tour was looking for trolls under the Belle Isle Bridge and mine was seeing the Hiram Walker/Canadian Club Distillery up close as well as getting unique views of Zug Island and the abandoned train station:


The tours run at 1:00 and 3:00 Thurs-Sunday and children are free. I used a coupon the the website for a $13.00 adult ticket.  

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