Some Chillicotheans got a sneak peek at the Niña and Pinta replicas docked at the foot of Walnut Street this morning.
The boats were picking up members of the media for a three-hour ride to Peoria as they made their way to dock at the Riverplex landing this weekend for tours.
Seeing the Niña again reminds me of one of my fond memories of first being the Chillicothe Times-Bulletin editor.
If my memory is serving me correctly, the Niña docked for tours at Hamm’s Holiday Harbor in the summer/early fall around 10 to 12 years ago.
Associate editor Karen Danner and I were on a mission to get a nice photo of the boat docked at Hamm’s with my new Nikon camera.
The only problem was, where it was docked didn’t allow for a great shot of the boat, so we traveled around the side of Hamm’s on North Street to see if we could get a better view.
Without a shy bone in her body, Karen spotted a boat on the shore and apparently decided the owner may just need to take a boat ride with us, of course.
Seeing the two of us tromping around, a shirtless older gentleman came out of his house.
Wasting no time, Karen hooked us up for an impromptu boat ride out to get a good photo of the Niña from the Illinois River.
OK, so I have to admit, that is an experience I never would have had without the Danner, as I affectionately call her.
Even though I’m a newspaper editor/reporter/photographer/jack of all trades, I still think I’m a little shy. I don’t normally get into moving objects with people I don’t know. But I did. With Danner, I guess I’m fearless. Or at least there’s power in pairs.
Later, thinking a little more clearly, I didn’t know this man at all — he could have dumped us out of his jon boat and left us in the river. My new camera could have been ruined. I wasn’t even dressed for a boat ride, right down to the short heels I wore that day.
So just who were we in a boat with that day?
None other than Capt. Nice. It was a long time later before I even knew what his real name was.
Living up to his name, Capt. Nice assisted us in getting a “nice” photo of the Niña, and with it I have — yes, you guessed it — a “nice” memory.
