Story by Lindsay Welbers, photos by Aubrey and Lindsay Welbers
Check out Part 1 here, if you missed it.
The next morning we started our big paddle adventure. Aubs and I packed a picnic lunch, towels, sun hats, and swim gear and hiked back to Promenade Park. Because we reserved our kayaks online the night before, check-in was a breeze. I am not 100 percent comfortable on boats. Kayaks on a slow-moving, clean river, I can handle. Getting into and out of the kayak is usually the most traumatic part if the weather cooperates, and this boat launch has made getting into and out of your boat almost fun. The boat is set on a stable platform that allows it to slide into the water. You pull yourself in and out using convenient handrails. Because the boat is not in the water when you get in it, there is almost no wobble. The launch and dock are both fully accessible, and cool as heck.
Once in the water, we paddled all three rivers over the course of about four hours. First, we paddled down the St. Mary’s, past The Deck at the Gas House, which at noon on the Fourth of July was somehow very quiet. There are beautiful views of downtown from this spot river. We turned around after the old municipal pumping station, a beautiful, sprawling stone building with gorgeous windows. It’s situated at the base of what is today, Headwaters Park. We turned back from there and floated west for a while, where things get less urban and it gets easy to spot wildlife. Rounding a big wide bend in the river around noon, Aubrey and I stopped to eat sandwiches and granola bars that had melted in the sun. Here we spotted no less than 10 turtles sunning themselves on logs. We paddled under a bridge where cliff swallows were nesting. Paddling underneath is the best way to get an up-close view of hundreds of tiny flyers darting in and out of the small openings to their mud-and-stick nests.
We paddled back towards Spy Run Creek, which has a very small dam and is today popular with anglers. I should warn you this is not the dam on the St. Mary’s River, that dam is a much bigger, more serious dam that would be dangerous for a kayaker who found themselves on the wrong side of it. There is a warning sign at the convergence of St. Joseph and St. Mary’s rivers, so look out for it to avoid a dangerous situation. The dam on Spy Run Creek, however, is calm but the water can get shallow and sandbars are common. Heron and softshell turtles can be spotted along the shore.
After going home to shower and rest, Aubrey and I headed back into town to grab a bite to eat and watch the fireworks. We got to Coney Island Hot Dog Stand, the oldest hot dog stand in the United States, and I learned that I don’t like onions and mustard enough for this to be my go-to, but it was served promptly and politely and cost $1.65, so it’s a good hot dog. John Mellencamp’s Ain’t That America came on the radio while we were there, which felt a little on the nose.
After that, Aubs and I killed a few hours wandering the alleys of Downtown Fort Wayne seeing how many murals we could find. It’s a lot. The alleys are narrow, so they’ve been turned into an ever-expanding art instillation, with pedestrian spaces wherever possible. 77 Steps, features LED-pendants of all different lengths, and hung at different heights. They change color constantly, and their flowing shape is reminiscent of the meandering rivers in the city.
We popped into 816 Pint & Slice just moments before they closed, they were out of pizza so we grabbed a beer each and sat on the patio under the vibrant alley murals. Afterward, we ambled past Sweets on Main, where I got a gooey Bear Claw scooped into a waffle cone. It was too rich and I couldn’t finish it. (Would recommend.) We spent the remainder of the night sitting near a grassy spot Downtown, watching families set up for the fireworks.
On the Fourth of July in Fort Wayne, the fireworks are shot off from the top of the Indiana Michigan Power building, the tallest building around. The fireworks can be seen from miles in every direction. The finale, however, happens in every neighborhood all night. Indiana has some of the loosest fireworks laws in the nation, so this is not a place to be during a holiday if fireworks are bothersome to you.
On our last day in Fort Wayne we got up and walked to The Landing for breakfast. I had a cold brew coffee from Utopia, and a sausage, biscuit, and egg sandwich. The sage in the sausage is delightful, and the biscuits are big and lightly sweet. Then we headed back to the apartment, gathered our stuff, and rode off for our last bike adventure.
We took the River Greenway west towards the Lindenwood Nature Preserve. The part of this ride where it diverges from the Greenway and goes north on Lindenwood is a little tricky. There are blind corners, and while it is a designated bike path, there are not markers, barriers, sidewalks, or shoulders to ride on. Ride with caution in the lane, and watch for cars. Bike racks are available in the parking lot of Lindenwood Nature Preserve. This one was by far the longest Veo ride I took, 34 minutes, about 4 miles, at a total cost of $3.
Lindenwood Nature Preserve is 110 wooded acres that the city of Fort Wayne bought from the Lindenwood Cemetery across the road. The cemetery is where some of the oldest graves in the city, including those of several founders, are located, but the preserve was never developed. Today, it’s a beautiful natural setting not at all far from Downtown. The Campfire Ring acts as the trailhead for everything, and the trails are laid out in loops from the ring. The Trail of Reflection is a one-mile loop that, at least up to the Pond Overlook, is fully accessible and relatively flat with low grades. The Maple Spur is a quarter-mile trip through tall maple trees. If you look closely you might spot a garter snake here. The Trillium Trail is abundant with wildflowers, especially in the spring. Look for wild geranium, wild ginger, bloodroot, spring beauties, jack-in-the-pulpit, and three kinds of trillium.
We hiked back to the parking lot just in time to see Aubrey’s husband, Scott Heisel, drive in to pick her up and go back to Cleveland. I finagled a ride back to Downtown in the back seat with their dog, Mia.
This is the one car ride on the trip, and I am including it here to be honest with you. Transit hikes are an imperfect system, but catching a ride with someone you know, who is already going that way, I’ll allow it this time. We headed back to 816 Pint & Slice, to enjoy a slice before everyone headed back their separate ways. Scott realized there was a used record store just a few minutes away, so we killed another hour there. The temperatures soared to around 90 that day, which wasn’t a problem when we were under the canopy of the nature preserve, but in the concrete jungle, the heat is more oppressive. I was glad to have a little air conditioning.
Scott and Aubrey dropped me at the Citilink Station, 121 W Baker St., about an hour before my bus arrived. The station was closed to observe the holiday. There wasn’t anyone at the station, and city buses were not running. On government holidays, riders at this station should not count on being able to access its indoor shelters. My Greyhound bus arrived about 25 minutes early and left about 5 minutes early. The driver back to Chicago was a mask-enforcer, which I appreciated. I plugged in my phone and headphones and watched the scenery roll past back towards Chicago.
By the time we got to Wolf Lake the sun was setting and reflected purple and orange against the water. I noticed that Lake Michigan was a darker shade of blue than it was when I rolled through a few days before. From the south, the sun setting west of downtown gilds the edges of our tallest towers.
Walking from the bus station I tapped my Ventra card on the turnstile and an old familiar sound dinged, telling me to “Go!” After about 5 minutes on the platform, I step onto a Blue Line car and sit comfortably away from the mostly masked car full of socially distancing riders. Above ground once again, I remembered all the rides I’ve taken down the 606, when we pass the Damen Avenue Bridge. Exiting at Jefferson Park the art decorating the bus stop reminds me that I am returning to REALITY.
I hiked the 10 minutes from the station to my house, and when I get there I found my husband outside trying to encourage our anxious herding dog to take a walk. The moment she saw me, she practically pulled him down the block with all 26 pounds of her force. Her docked tail wiggled furiously when she got to me. Good dog.
