Covid-19 didn’t stop us from a fun summer adventure day  – just the two of us.  Our destination? Navigating the Piscataqua on colorful solo kayaks.

First stop: Bennett’s Subs, wearing the official fashion statement of 2020: face masks!

We ate our subs with maximum social distancing (I’m sure sick of that phrase), parked on State Street in Ruby the Explorer.  Then we headed to Esther’s Landing on the Portsmouth waterfront. You picked a red kayak; mine was yellow. Off we went, paddling by Peirce Island, under a bridge and into the open water. Spotting the landmark gold colored Wentworth Coolidge Mansion far away in the distance, it became our turnaround destination. Highlights of the day:

• Spending one-on-one time with you, enjoying our easy conversation. We always cover a wide array of topics… this time it included: Magic, your favorite game; the cruise you took and how much you enjoyed it; starting high school next month; the government’s response to Covid-19; three generations of entrepreneurship (Grammy and I starting Beaupre & Company, your Dad starting Beaupre Law, you starting your own business someday – maybe a gaming company – you said “It’s up to me to keep it going!”); Fecamp, France and Beaupre genealogy; and of course Trump and politics.
• Visiting a secluded peninsula called Lady Isle where we hung out; you gobbled down the remaining chicken salad sub from lunch.  You were starved; rowing is a workout!
• Showing you the grounds of the mansion, my favorite of the nine famous Portsmouth historic properties.  You posed in front of giant iron anchor. We wondered what the French language expression meant on the mansion’s coat of arms (see photo of sign). Turns out “En Dieu Est Tout” means In God is All.
• Beaching our kayaks on a tiny island to take a break from paddling and cool off in the salty water.  The tide was getting low so we had to walk out a bit to get deeper. The mud was as slick as a skating rink and I promptly and repeatedly wiped out, one time literally flying backwards, feet to the sky, hitting my head. Nothing to hurt up there! We laughed a lot!
• Not only was the mud slick, it was like clay. You created a mud hut decoration on the front of your kayak; I followed suit.  They never moved all the way back.
• Racing against each other – you won easily and could have kept going forever.  You said, “I thought it would be a lot of paddling today, but time flew by.”
• Testing our kayak navigation skills in the shade under the bridge, fighting the strong current that was bringing the tide out to the Atlantic. My kayak slammed against the concrete buttress one time.
• It was another epic day with my third generation Beaupre superstar. Love you.