By Mary Fairchild
My daughter and I had a bird’s-eye view as we were herded over the bridges along with some 350,000 others who came out for the annual St. Patrick’s Day festivities including the dyeing of the Chicago River this past Saturday. The paddle tour was organized by Paddle & Trail, Geneva Kayak, and CASKA (Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Assoc.).
Kayak instructor Mark Anderson was the architectural docent who led the paddle. Chicago’s architectural heritage is one of the finest in the world. Not only does the river provide a unique setting for viewing Chicago’s architecture, but, on this day in particular, the vivid green dye creates a whole new intensity to the scene.
This year’s paddle was a balmy 80 degrees when we are usually expecting our last bout of snow in the city.
One magnificent seven-mile paddle.
* The dye dissapates in about 3 hours–the original plumber’s fluorescent dye was replaced with an eco-safe vegetable dye: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/03/greening-a-river-for-st-patricks-day/37602/
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