1. Prepare picnic food and carry it in a backpack. I brought Tuscan pasta, two plums, four cookies, and a bottle of wine. Don't forget the necessary implements like forks, napkins, cups, and a corkscrew! Also a few ziploc bags for your plum seed and other garbage. Potomac ducks do not like plums.
2. Walk or drive to Jack's Boathouse in Georgetown (3500 K Street, right below the Key Bridge). Parking is available (FREE!) or you can take the G-town connector from Dupont ($1.50).
3. Rent a Kayak (or a canoe). I prefer the stability of kayaks to canoes, but that is just my opinion. It costs $10 an hour. Two hours is a good amount of time, unless you are seriously ambitious. This activity is perfect for a summer night after work. We arrived at 5:30. You do not need any prior kayaking knowledge or experience. Instructions: wear a life jacket and paddle.
4. Paddle for about 20 to 30 minutes; this should put you just past the curve in the Potomac. Unless, of course, you are slow like me. Observe nature and the Georgetown row team.
5. Pull over somewhere shady and attach your paddle to your friend's kayak. Careful not to lose your paddle to the river. The river will not give it back.
6. Open wine. Serve food. Relax for 30 minutes. You are having dinner on the Potomac. At this point, if you forgot the corkscrew you'll be sorry...make sure to remember the corkscrew!
7. Leave enough time to get back before sunset. Objects viewed from a kayak are further than they appear.
8. Relax and stretch out on the deck. Watch the sunset and hold onto the end of summer.
