Relaxing on the river

It's one thing to live in a place that calls itself River City and view the water from a distance, as you're crossing a bridge or running along a multiple-use path. It's another thing to actually get out on the river and experience the city from the inside out. At least, that's how it felt this past weekend when we joined Jordan and Jamie on a 2 1/2-hour cruise on the Willamette.

For a wedding gift last fall, someone gave them a "romance package" aboard the Portland Spirit, a 150-foot yacht with three public decks that sails from downtown Portland to Lake Oswego and back. Inexplicably, that same party gave us -- as the long-suffering parents, no doubt -- a certificate for a free cruise, too.

So, with Jamie and Jordan in town for the weekend, it was nice to take advantage of a hot summer night and cool off on the water. We sat down to a delicious meal in the galley -- blackened salmon, rack of lamb, beef medallions -- then went upstairs to enjoy the fresh air for the second half of the cruise.

And what did we see? A little of everything:

• Ostentatious mini-mansions in Dunthorpe and Lake Oswego, with way more house than any one family could reasonably occupy.
• Houseboats, small marine craft and a lone water skier.
• The west side of Ross Island, home to beaver, bald eagles and 50 pairs of great blue herons, the city's official bird. (We didn't see the east side, which has been ravaged by a sand and gravel operation.)
• Oaks Park, an amusement park with carnival rides and an old-fashioned wooden roller skating rink.
• Milwaukie's sewage treatment plant, quite possibly the worst land-use planning decision ever made. (Whose bright idea was it to put it next to the Willamette instead of developing the riverbank for a public park?)
• The familiar city skyline, with its handful of tall buildings -- nothing like the towering edifices in most cities that make you feel insignificant.
• And one randy woman on a grassy picnic area who (from a distance I guessed to be in her 50s) decided to moon everyone on the boat.

It was a nice treat to see so many familiar landmarks from a different vantage point. Now, if someone would just give us some more certificates, we'd be happy to check out the brunch and Friday getaway cruises, along with the Columbia River Sternwheeler that goes out to Cascade Locks and the Bridge of the Gods.

Photograph: Portland Spirit Co.