Accidental gumshoes.

Lovely visit with Dan. He documented it very well, but left out one story: The Ubiquitous Dad.

We pulled into the parking garage at the Renaissance Hotel downtown, planning to ooh and ahh at the Harbor and grab some lunch. Some guy in a Passat pulls in immediately behind us. He’s got a little tyke with him, a sober two-year-old. Well, Dad Guy looks like he knows where he’s going — presumably to the stairs — so we follow him. He keeps looking over his shoulder, and we all make a little joke about following him.

At the top of the stairs, Dan and I emerge into the bright sunlight and head down the street. Dad Guy heads the other way. We’re ready to tackle Tourist Town.

A block later we realize Dad Guy is walking in front of us. The four of us pause at the light. He glances quickly at us — two young people, one of whom is carrying an enormous camera — and dashes across the street, tyke in tow. Can you blame him?

We shrug our shoulders at the paranoid man and head up to Pizzeria Uno for some lunch. After, Dan shoots some cool photos from the pedestrian bridge over Pratt Street [I think it’s Pratt]. We cut through the mall … where we see Paranoid Dad Guy and son.

“Strange,” we say, because it’s been about two hours and yet we meet again. At the door, he goes left, we go right, looping around the block so I can have a smoke and find the entrance to the garage. We find it, locate our car, unlock the doors, look up — and there’s Dad Guy! Getting into his car! With his wee son!

“Swear we’re not following you, man,” we say nervously. Dad Guy has forgiven us, though.

“Enjoy your visit?” He’s figured out that we’re not detectives. Merely tourists. We chat, we laugh, we lean on our cars and discuss the area. Reluctantly, we draw the conversation to a close. He pulls out of his space and drives off.

We, of course, followed him.

Hmmm … guess you had to be there.

This post brought to you by: A Poetic Retelling Of An Unfortunate Incident from the album “Letting Off The Happiness” by Bright Eyes.

November 23, 2003 | Filed Under minutiae