Mark’s Score 8.6
This review introduces a new category for my blog, tours and excursions. I have avoided this category up till now because tours can be expensive and time consuming. So, in my first 18 months I focused on restaurants, museums, parks, and retail to build up a review database. I specifically chose this tour as my first because it is the only paddleboat tour on the peninsula, making it unique.
Choptank Riverboat Company was launched in 1997 by Dave Nickerson, the owner of Suicide Bridge Restaurant. He launched Choptank Riverboat Co. with a single vessel, the Dorothy and Megan. In 2007 he added a second vessel, the Choptank River Queen. Both vessels are reproductions of turn-of-the-century paddlewheel riverboats. Nickerson hoped to re-create the atmosphere of the paddlewheel era on the Choptank, by combining dining, entertainment, and sightseeing on a single excursion.
I purchased a lunch voyage ticket which included a two-hour tour, lunch, and some light entertainment. When I purchased my ticket, they made it sound like the boat was nearly full. But when I arrived, there were only a few people in line to get on board. I was informed that I had a seat assignment on the upper deck. I walked up the stairs to find a series of long tables, I found my designated seat, and apparently, I had the entire table to myself. A few moments later two women sat at the table next to mine. They had a large table all to themselves. We all looked at each other, decided the seating arrangement was silly, and I joined them at their table.
It was a perfect day for a boat ride down the river. It was sunny and 75F (24C). My new friends and I went down to the bar, ordered a few drinks, and returned to our table. The captain came up to the upper deck, told us a little bit about the paddleboat and described our journey, and then we were off. The trip is short, the plan was to leave from Suicide Bridge sail down the Choptank around Secretary’s Point to Secretary and then return to the bridge.
Soon after leaving the dock, the river widens quickly, and the land flattens out into reed marshes and low-slung farmland, opening up huge vistas of sky, water, and bucolic countryside. Soon after departure, the waitress brought our food, a set lunch menu of fried chicken, crab cakes, and a medley of steamed vegetables.
The combination of drinks, food, beautiful vistas and perfect weather put the three of us in a good mood, and we fast became good friends. We laughed, shared our lives stories, enjoyed the food, the view, and drink. Before long, we were the loudest table on the upper deck.
In the end, my trip wasn’t defined by the food, the tour, or the entertainment. It was about strangers enjoying a common experience and enjoying each other’s company. I thoroughly enjoyed my excursion on the Choptank, and I would certainly do it again.
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What else is there to do in Cambridge?
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