Address: 1 Dock St
Pricing: $12-$20 adults
Phone: 410-268-7601
Hours: all day
How To Get There:
Take US-50 East to exit 24 (MD 70).
Stay on Rowe Blvd. Take right onto Calvert Street, right onto Church Circle, then right into traffic circle. Exit circle onto Duke of Gloucester Street, turn left onto Green Street. Turn right onto Dock Street. Boats are at the end of the dock.
Parking:street, public garages
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Watermark Cruises: The ship's view of Annapolis
May 13, 2010
Everyone who visits Annapolis wishes he or she owned a boat. And for good reason: Annapolis is home of the United States Navy, the starting point for the Eastern Shore, and a true waterway for many sea lovers.
Even if you're without sails, fear not. You, too, can take a little spin around the Severn River. The Watermark Annapolis cruises are a great, though awfully touristy, option to gather wind in your hair, enjoy the sun and breeze and watch the water. There’s even a bar on board serving your favorite on-deck beverages and snacks.
Sit on the upper deck for full sun and view, or on the main level for open-air, covered seating. The 40-minute tour leaves every hour from 11am to 4pm on weekdays, to 7pm on weekends between May and September. Cruises continue throughout the year from late March to late November.
The 40-minute tour itself is narrated by a recording, pointing out different parts of the university campus and random facts about seafood (for example, oysters are in season during months with the letter “R”). The tour ends with blasting dance music that, even if you’re anti-dancing, you find yourself wiggling a little.
A longer tour (1.5 hours) takes passengers on a longer scenic tour of the Severn River. It departs once a day at 12:30pm and costs $20 for adults, $10 for children 3-11. Another 90-minute cruise brings passengers to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at 2:30pm, and a third sails to Thomas Point Lighthouse, the state’s most recognized lighthouse, at 4:30pm.
There’s also a full-day cruise, available on summer Saturdays and select Mondays, which takes passengers out to St. Michaels for day on the water and three hours to browse the quaint Eastern Shore town. Tickets for the full-day tour are $70 for adults and $30 for children 3-11. All offer beer, wine, non-alcoholic beverages and snacks on board for purchase. Reservations are not required.
HelloWashingtonDC Tip: If you prefer talking like a pirate, there’s a morning tour led by a full-fledged buccaneer to entertain little ones (but fear not, you’ll be plenty amused as well). You become part of the pirate crew on the ship. Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for children 3-11.
- by Rin-rin Yu, Washington Reporter for HelloMetro
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Rin-rin YuRin-rin is an award-winning writer and journalist based in the Baltimore-Washington area. Her work has appeared in China Daily, DAYSPA magazine, Luxury Home Design, Aquatics International, Not For Tourists and other publications. Rin-rin has also worked for ABC News, WHDH-TV (NBC) in Boston and Hanley Wood Business Media. She has a master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She is an avid world traveler and maintains a travel blog, www.mytravelhats.com.
