Be a Tourist
I have lived in Annapolis for 5 years and I have never taken the water taxi before! A friend of mine suggested a water taxi morning adventure and I told her I had never done it and she said, “Well I think it’s time to be a tourist in our town!” I loved the idea of this - every town has it’s own unique activities or sights-to-see for visitors, but when was the last time you experienced them?
When I shared this morning adventure on Instagram earlier this summer, I got lots of comments and DMs that people wanted to do this same outing. So here are the details of where we went! If you’re in the Annapolis or DC/Baltimore area, I would highly recommend this as a fun half-day adventure.
9:30 am - For summer hours, the Annapolis water taxi starts running at 9:30 am. We parked at City Dock and hopped on the water taxi right there at ego alley. You can find the water taxi by looking for the boat with a yellow awning - like a yellow taxi cab! Our captains name was Bill H. and we asked him to take us to Port Annapolis. The rate to go from City Dock to Port Annapolis was $7 per person and kids 4 and under are free. You can download the Where In Annapolis app to pay (they have a convenient sign with QR code on the boat) or pay with cash. Take a picture of the water taxi phone number (there are signs of it on the boat) before you get off so that you can call them to pick you up!
10 am - We arrived at Port Annapolis at 10 am. We chose Port Annapolis because of the famous Black Market Bakers bakery there. It also has a great playground, picnic tables, and shade - perfect for a summer brunch picnic. We ate cinnamon rolls and coffee cake from BMB, but I’ve also had their avocado toast before and it is AMAZING.
11:30 am - When we were ready to leave, we called the water taxi phone number and they told us to be on the dock in 15 minutes. It was so convenient - we threw out our trash, walked down the dock, and Captain Bill pulled right up for the kids to step onto the boat. We asked to go to Eastport and suggested Chart House as a drop location. It cost $5 per person to travel from Port Annapolis to Chart House. On the app, you can see lots of different Eastport drop locations. If we did it again, I would probably request a drop off at Davis’ because it’s closer to Port Annapolis and Forward.
Noon - We walked from Chart House to Forward Brewing and enjoyed lunch! Grilled cheeses for the kids and a beer for the moms was a perfect way to end our morning adventure. Then we walked from Forward, over the Eastport Spa Creek Bridge, back to City Dock where we loaded up the car and headed home for a much-needed nap time. We were home by 1 pm.
I loved our morning and this could be redone in about a hundred variations with all of the amazing restaurants and coffee shops around Annapolis. If your goal is to get outside this summer in Annapolis, I cannot recommend the water taxi enough! It felt like we were on a family vacation and we could have easily kept bopping around town, outside, for the rest of the day.
If you aren’t in Annapolis, what are the tourist activities and sights in your town? Consider doing things that you haven’t done yet, or in a very long time. It’s a great way to adventure outside this summer without the organization of a big trip.
