Day Tripping: Cruising the Ohio

"BB RIVERBOATS Welcomes Carol Allin Party of 3----Captain's Lunch Cruise" is what is printed right there on the ticket stub. For about two years this notion of taking some family and making the jaunt down to the Newport Landing has been hovering like a plump summer bumblebee, vanishing in the winter, but returning with the change of season. This summer in particular it felt important to set aside some specific time with our second born, Toby. He'll be graduating from O.U. in another year and is already making plans to be anywhere other than Yellow Springs once he has matriculated.

With my husband Bruce's complicity we schemed to ambush Toby into spending several hours with us by announcing we wanted to take him to lunch at 'a special restaurant' in the Cincinnati area. Toby graciously checked his busy social calendar and was able to fit us in this past Tuesday, July 27. When I first broached the subject with Bruce, privately, he gave me one of his startled eye-widenings that was (per usual) accompanied by no comment what-so-ever. Having learned, over the years, to provide both sides of the conversation to this fairly typical response, I just went ahead and gave him our marching orders: Leave 9:30am in order to arrive by the 11:00am check-in time, cruise embarks at noon, and returns to dock by 2pm. And so the reservation was made.

It is possible to also book the 2-hour cruise without partaking of the buffet-style luncheon, but eating on board the riverboat while travelling the 3 miles upriver was most definitely a large part of the appeal. There are also night-time dinner cruises available, and they will book parties for special events, but the lunch cruise was perfect for an informal and low-key good time. The food was middle-of-the-road decent, American-style cuisine. Since we all skipped breakfast and decided to have a couple drinks prior to eating, the cruise got off to a jolly start. I was very grateful that the BB Riverboats were equipped with air-conditioned comfort in which to dine and escape the typical muggy weather, as well as the option to go out into the fresh air on the upper decks without being enclosed. Once we had eaten we were all eager to pop outside and lean on the railings and watch the watery sights go by.

In addition to the scenery of the Cincinnati skyline rolling past, there are many beautiful parks and natural areas on both sides of the river. One of the charming features of the day was our banjo-strumming narrator of the cruise, combining interesting tidbits of riverboating trivia, old-timey tunes, and a minimum of bad jokes. Perhaps it was the two glasses of wine on an empty stomach influencing my perceptions, but I thought he did a very nice job steering us along through the oral history. In fact, I can say with all honesty that the three of us did learn some new and interesting facts about our region's lore.

The final 10 or 15 minutes of the cruise offered passengers the option of coming back inside to play Bingo for prizes, if you liked. Bruce and I played, neither of us won, but it was fun watching a couple of the kids who did win get excited about stepping up to the prize basket to make their selections. Toby seemed to have had enough boat ride with Mom and Dad by then, especially when our tunester encouraged us all to whistle the theme from The Andy Griffith Show along with him. But hey, I'm a good whistler and by gar! I whistled. Just two hours on the Ohio River, and you'll be saying things like 'by gar!' in true river rat fashion too. Nautical attire not required.

By Carol Allin

Editor's note: There are some really cool things to do just short drives from our town. The Blog is interested in publishing pieces like this about day trips from YS, whether about upcoming events or your experiences on your visits. Please feel free to submit them by email. They will appear under the category "Day tripping" and will be tagged, so they can easily be recovered.