Cruise gives novel view of a growing downtown
City cruise gives novel view of a growing downtown

By Steve Lackmeyer

Published: June 6, 2008

Boats run Wednesday through Sunday, as weather permits, with departures from the Regatta Park Landing next to the Chesapeake Energy Boathouse at Lincoln Boulevard, and from the Meridian Landing at SW 15 just east of Meridian Avenue.

The first thing you see when leaving either landing is a stunning view of the past or future.

If you choose to leave the Meridian Avenue Landing, you're treated to a view of the Oklahoma River as it looked decades ago when this city was settled. This section of the waterway, originally known as the North Canadian River, is lined with trees — and not the rock embankments that were added to the remainder of the river as part of flood control efforts in the 1950s.

If you choose to leave from Regatta Park, you see Rand Elliott's award-winning Chesapeake Energy Boathouse. You can imagine what this stretch will look like as future boathouses will be added in the next few years.

I chose to leave from the Regatta Park Landing. When my boat arrived, it carried only three passengers who endured spending 30 minutes in the lock. The crew assured the problem was corrected and such delays weren't everyday occurrences.

Thirteen passengers were aboard the trip to Meridian Landing.

After a brief safety demonstration the passengers scattered to the deck to get a better look at the downtown skyline. Some talked about future developments planned along the Oklahoma River — and excitedly speculated about how a Ferris wheel recently bought by developer Grant Humphreys might be included in a project he's planning at Western Avenue at the old Downtown Airpark.

Spotting that location wasn't easy. The bridges aren't marked, and despite talk of the boats featuring global positioning system maps on the on-board television, no such programming was available.

The passage through the locks this time around went off without a hitch. Kids were fascinated watching the water levels rise inside the lock.

As the boat neared the Interstate 44 crossing, I was reminded of the city's other ambitions for the Oklahoma River — to make it an urban fishing corridor. And indeed, the closer we got to Meridian Landing, the more people I saw fishing from the riverside.

A small outdoor tent was set up along the riverfront campus of Dell Computers, and a small group of people could be seen watching the boat as it passed. Several people were biking and jogging along the trails on this section of the waterway.

After one hour and 15 minutes, we arrived at the Meridian Landing, where you can see two nearby hotels under construction. It's here passengers face a choice — spend another hour and fifteen minutes going back to Regatta Park or take a 45- to 60-minute trolley ride that parallels the same route.

Every passenger I spoke to loved the cruise itself, even those who were stuck in the lock. Nobody enjoyed the trolley ride.

The boat's crew told passengers the trolley would meet us precisely as the boat arrived at the Meridian Landing and would take us back to Regatta Park. It did. What they don't say is that it will first take a 20-minute detour passing by more than dozen hotels along the Meridian Avenue hotel corridor.

The loop is designed so that visitors wanting to catch a trolley can count on being picked up in front of their hotel — and not even have to cross the street for a ride. Not one person hopped on or off this trolley at any of the hotels.

After the 20-minute loop, we were taken back to where we started — Meridian Landing.

The ride included a pass through some unattractive parts of town, but the view improved as the trolley passed through Stockyards City. And after enduring a bumpy stretch of the old Interstate 40 Crosstown Expressway, we arrived back at Regatta Park — 50 minutes after leaving the boat.

Toolbar sponsored by: David Stanley Ford

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