The addition of the water taxi in The Flats is just another reminder of how far that area has come in a few short years. While nothing like the Holy Moses, the previous version of the water taxi that was more like a booze cruise, the eLCee2 aims to improve connectivity between the East and West bank of The Flats.
For just $2 for the whole day, you can take the taxi back and forth as many times as you’d like. While it would’ve taken me less time just to walk around the river, I wanted to try it out for myself. Apparently everyone else had that same idea for the holiday weekend, so I had to wait for about three taxis to come across before it was my turn. This past weekend we took the taxi again and the wait was only about 15 minutes.
Once on the water taxi, it takes about 30 whole seconds to make it across the Cuyahoga. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it definitely takes less than five minutes from bank to bank. The views are beautiful, as expected, and you’re dropped off right outside of the Music Box if you’re coming from the East Bank. If you’re heading West to East, you’ll dock right next to Lindey’s Lakehouse.
Bikes and dogs are permitted on the boat. Our pup couldn’t make the walk back around the river due to heat exhaustion, so we treated her to a taxi ride back across and I must say she enjoyed herself probably more than we did.
Overall, I think that the $2 all day ticket price is more than fair and it’s a pleasant experience. I’d recommend taking it at least once to see how you like it for yourself. The only downsides that I can see are if there is a large crowd, you’re wasting quite a bit of time waiting for the next boat. And the hours. While I understand that we don’t want a booze cruise atmosphere, the lack of evening hours past 9 p.m. on weekends really hurts those wanting to grab a show at the Music Box and head back over or even the possibility of a late dinner on the Flats East Bank. I guess there is always Uber, but then that kind of defeats the purpose.
Have you tried the water taxi yet? Comment on your experience below!
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