Along with history, architecture and cultural offerings, groups will find plenty of tasty cuisine in and around Annapolis.
Annapolis Food Tours (www.annapolisfoodtour.com) offers group experiences in the colonial capital that blend many of its most delectable qualities.
A tavern George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin frequented is on the standard city tour itinerary, along with historic sites like the Maryland State House and restaurants where history gets served up with small plate dishes of local cuisine.
The company’s new Evening Dine Around is a customizable food tour for four to 250-plus guests that blends history, architecture, culture and cuisine in the heart of the colonial capital. The experience provides a six-course progressive meal at three different restaurants, with the option to have beer or wine paired with each course. The Dine Around can be fully customized to meet the needs and budget of nearly any size group. The number of guides and hosts is also flexible.
Other custom tour choices may be drawn from the company’s roster of maritime, political and offbeat (like gossip and pub crawls) programs spotlighting the colonial capital.
“Our objective is to remove barriers that may exist between visitors and locals throughout Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay region, and to provide a more authentic look at the food, culture and heritage,” says Jeff Swedarsky, founder and president of the company.
Annapolis Food Tours’ newest program, Annapolis, Yesterday and Today, is a tie-in with the War of 1812 and the Civil War commemorations. It explores the cuisine of historic Annapolis over the past three centuries and how America’s wars brought change and innovation to local tables, from the Revolutionary War to the modern wars in the Middle East.
“In this new tour, we explore how influences from Britain, Africa and other parts of the world impacted this area and [transformed] the cuisine,” Swedarsky says. “Our tours meld food, travel, scenery and culture. Annapolis has plenty of all.”
Annapolis Food Tours also provides an array of pub crawls in the city. At each stop, the guide gives everyone enough time to purchase drinks, while recounting historic scandals, parties and drinking-inspired events. The guide tests the group’s knowledge during the pub crawl with trivia questions, a twist that gives participants the opportunity to win free drinks and shots.
Annapolis Food Tours’ corporate parent is Food Tour Corporation, which offers urban food tours, pub crawls and other culinary-based events in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., coastal Virginia, Cleveland and Indianapolis.
