We visited http://www.jollysailor.com/ today and enjoyed one fruit beer, one and one shandy (can't remember brand of beer used), one whole tail scampi, peas and chips and one chicken kiev with chips and peas. We ordered our food inside at the bar choosing a table number from outside and sat on table 14 not far for the Quay eating our food and drinking our beer whilst looking at the old sailing barges and surroundings of the quay. I have been here several times before and also drank in the other pub over the road the http://www.thequeensheadmaldon.co.uk/, which also has a nice outdoors eating/drinking area where you can enjoy a smoke with your beer as well as watch the boats.
I especially liked the fruit beer, which I've never had anywhere else before, which was sweet tasting and may be even part of my 5 a day.
The Jolly Sailor also has an aviary around the back where they pub breeds quails and cockatoos, which you can also have a look at whilst sitting at a table drinking a pint and having a smoke. The pub was serving beer to sailors back in the 16th Century (the sign on the side of its out building says) but was actually built earlier around 1400.
The pub has changed management many times since then but I was curious to know about the Parrot a friend told me about (but is no longer around) who had to be fed with a nut on a beer mat, so as to avoid loosing part of your finger.
We didn't say long because we could only find one 1 hour parking space available along the quay, but there is public car park up the top of the hill somewhere.
Would one day like to hire one of the http://www.top-sail.co.uk/ sailing barges I see advertised every time I visit Maldon, but somehow have never got round to doing. Apparently I have been told H D Wells said in the War of the Worlds that the Aliens landed in Maldon but it was changed in the film to America. Please feel free to correct me if this is untrue.
The Jolly Sailor also has B&B accommodation, so may be we will stay there one Friday/Saturday night for a little weekend trip away another time soon and get a sailing barge the next day. If only there was more than 24 hours in a day.