When Larry Donaldson got the news last month that he’d been selected as the winner of LEX 18’s “Celebrity Cruise Getaway” prize package,  he expected to set sail with some of Hollywood’s elite. However, in a cruel twist of fate, Larry later learned that his reward for winning the contest was, in fact, not an all-expenses-paid ocean cruise with celebrities, but instead, a fishing trip with local “celebrity” Lee Cruse.

Donaldson, 56, of Morehead, was given the devastating news by an LEX 18 intern after calling the station to ask if the cruise ship had a nude deck.

“I was definitely disappointed at first,” said Donaldson. “It felt like I’d been catfished by the news. But after I said some stuff I’m not very proud of to that intern, I decided to make the best of a bad situation and go on the fishing trip. Besides, the cash option was just yoga with Alan Cutler.”

The pair shoved off on their nautical excursion this past weekend at Jacobson Park, with LEX 18 providing $16 for a two-hour pedal boat ride and some of Chris Goodman’s fishing gear.

“I’ll be honest, it got a little crowded on the pedal boat between the two of us and Lee’s cooler of skin care products,” remarked Donaldson. “Also, I’m not sure why he felt the need to bring his leather jacket collection. Honestly, I didn’t even know they made leather life jackets.”

In fact, for the duration of the voyage, safety was paramount.  No fish were harmed though, not for lack of trying, but rather neither fisherman felt comfortable enough baiting their own hooks with live bait.  Cruse did have them pose with a wet Big Mouth Billy Bass though.

Donaldson was skeptical of the trip at first, but eventually let his guard down and managed to enjoy the two-hour tour.

“Lee just had a great attitude about being there, even though it was super early in the morning.”

Cruse explained that he enjoyed the trip as well.

“Our conversation started out a little choppy,  and to be honest, Lenny wasn’t pedaling fast enough for us to leave some of the park’s angry geese in our wake.  But once we got a rhythm going, we were in total,” Cruse paused as he pulled out some sunglasses from inside his leather life jacket and put them on, “…total Cruse control.”

By the end of the trip, Donaldson and Cruse had come close to bonding, and Larry was willing to admit he had a somewhat decent time.

“Lee kept calling me Lenny, but other than that, the trip exceeded my extremely low expectations. I told Lee I was a “big fan” of his radio show once he told me he had one.”