The Hobbit has such a different feel and flavor, as opposed to Lord of the Rings. Yet I like them both in their own different ways. The Hobbit is kind of like the warm bread before the main course.
If you're reading it aloud, I hope you know there's no other way to do it but with a British-accented narrator voice?
One thing that jumps to my mind when I read the final version you quoted, in the RotK Appendices, there is mention of the Shire sending hobbit-archers to the King's aid. (Pre-LotR events, I believe.) Some of the more educated opinions from annotated editions still point towards frolics off to the Grey Havens and beyond, though Valinor does not seem to me a place one "frolics" to.