This is one of my favorite places in the world… I can’t wait to get back this summer. Enjoy!
What a weekend! After getting gridlocked in the DC Beltway thanks to the U.S. Open on Thursday evening, I got gridlocked again on the way back, thanks to an accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike… All with one patient pup in the back seat… Never a dull moment on my car rides, let me tell you.
Welllll, to say that my weekend was eventful would be the understatement of the week. I got home to Strongsville late Thursday night, went straight to bed, woke up the next morning, drove up to the lake house in Ottawa County, spent Friday night on South Bass Island or Put-In-Bay (or “The Bay” as the locals call it), spent all day Saturday on Kelley’s Island as the designated golf cart driver (true story), woke up early Sunday morning, went to Mass, followed by brunch at my parents’ club for Father’s Day, and was immediately back on the road to the Metro DC area. Yeah. Now I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation haha.
I simply love the Lake Erie Islands. There is something so awesome about having to take a ferry to where you will be spending your evening, or in some cases, entire weekend. Put-In-Bay is the name of the village on South Bass Island. The charm as well as fun potential is immeasurable. For a family-friendly trip, be sure to stay off Delaware Avenue after 5 PM… I must admit that that is when it starts to get trashy. We rode the boat over with a lovely gentleman, surely a former debutante escort country club member who was wearing a shirt that says “I Enjoy Vagina,” in Coca Cola font. Classy. So soooo classy. Ick.
… And, rumor has it that MTV is doing a Put-In-Bay reality show, set to air fall 2012. I asked several different people and they all heard that it’s true. We shall see… But I have a strange feeling that maybe, just maybe MTV’s presence just might make Put-In-Bay a less family-friendly.
From the boat ride over, people always know whether or not it’s your first time there. If you’ve been there before, you know that as soon as the boat is getting close to the dock, start subtly creeping toward the exit.. As soon as they lower the gate thing (what are those called?), book it to the closest golf cart rental place. On weekends, they WILL run out of them, so it’s best to take an earlier boat and beat the golf cart-craving crowds.
Rent a golf cart, meander throughout the island, checking out some gorgeous real estate, shop around, enjoy the perfect lake breeze, ride Kimberly’s Carousel, one of the few wooden carousels left in the US, do a wine tasting at Heinemann, have lobster bisque at The Boardwalk, do a fish shot at Fishbowl, go up Perry’s Monument for a great view of Pelee Island, as well as the lower shore of Canada (on a clear day), and spend some time at the National Park building for some history on Admiral Oliver Hazard Perry, for whom the world’s 3rd largest memorial stands only yards away… If you’re driving, though, don’t overdo it with the booze. You can get a DUI on a golf cart… And I’ve known people who have. So seriously… If you are going to be driving a whole 25 MPH on your very dangerous golf cart (sarcasm), make sure to keep your alcohol intake to a minimum.
Definitely the most family-friendly island option, however, is Kelley’s Island, directly to the east of South Bass.
Kelleys is geographically larger than South Bass and was at one time owned by the Kelley family. The Kelley’s Mansion is still on the island, and is often open to the public for tours.
One point of advice, though, is that Verizon phones think you’re in Canada on Kelley’s Island, so find an AT&T customer to do the important phone calls… Depending on your plan, Verizon can charge up to $2 a minute, and that would not be a fun phone bill to get.
We got to the island late afternoon, since the boat literally left us at the dock… Yeah, we were walking to get on, and the teenage workers thought it’d be funny to pull up the gate and leave without us. So annoying!
Once we finally got there, we rented out golf cart and took a very scenic route around the island. Don’t you love these houses?
Our first stop was the Kelley’s Island Wine Company, where I did a tasting. Now, for those of you prefer dry wines, island wines are not for you. Colder climates yield a better crop for sweeter grapes, and therefore produce better sweet wines. I fortunately do not discriminate and enjoy all kinds, sweet or dry. My favorite in the mix was Coyote White… I have no idea what was in it, but it tasted decent enough.
Next, my dad thought it would be a brilliant idea to go to the West Bay Inn, formerly owned by a fellow Clevelander. Back in the day, it was perfect for its goregeous view and scerene atmosphere. Those days are apparently over. It is now a breeding ground for 40-something divorcees in bikini tops and cutoffs. So NOT okay. We stayed for one cocktail before I insisted that we leave. Grody to the max.
What we didn’t do while we were there this time was take advantage of the many family-friendly activities available, from horseshoes at the winery, mini golf downtown, the cute shopping, touring Kelley’s Mansion, lying on the public beach, to checking out the glacial grooves, which are giant areas of limestone carved out by glaciers thousands of years ago.
Even without going to the islands, the mainland is way fun as well… I love Great Lakes Popcorn Company, and of course Cleats Marblehead.
Great Lakes Popcorn has 30 different flavors of popcorn, raning from Butter and Salt to Strawberry to Root Beer to their best seller and signature, Vanilla Butternut. My personal favorite is the Columbus Mix, a salty-sweet combination of White Cheddar and Vanilla Butternut… It is addictive. Don’t say that I didn’t warn you.
At Cleats, try some Lake Erie Island Smoke wings and an Erie Island Hopper cocktail or Great Lakes Brewing Company Dortmunder. Eventhough Cleats is on the mainland, I always believe in sticking to a theme… Watch the boats come in, and if you’re lucky, a Coastie might even buy you a cocktail… What could be better than supporting our men in uniform?
Whether you choose to make your trip to Lake Erie’s “Vactionland” jam-packed with activity or jam-packed with books, naps and jigsaw puzzles, you’re sure to love the budget-friendly area that I call home. What I wrote here is just the tip of the glacier…. pun intended…. There are many others things to see and do. And, if you’re lucky, I just might share with you some more as the summer progresses.
