Thursday, July 12, 2012

Along Lake Erie

We drove south on I-75 over such washboard roads that the trailer plug to the truck worked loose. The display in the truck told us and we pulled over so Ted could push it back in tightly.

When we arrived at the park, two glass pans had flown out of an upper cabinet and broke into pieces. Makes me wonder about these high tax, heavily union, blue states and how they spend their money.

The park is lovely and we have a long paved site that accommodates both the trailer and truck with plenty of room. We have mature trees that provide great shade. We don't have water so we stopped to take on water. We don't have a sewer either but we are being careful with the three tanks and hopefully won't have to hook up to go dump before our departure date.  I took this photo with my I-Pad and don't know how to rotate it!


We spent Monday getting acclimated to our surroundings. We drove to Miller Ferry to check it out, then drove through Port Clinton to pick up tourist info to plan our week.

We bought peaches and corn at a roadside stand and it was about the best corn we have ever eaten.

We went to Marblehead to the lighthouse which is now a state park.  We learned the light was on a weight exactly like a grandfather clock.  It would take three hours for the weight to drop to the bottom and then the keeper climbed back up, filled the container with oil, and pulled the weight back up.  Bet that was an unpleasant job in the winter in the middle of the night.



We drove the Lake Erie Circle Tour all around the many peninsulas in the area. It was very pleasant all day.

The next day we went to Put In Bay on South Bass Island in Lake Erie.  We chose the Miller Ferry because it was closest to us.  We intended to rent a golf cart so using the Jet Express which docks in town wasn't necessary.  Here is the landing as we pulled away.



It was a short walk to the golf cart rental and we were off!  We went into downtown and decided to eat lunch before taking the one hour island train tour.  This took us to nine different places of interest on the island.  We could have gotten off and caught another train but we stayed on the whole time then used our golf cart to go back to see what interested us.  This wonderful old carousel is in town.


Our next stop was the Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial.  It marks the battle for control of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.  The USA, Canada and English flags fly together to signify the longest, unprotected border in the world between the US and Canada. 

This is the third largest Federal Monument in the US with the St. Louis Arch being #1 (been there) and the Washington Monument #2 (been there also). 

The view of the island and lake were spectacular.  There are many islands in close proximity and we could see several including Rattlesnake Island which is a Private Island, $200,000 to join.  Maybe next year.


Inside the memorial are the remains of the three British commanders and three US commanders that all died during the battle.  They were originally buried in what is now a beautiful city park but were moved when the memorial was built.


We went to the Heineman Winery and I had a glass of Riesling while we sat in the Wine Garden.  They were the only winery out of about 15 that survived Prohibition.  They marketed grape juice with a recipe for vinegar on the back.  Of course if you stop the process before it becomes vinegar, you have wine!

The riesling cuttings came from the Rhine River valley.  Cincinnati was settled by German immigrants from this area, including my mother's family, and we have traveled there a few times ourselves.  This wine barrel fountain is at the center of the garden.


We spent about six hours on the island getting around in our golf cart.  The weather was so pleasant, the scenery beautiful and there are enough places and things of interest to make for a grand day.

We took the evening ferry home and grilled some steaks for dinner along with some of that terrific locally grown corn on the cob.

Immediately following his victory at the Battle of Lake Erie, Perry penned the famous words, "We have met the enemy and they are ours ..." in his report to General William Henry Harrison.

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