A few weeks ago we ventured to Put-in-Bay, Ohio, and boy, was I ready for a vacation!
Aaron, the car, and I boarded a ferry to the island of Put-in-Bay, which was my favorite part of the trip, because I had never been on a ferry before. Actually, I think the only island I've ever been to is Manhattan.
This is Put-in-Bay.
First we set up camp, our site being on a cliff overlooking Lake Erie. Then we went into town and visited the Lake Erie Islands Historical Society Museum. The woman who worked there urged us to stop by the shop out back. It was like a horrible flea market. Aaron said, "Let's go. This is all just a bunch of junk"...but then this caught his eye. And when we went home to research it, we found that our $15 treasure has gone for $1500 at auction!
We toured the town, went to the Boardwalk, ate the most delicious crab bisque.
Perry Peace Memorial, a national monument to honor Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry for the War of 1812. Unfortunately, the memorial was closed for renovation so we couldn't go in the top...a total bummer!
We spied this couple in the park, and this smoochfest went on for quite a while...it took me about 20 minutes to work up the nerve to take the photo.
Kimberly's Carousel
We went to the South Bend Chocolate Co Chocolate Cafe to buy some sweets, and I pretended to be Willy Wonka.
Every night, we avoided town like the plague because it was just a giant drunken party, and rested at our camp site with some contraband rum and cokes and some hot dogs, pudgy pies, or s'mores. I will tell you, though, there were some awful blackbirds that woke us up at 6am every morning. After the first morning, we realized that we shouldn't stay up late, so that we weren't affected too much by the 6am alarm clock. One night, we had a bag of potato chips, and one of the demon blackbirds swooped down, plucked a potato chip from the bag, and flew away. Aaron and I were in disbelief.
Views from the campsite:
We went mini-golfing at Perry's Cave, and then to Heineman's Winery and Crystal Cave.
Terrible photo...but this is the largest known geode in the world.
For about $6 each, we received the world's shortest cave tour, a winery tour, and a wine of our choice poured into a dixie cup.
The chandelier was really neat, but it was hard to get a good photo.
We sat in the "Wine Garden" and enjoyed our shots of wine.
You could also buy a bottle (or 5) like this lively group did.
Back to town, we sat in a bar, one of those with the windows wide open, and looked out at the park. I've always wanted to sit in one of those bars, so it appears I can now mark that off my bucket list.
The view from our campsite was beautiful, and at night people would shoot off massive fireworks while a man sat on the dock serenading us with his guitar.
Wake up, troops! It's time for your orders!
Or at least, that's what I pretend this little dog is saying to the geese.
The Hotel Victory used to take up a good portion of the island, but it caught on fire and burned to the ground (like most of the important buildings in Put-in-Bay at one time or another). Now the ruins are scattered around the island, especially where the campground now sits. It was incredible to walk about and touch the ruins, to think of the beautiful women in their long gowns and the men in their suits at this gorgeous resort, who they were, what they did, the music, the dancing, the entertainment...all of it.
The swimming pool
Stairs from the pool
I know this photo is overexposed, but I think it's kind of cool, the way it looks as if the sky and water has faded away.
We said goodbye to our campsite, and to the new neighbor who had joined us, and headed for home.
It was a wonderful time to relax and to enjoy each other's company.
It was neat to see all of these classic cars from different states hop on board.
1 comment:
It looks like you had a great time. Those old people? They need to get a room. I wonder if they were having an affair and they couldn't get a room because a spouse would se the bill on their statement.
Post a Comment