A Fish Story

Our first stop this morning after we got underway was a fish store in Port Clinton.  It’s always a treat to find a place that sells fresh or smoked fish on our travels.  I had seen this store on the map and it opened at 9am.  We got there at 8:50 and parked in the lot that was obviously not for RVs.  Since we were the only ones there at the time, I figured it didn’t matter.

Port Clinton bills itself as the “Walleye Capital of the World”.  Big signs everywhere and they even have a walleye festival in May.  Walleye sounded great.  Once the store opened up we inquired about buying some walleye.

“Sorry, we don’t have any,” said the lady behind the counter.  “We normally buy it out of Canada and we haven’t received our shipment yet.”  The empty space in the case confirmed her assertion.

Further conversation revealed that commercial walleye fishing is not allowed in this area.  You can fish for walleye personally, but not commercially.

So, let me get this straight: I’m in the walleye capital of the world and I can’t get any walleye?

We bought 3/4 of a pound of perch.  In the walleye capital of the world.

Outside the store, a parking sign added its own brand of ridiculous to the story.  Somehow, it just seemed fitting.

With our walleye-capital perch safely in the refrigerator, we headed east to the ferry for Kellys Island.  Deb had done a little research and discovered that the parking lot at the ferry charged $15 to park your car.  Not sure what it would have been for a larger vehicle like an RV, but yesterday I spotted a small city parking lot just down the street advertising all-day parking for three bucks.  It was a bit of a tight squeeze getting the RV through the gate but we managed and found a shady spot.  The lot was nearly empty. I guess everyone else preferred paying $15.   Or else they had no cash.  We had to scrounge for eight quarters and a dollar bill to feed the machine, which only took cash.  

Once off the ferry we biked over to the East Quarry, where there were several mixed-used trails going around a large limestone quarry.  Mountain bikes were suggested but our electric bikes did pretty well on the trail, which was hard-pack with some rocks thrown in.  Part of the quarry was filled with water which made for a beautiful ride all the way around.  Other sections of the trail were grassy, with an occasional mud hole from last night’s rain thrown in.  Overall, a great ride.

It turns out that electric bicycles work really well on this island.  Everyone else coming over on the ferry either takes their own car or rents a golf cart

Then to the beach area of the state park, where we ate our lunch on a bench overlooking the swim area.  We biked to the North Shore Loop trail where we spent some time on the rocky beach and also puzzled over the gigantic structure which we later found out was a stone crusher.  Everything around here is connected to limestone.  

In the immediate area is probably one of the best and largest examples of glacial grooves--grooves cut in the bedrock by moving glaciers.  Most of this had to be carefully restored as the limestone industry just piled it high with dirt.

We biked over to the Scheele Preserve and took the foot path to the east shore of the island.  Beautiful calm waters, lots of different hues of green and blue, made us think we were somewhere in the tropics.

Unfortunately, the biting flies also like this beach so that made our stay a little less pleasant.

Kellys Island is the largest of the islands in this area but is not the most busy.  That honor goes to South Bass Island and we avoided that one because it is just more built up and busy.  Middle Bass Island, where we were a couple days ago, seemed to be mostly private property, and was a much smaller island, so we ran out of things to do and had to wait for the ferry for a while.  Kellys Island seems to have a lot more accessible roads and trails so we were able to cover a lot more ground.  Electric bikes aided greatly in this endeavor.

Our last foray before leaving the island was to bike the road around the west end of the island.  It hugs the shoreline for most of the way and passes a number of nice vacation homes.  Since traffic was almost non-existent and consisted mainly of golf cars, it was a pleasant ride with great views.

Looking at the map, we seem to have covered a decent portion of the island.

On our way back we could see the ferry at the dock, loading up cars.  Not wanting to wait another half hour for the next one, we goosed the e-bikes to the next power level and arrived at the ferry just as they were preparing to leave.

After making dinner in the parking lot of the Marblehead Lighthouse (the perch was delicious), we started meandering towards home and ended up stopping for the night at the Bass Pro Shop in Toledo.

Marblehead

Partially overcast day today, warm and humid.  Forecast called for rain this afternoon and possible thunderstorms.  So we will do the outdoor stuff while we can.

First destination was the Marblehead Lighthouse State Park where we strolled around the well-kept grounds and took a walk along the Lake Erie shoreline. 

Marblehead is a peninsula composed mostly of vacation homes around the outer edge and a giant limestone quarry occupying the center.  The quarry is really not visible except for a conveyor structure that bisects the town and juts far out into the waters of Lake Erie.  And there really isn’t a way to see it from the ground.  We talked to a guy mowing the lawn at the lighthouse who said we could see the quarry from the cemetery in town.  Leave it to the locals to know the best spots.

Mr. Lawnmower told us the best place to launch a kayak was right in front of the lighthouse, but that was rather far to carry from the parking lot so we drove back a half mile to Lucien Clemons Park, which had a small sandy area, perfect for launching.  We paddled out into Lake Erie and towards the lighthouse, making slow headway against the wind.  We made it around the point and then headed back as it was nearing lunch time. 

As we were nearing the shore we saw several snakes swimming in the water and later identified them as a Lake Erie Water Snake.  Non-venomous but they can get aggressive.  The ones we saw just wanted to swim away.  They really didn’t want their picture taken.

I’ve now paddled three of the Great Lakes: Michigan, Superior, and now Erie.  Ontario and Huron are still to come at some point.

Leaving the park, we drove to the St Joseph’s Cemetery, right across from the only manufacturer in town, Biro Manufacturing.  We had walked the road into the cemetery when a guy in a white pickup drove up and told us we were parked in Employee Parking for Biro.  And everyone was returning from lunch hour so the parking was needed.  It sure looked like cemetery parking.  He was real nice about it and gave us a ride on his pickup tailgate back to our RV.

We drove the RV into the cemetery and discovered that most of it was surrounded by thick vegetation that prevented a good view of the quarry.  From the air, however, the cemetery is small peninsula in a vast hole in the ground.

We drove to East Harbor State Park and hung out there for a while, waiting for the storm to start.  We could see it rolling over the lake and enveloping the islands in the distance and soon it enveloped us also.  Perfect time to make dinner, with the rain drumming on the roof.

We are staying overnight in someone else’s backyard in Port Clinton. Tomorrow promises to be a better day and we will go to another island.

Beach Archeology

I woke up at about ten minutes to five this morning and could see out the window that there was already a glimmer of light on the horizon.  I do love this time of year when I can get up at 6am to broad daylight and go to bed just after it gets dark after 10pm.  The days are crazy long and it almost seems like it is light all the time.

Unfortunately, six months later, the opposite is true.  Darkness reigns supreme. Oh the joys (and sorrows) of living in northern latitudes.

We checked the ferry schedule to Middle Bass Island and saw that the first ferry for the day was 9:15am.  With a 20-minute drive time, it was very doable but we made sure we got on the road right away and then made final preparations in the parking lot for the ferry.  We took our bikes along and packed the panniers with snacks and the second half of our Zimmerman’s sandwiches for lunch.  We’ll usually order the full-size sandwich, eat half, then save the other half for another lunch.  It’s usually a bit more cost effective that way.  Economies of scale and all that.

The boat ride to the island took about 40 minutes.  Not much to do during that time but enjoy the breeze and the scenery. Lots of lighthouses also around these parts and we sailed right by one of them.

Interesting to see all the large vacation homes perched on the water’s edge.  One of them, created by the Ford Motor Company, is the forecastle of a cargo ship which spent over 50 years hauling logs and iron ore around the Great Lakes.  It now is perched near Put-In-Bay, quite a landmark.

Middle Bass Island is not real big.  We rode across the entire island twice and took several side trips down dirt pathways--and put a total of 16 miles on the bikes. Much of the island is privately owned, so several roads are not accessible to us mere mortals on bicycles.  Middle Bass Island State Park and the Lonz Winery are about the only publicly accessible places.  Other than that is ride the main roads.  The East Point Nature Preserve is supposedly a nice section to visit, but it is accessible only by kayak.

After riding the island from end to end we stopped at the state park campground to search for sea glass on the beach.  The tiny rocky beach off the campground contains lots of glass shards that have been pounded and rounded by the surf.  One small section had them in abundance.  We collected a couple handfuls and then headed to the state park office to see about renting a kayak to paddle around the island.  We were there earlier and the rates were reasonable and the place was open until 4pm.

When we got there it was all locked up and a paper sign in the door said “Closed for Maintenance”.

Yeah, right.

That’s probably island talk for We’re not busy so we’ll just close up shop and go home.

So much for kayaking.  Now we had three hours to kill and we’ve already been across the entire island.  The ferry doesn’t leave until 5:15pm.  We rode across the island again and we eventually ended up back at the campground collecting some more sea glass.  Deb wanted to fill a jar with it and do some decorating so she wanted enough raw material for this.

We found quite a bit.  We even found some shards of old pottery.  Kind of made us think we were doing some sort of archaeological dig.  We were hoping to find some uranium glass but later inspection with an ultraviolet flashlight did not reveal any.

The ferry left the island at 5:15, right on schedule.  It was surprisingly full of vehicles, most of which were going back and forth about their business.  Several were on the boat this morning, and were returning for the day.  It wasn’t shown on the schedule, but we made a stop at Rattlesnake Island, where three more vehicles were waiting to board.  Watching from the upper deck, it was rather interesting to see the juggling that was performed to get three vehicles on a boat that was already rather full.  This delayed our return for a good half-hour, and we discovered when we disembarked that they finally fit everything by partially lowering the aft gate and backing up the garbage truck to hang over the back of the boat in order to fit that last pickup truck on the front.

Ok, so we’re easily entertained.

The result of all this was that we arrived back at the RV quite a bit later than planned and were roaring hungry.  The leftovers that we threw in the fridge saved the day and we had dinner made up in short order.  That’s the nice thing about an RV: you can make dinner right in the parking lot of the ferry terminal.

Now we’re back at the same backyard as last night, hoping the weather cools a bit.  It was a warm day and is looking to be a warm night.  Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain.

View of the International Peace Memorial through an opening of Lonz Winery

Lonz Winery was once the largest winery in the US, and the Bass Islands were nearly all planted in grapes.  Now it’s mostly private land.

The Lonz Winery, seen from the ferry.

Embarking Again

We’re off on another road trip.  This one, up until yesterday, was just a week blocked out on the calendar, with no other plans made.  We left that up to the whims of the weather. As the departure approached, the weather here in Ohio along Lake Erie appeared to be the best, so it chose the direction for us.

We already had quite a bit of stuff in the RV from our overnight kayaking trip last week, so when this morning rolled around, we just stuffed the remainder of what we needed in the proper spots and took off.  Our six-week trips require much more careful planning--food, clothing, tools, etc., but a week?  Piece of cake.  Just throw some stuff in and go.

We managed to take off at 10am.  Good driving weather, not too hot, not too cold.

First stop was at Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor.  Somehow we usually end up here when coming this direction.  Their sandwiches are fantastic and we usually get a loaf of French bread for subsequent meals.

Piloting a RV through downtown Ann Arbor is not the most pleasant experience, as the streets are narrow and parking is hard to find.  The sandwiches must be REALLY worth it.  And they did not disappoint.

Next stop was Sterling State Park in Monroe, right off Interstate 75 on the way to Toledo.  I’m not normally an interstate person, but after the streets of Ann Arbor, I appreciated I-75, construction zones and all.

At Sterling State Park, we parked the RV in a massive but virtually empty parking lot and unloaded the bikes.  I can’t imagine what this place must be like if this parking lot is full.  The little black and white dots are cars.  No, I didn’t take this picture, I lifted it from Google Maps.

The River Raisin Heritage Trail connects with the trails in this park, and we rode into Monroe, to the River Raisin National Battlefield Park.  This is the site of the Battle of Frenchtown during the War of 1812, the deadliest conflict recorded on Michigan soil, and the highest number of Americans killed in a single battle during the war of 1812.

Before today, I didn’t even know this existed.

The bike trail was even worse than the roads, pocked frequently by roots which pushed up the pavement into jarring speed bumps.  Part of the trail was falling into the river, as erosion did its thing and undermined the trail.  It was also quite overgrown, but it appears that the seasonal help has just started trimming the branches hanging into the trail.  Nevertheless, it was a pleasant ride, with a little history thrown in.

We stopped for dinner at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge along State Highway 2 and also walked the trails for a bit.  Lots of trails, lots of wildlife, we’ll have to spend time actually hiking here sometime or taking the nature drive.  This time we spent most of the time in the parking lot, enjoying the Zingerman’s French bread and a bowl of soup.

Our destination for the night was a private backyard, where we will be for a couple of nights as we explore the Bass Islands.  When we drove up, our host waved us into his backyard, and told us to park anywhere that was level.  It was *all* level, so we just stopped in the middle, and shut off the engine.  JJ, our host, was jovial and friendly, and even offered the use of his car if we didn’t want to move the RV tomorrow.

We unloaded the bikes and rode the short distance to East Harbor State Park, right on the shores of Lake Erie.  Pleasant evening for a bike ride, and some great views of Lake Erie and the islands off the coast.