Category: Lake Erie

August 15, 2017  Tuesday

Lake Erie was a bit choppy when we left Edgewater Marina at sunrise but smoothed out after a few hours and we had a laid-back day on the water, albeit with poor visibility. We decided to do a little island hopping and made our way to Kelleys Island to visit the Glacial Grooves State Memorial. This section of grooves from the Wisconsin Glacier is 400-feet long, 35-feet wide, and up to 15-feet deep and was excavated in 1972. The plaque at the Glacier Grooves gives the following explanation for the grooves:

The Wisconsin Glacier: “The glacier responsible for the sculpting of these grooves began forming in the highlands of Labrador, Canada when the climate was cooler and wetter than it is now. During those wet and cold winters such a large quantity of snow fell that it did not all melt during the short, mild summers. As the snow piled up year after year, the weight of the snow mass increased, and the great pressure exerted on the deepest, oldest snow slowly converted it to ice. The glacier continued to grow, the pressure became greater, and more and more ice was formed. The thick ice under heavy pressure, even though it was still very solid, began to flow and ooze over the land surface like a sticky pancake batter in a ‘head over heels’ fashion. The ice at the bottom of the glacier dragged slowly over the ground and was continually overrun by the slightly faster-moving ice above it. Such movement is very slow, perhaps at a rate of only an inch or two per day.
It may have taken 5,000 years for the glacier, which advanced in a southwesterly direction during what is called the main Wisconsin glacial advance, to finally make its way from the point of origin to the area of Ohio. By the time the sculpting of the grooves reached its climax, the glacier was more than a mile thick here and it covered many thousands of square miles of land surface.”

Touring the rest of the island we discovered the 10-area Herndon Sculpture Garden, an eclectic array of work ranging from bright red modern pieces to classical pieces, all done by Charles Henderson. The gallery was closed but we enjoyed a peaceful stroll around the garden, we really liked his abstract stone sculptors.

 

August 14, 2017  Monday

What a difference a day makes. When we left Erie yesterday the forecast was waves one to two feet, what we got was two to four in the morning calming down to one to three in the afternoon. Today the lake was placid with the only waves coming from the wake of other boats, a perfect day to be on the water, or so we thought. By the time we got to Cleveland it had turned choppy and the waves were hitting our bow. Perfect morning, long afternoon.

We cruised by the Perry Nuclear Power Plant which began operation in 1987, it was the United States one hundredth nuclear power plant. More than one million homes get electricity from this plant. Since 1987 more have been built and others have been shut down, the total count for US nuclear reactors today stands at ninety-nine.

Cruising along the Cleveland skyline we passed two lighthouses while researching for the names of the lighthouses I came across a National Geographic photo of the West Pierhead Lighthouse, I’m not saying it gets cold in Cleveland but compare my picture with theirs

August 8-13, 2017 Tuesday – Sunday

Aug. 8 – Tuesday: Today we visited Presque Isle State Park, often referred to as the crown jewel of Pennsylvania. The park, a 3,200-acre peninsula, is amazing and has so much to offer it would take days to do it all. Some of the highlights for us; beaches, walking trail, lighthouse & museum, boat houses on Horseshoe Pond, and the Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry Monument.

The Presque Isle Lighthouse is the second oldest lighthouse on Lake Erie and has had a resident for 141 years. Completed in 1873, it has been home to nine U.S. Lighthouse Service keepers and their families. The service keeper would climb to the top of the tower 3 to 4 times every night to put fuel in the lamp. The light beam from a single burning oil lamp was reflected through the fourth order Fresnel lens and was visible some thirteen nautical miles out into the lake.

At Horseshoe Pond, here is a community that consists of twenty-four houseboats. These boats, anchored in the calm, shallow water surrounded by sand dunes, beaches, and marshes, share their world with turtles, eagles, fish, and other animals. It is said, the one with a lighthouse catches sunfish through a hole in the kitchen floor.

Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry arrived at Erie, PA in the summer of 1813 and constructed a fleet that included the brigs USS Lawrence and USS Niagara. With this fleet he won the Battle of Lake Erie, sending the dispatch, “We have met the enemy, and they are ours.” The Battle of Lake Erie ensured U.S. control over Lake Erie and the territorial northwest.

Aug. 9 – Wednesday: No outings today, it was time to service the engine. Rick did the manual labor and I was his gopher for the day. When not working with Rick I conducted other boat duties.

Early this morning, I took a brief video of the marina bath house, this might seem strange to you but we have been to some marinas where the bath house is so bad that we retreat to Andiamo to shower. The facilities at this marina are, without a doubt, the best we have ever had. When you see the video I think you’ll understand.

Aug. 10 – Thursday: With the service on the boat complete, we spent a relaxing day at the Erie Bayfront visiting the Erie Maritime Museum area, checking out the USS Niagara, climbing around the Bi Cenntinal Tower, watching kids play, fishermen fish, and tourist boats.

Aug. 11 – Friday: All week we thought we would be able to leave today, however, Mother Nature had other plans and we had to spend another two days in port. We still had the car so we decided to explore further west following the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail. At Conneaut, it was pouring rain, but there were still lots of people at the park under the covered pavilions or just sitting in their cars watching the storm.

Our next town was Ashtabula, the first city in Ohio to adopt an election system based on proportional representation and single transfer voting. In the middle of the 19th century it was an important destination on the Underground Railroad, at this point refugee slaves could take ships to Canada, gaining the freedom they longed for.

Geneva, originally settled in 1805, is known as the home of American Penmanship. Spencerian Script, developed in 1840, became the standard across the US until the 1920’s, at which time it was replaced by technology. The technology that replaced Spencerian Script was the typewriter, which is now also obsolete, technology marches on.

At Geneva-on-the-Lake we discovered Ohio’s first summer resort, a collection of fast food restaurants, old time arcades, miniature golf, Ferris wheel and more. For all my biker relatives, a major draw to the area is “Thunder on The Strip,” an annual Biker Rally held the weekend after Labor Day,

At Fairport Harbor, we viewed the Grand River Lighthouse, built in 1871, and went for a short walk around town. Unfortunately both the Fairport Harbor Marine Museum & Lighthouse and the Finnish Heritage Museum where closed.

The Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail runs 293-miles from Conneaut to Toledo but it was time for us to return to Erie. On our way back we left the trail to explore a few of the 16 drivable covered bridges of Ashtabula County. Built in 1868, the Root Road Bridge spans 114 feet over the west branch of the Ashtabula River. Both the Creek Road Covered Bridge, 125 feet long, and the Middle Road Covered Bridge, 136 feet long, span Conneaut Creek, nice back road country drive.

Aug. 12 – Saturday: With the car returned to Enterprise, and hopes of being able to leave tomorrow, we spent the day cleaning the boat. We were not alone, the dock was a buzz of activities with boaters repairing boats, cleaning boats, relaxing in the sun, reading a book or just visiting with other boaters. A few took their boats out but didn’t stay long and by 5:00 a dock party was in full swing. Great group of people, we certainly enjoyed our time here.

August 13 -Sunday: Finally, a break in the weather allowed us to leave Erie this morning and once again we find ourselves at Geneva-on-the-Lake. This time we came by boat and are staying at the State Park Marina.