Cleveland, OH, to Put-in-Bay, OH

Lakeside Yacht Club, Cleveland, OH, July 16-17, 2015

So…our first afternoon in Cleveland we’re tied up to a floating dock at the Lakeside Yacht Club which is about 2 miles from the downtown waterfront.

We need a grocery fix, so I called a cab and asked for a ride to Dave’s Grocery, which I had identified on Google Maps. The cabbie, a talky guy named Elton, encouraged me to try the new grocery store right downtown, Heinen’s.

You’re not in Kansas anymore, Doris. My first tip-off was the doorman at the entrance. Then, Wow!, what a store! They’ve taken over a historical building in downtown Cleveland and occupy the first and second floors. The first floor has a large “deli, meats, cheeses,bakery” area with a large center space cleared out for tables and chairs. Buy it and take it home…or eat it there. Oh, and if you’d like a glass of wine or beer with it, just head on up to the second floor where the whole area is devoted to tasting wines and beers.

The rest of the first floor is taken up with what I’d call traditional groceries. Only, for a store as small as this is, they have more brands represented there than the biggest of the grocery stores I’m used to shopping.

Tiny grocery carts and small check-out stations clued me in that they weren’t used to having someone come up with a week’s load of groceries…like me! Wow! for the bill, too! Ah, well. It was an “experience!" ;-)

Elton picked me up again when I called and back we went to the marina to tuck everything away.

The next day we walked into town and visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Oh, yes we did!!! It was an amazing collection of memorabilia, video clips, sound recordings…we could have stayed all day if our stamina would have taken it! As we do in most museums, we picked out the exhibits we didn’t want to miss and did those…along with a few more. Here’s a touch of what we saw. You are allowed to take pictures, just no flashes. Selfies of me in front of Metallica feature did not come out, Linda and John. ;-)

Beautiful building right on the waterfront in Cleveland, OH.




Who knew? I could’ve aspired to this job!




We hardly knew which way to look! We started out, though, in a small theater watching past inductees accept their awards.




Listening stations for sound recordings of various artists...



Memorabilia of all kinds...



Alice Cooper’s boots...



Alice in Chains Claymation Dolls...



Concert posters...



And, our personal favorites,  handwritten lyrics by the artists like this one by Neil Simon...



And this by the Gibbs boys...



Joe Walsh...



And more...



One of the special exhibits consisted of portraits and musical videos done by photographer Herb Ritts.






It may seem I put in a lot of photos of this entertaining venue…but count yourselves lucky that I spared you the rest!!!

It was a morning well spent! Then we walked around the waterfront a bit before grabbing lunch at the Winking Lizard Tavern (very good!)





This is the view from the waterfront to uptown Cleveland.



A walk back to the boat and we were in for the afternoon.



It was an evening with some beautiful cloud formations and a blazing sunset. Reflecting on our stay here, we like what we’ve seen of Cleveland and would return!




We left Cleveland the next morning, and had a bumpy ride to Vermilion, OH.

Vermilion Power Boat Yacht Club, Vermilion, OH, July 18-19, 2015


Vermilion, OH, is an amazing place for boaters! Canals weave through neighborhoods of mostly small homes, with neatly manicured lawns. Many have a boat right outside on one of the canals.
We docked at the Vermilion Power Boat Yacht Club, not to be confused with the Vermilion Boat Club or the Vermilion Yacht Club. I told you this was a boater’s paradise!

The rate was very reasonable, as was the price of diesel…and the people we met from the club were very friendly.

Saturday we spent mostly on down time after our arrival. The trip here had been uncomfortable for most of the way, with waves coming in right on our bow. We maneuvered some to vary the angle, but it seemed no matter what we did…the waves were “There!"

On Sunday we set out and walked around town, checking out the stores and eateries…and stopping by the beach for a look at Lake Erie stones and beach glass. This is a beautiful place!



Looking out the entrance channel…Lake Erie in the distance.







Lunch was at the soda shop in town, Big Ed’s Main Street Soda Grill. Yummy food, soda treats…and the place was packed on a Sunday.

In between all the walking and eating we managed to take care of a couple of loads of laundry at the unheard of price of $1/wash and 50 cents/dry!

Mooring Field, Put-in-Bay, OH - July 20-21 Spring Break for adults! Well, and “of age” young adults.



So, on Monday, July 20, we left Vermilion and went 30-some miles to Put-in-Bay mooring field. Again, the trip was somewhat bumpy…but not as much as between Cleveland and Vermilion. The winds were 10 Knots or less and the waves 2 ft. or less…winds from the NW.

If we thought Vermilion was the place for boaters, oh my! Put-in-Bay is set up for fun times. An island, Put-in-Bay has a small population of residents. But in season, the place is flooded with people! We’re here on a Monday-Tuesday, and I can’t imagine how many more golf carts could fit into this little town area...



It's a resort town, with people coming in by ferry or boat.  Golf carts are the common way of moving around, but there are some cars, too, that were ferried over here.

Of course, there is a sailing event going on this week and a buzzilion little sailboats zooming around during the time they are not out in the bigger waters.



Village park at the waterfront...



The Boardwalk area...





The kids on this boat jumped from the top of the boat all afternoon. They were having a ball!

We’re moored in the bay. The mooring field is run by the Boardwalk and rate for our length of boat is $30/day. A water taxi is available free of charge for trips to shore, though we took our dinghy when we took Lucy for walks. There’s a village boat ramp along the waterfront for landing dinghy and from there it’s an easy walk to the park.

The pillar you see in the background of some of the above pictures is the Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial.



From the nps.gov website,

Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial was established to honor those who fought in the Battle of Lake Erie, during the War of 1812, and to celebrate the long-lasting peace among Britain, Canada and the U.S. The Memorial, a Doric column, rising 352 feet over Lake Erie is situated 5 miles from the longest undefended border in the world.

Someone told us, when we said we were going to Put-in-Bay, that “it’s all about Perry and the Battle of Lake Erie.”

The Lake Erie Islands Historical Society (http://www.leihs.org) has a great short summary of the battle, including reference to the oft seen flag flying here, the "Don’t Give Up the Ship" flag…and to the famous line, “We have met the enemy, and they are ours."

We weren’t sure how long we’d stay here, but decided two nights were required after the first day. We had a good lunch yesterday at Topsy Turvy’s Island Grill and walked around the waterfront area, including the National Park museum for Perry’s memorial. Stopped at the small grocery store on the island for some produce…and had fish from the grill for supper.

Last night brought winds that were not predicted. We woke up, simultaneously, at around 11 PM with the boat rocking sideways Big Time! The wind was howling (we see from readings this morning that winds were up to 24 knots last night)! This morning we’re watching the conditions and plan to leave here around 11 AM…after the winds and waves have settled down some. At least, that’s the plan for now.;-)

Oh, yeah, one more little factoid about Put-in-Bay: it’s got a lot of nonpoisonous water snakes. Wayne saw one, but one reviewer on Active Captain wrote he’d seen several on his swim platform sunning. Hmmm. If they made it to our swim platform, could the back deck be far behind? Tuck that one away...