Saturday, July 04, 2020

Independence Day In Ohio

For Independence Day we drove to Vermillion, Ohio to enjoy small town America, and to take the kids to Lake Erie for the first time.

Vermillion is on the shores of Lake Erie, A nice picturesque town where people from Cleveland come to go boating with their yachts, and there's some darn nice yachts there.

The town wasn't very crowded, and many people wore masks walking around, but most did not when outside. Stores had signs limiting guest to 5 at a time with masks on in the stores stores, so we checked out the various art galleries and other shops for a bit. Ohio tends to be less uptight about masks, etc., than Michigan and has opened up quicker and been les dictatorial about it throughout.

They also have a nice park with a couple naval guns on display:

They're 32-pounder smooth-bore Dahlgren guns from the US Civil War era with anchors signifying naval usage.

We had lunch in the park, doing takeout from the Main Street Soda Grill - burgers, fries, onion rings, milkshakes and ice cream floats. Everything was great.

Then on to Lake Erie:

We had a nice swim and relaxed on the beach.

Now the only Great Lake they haven't at least dipped their toes into is Lake Superior - and we'll fix that.

Then, home in time to watch fireworks and have dinner. It was a great Independence Day.

3 comments:

Scott said...

There are lots of places to dip ones toes in Lake Superior, but may I suggest Whitefish Point, north-west of Sault Ste. Marie? It'll take you a half day to drive up there, but in a long weekend you could take in the Soo Locks, The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, a very nice beach, and the Tahqamenon Falls. As well as the bustling metropolis of Paradise, MI. Yes, we have both Hell and Paradise in Michigan!

If you want more restaurants and touristy, in-town stuff, stay in Sault Ste. Marie. If you're OK with more rustic accommodations, stay in Paradise. Heck, you might find a cabin on Whitefish Bay to rent for a weekend - there's plenty of them up there!

Old NFO said...

Nice, I haven't been in ANY of them, and no real desire to... LOL

Aaron said...

Scott: Yep, we'll be going on a trip to one of those places at some point in the near future.

Old NFO: They offer fresh water and no sharks - what's not to like? Well worth a dip in nice weather.