Exploring Put-In-Bay, South Bass Island, Ohio

August 19-21, 2015: Put-In-Bay seemed to have just about everything we'd want in a getaway destination: close to home, easy access by boat with nice launch and trailer parking nearby, lots of restaurants, history, and beautiful surroundings.  We made the decision to go to Put-In-Bay during the week, because we had heard that the weekends could be quite crazy (like the whole town turns into a frat party) and most of the marinas require rafting of up to 4 boats (not interested!).  While we were there Wed-Fri, it wasn't very crowded and boats were not having to raft up as far as we could tell.  Just as a precaution though, we had gotten a reservation at Miller Marina, which was one of the few that did not require rafting.  While we did not experience too much of the party atmosphere, it was easy to imagine how different the weekends must be!

Ben and I on the tour train

We decided the best way to explore Put-In-Bay for us was on the Tour Train.  For only $9 per person (with the $1 off coupon), we were treated to an hour long ride, a history lesson of Put-In-Bay, and drop off/pick up at some of the top attractions on Put-In-Bay.

Entrance to Perry's Cave

Inside Perry's Cave

Antique Cars at Perry's Cave / Family Fun Center

Our first stop was the Perry's Cave Family Fun Center, where we were able to tour Perry's Cave, a natural limestone cave 52 feet underground with an underground lake.  The steep steps and slippery surfaces were a little difficult for this 6 month pregnant lady, but I made it! :-)

The museum at Perry's Monument

Perry's Monument

Perry's Monument

Next we took the Tour Train around the island to the museum and Perry's Monument, which 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." - from www.nps.gov.  It was a beautiful inside, and a $3 fee got you a brief history lesson on an elevator ride to the top of the monument with outstanding views of Put-In-Bay and the Lake Erie Islands. 

View from the top of Perry's Monument

View of Put-In-Bay harbor from the top of Perry's Monument

23 weeks pregnant on the top of Perry's Monument

We spent a bit of time enjoying the views of Lake Erie, the islands, and even as far as Canada from the top of Perry's Monument before the howling 30 knot wind chased us back down the elevator.  We would definitely rate it a "must see" on Put-In-Bay.

Downtown Put-In-Bay - golf carts are the most common mode of transportation

Downtown Put-In-Bay - The Round House Bar

Downtown Put-In-Bay - Mossbacks

Lunch at Mossbacks - Perch & Pierogi (an interesting menu combination!)

Put-In-Bay's famous Boardwalk Restaurant

The Upper Deck at the Boardwalk Restaurant

View from the Upper Deck at the Boardwalk Restaurant

We really enjoyed the variety of restaurants in Put-In-Bay, and ate at The Boardwalk Upper Deck, Mossbacks,  Hooligans Irish Pub, and a quick lunch at the Dairy Isle.  Dana's favorite was lunch at Mossbacks (perch AND pierogi!!! 2 of my favorite things!) and Ben's favorite was dinner at Hooligans (try the beer cheese dip).  We got ice cream a couple times from the PIB Candy Bar - soooooooo good!

Overall, as a destination we really enjoyed Put-In-Bay, but we weren't very impressed with the marinas and docking situations available.  There was not much protection from wind and waves to be found, and we spent every day/night there rocking & rolling on the boat.  If we went back, on a weekday, we might just try the city docks (shown in the photo above) and hope that we didn't have to raft off anyone.  I'm not sure we're brave enough for a weekend!  The other thing we noticed was that everything was very expensive on the island... probably since it's an island and you have to eat somewhere!  We ended up splitting meals most places we went, so definitely keep that in mind if you go!

Next post we'll review our stay at Kelley's Island and share a video of that "rocking & rolling" I mentioned... it was so crazy!

Trailer Boating to Put-In-Bay, South Bass Island, Ohio

A rest stop somewhere on the Indiana Toll Road

August 19-21: We were looking for a quick getaway and to explore someplace new, and Seapickle had never been on Lake Erie, so we made the decision to pack up the boat, truck and trailer for an about 4 hour tow on the Indiana and Ohio Toll Roads to the Lake Erie Islands!  As far as trailering goes, this was by far the easiest tow we've done with the most convenient access to trailer-friendly gas stops along the way.  We did, however, rack up about $80 round trip in tolls!!!

Arriving at Mazurik Access Area on Lake Erie

Seapickle launched and ready to go. Very nice launch ramps.

A beautiful, calm Lake Erie greeted us after the storm passed

Before leaving, we did some research on various places to launch that would also allow a secure place to store the truck and trailer for the long weekend.  The Mazurik Access Area on on the north side of Marblehead Peninsula offered concrete ramps, a huge, well lit parking area, and was just 7 miles South of South Bass Island.  I couldn't get a straight answer from anyone when I called to inquire, but we had no problems leaving the truck and trailer parked in the lot for 4 days.  Oh and the launch was free!  Just as we finished putting the canvas up, we had to wait out a heavy, but brief storm before launching the boat.

Put-In-Bay - Perry's Monument in the distance

Passing south of Middle Bass Island and the remains of the Lonz Winery

Turning into the bay and Perry's Monument from the water

First night's dinner stop, The Boardwalk, from the bay

Ben found and ordered a Lake Erie chip for our gps on craigslist before we left, and the 7 mile trip from the launch ramp to Put-In-Bay was pretty straightforward with no hazards.  Only when we neared the island did we have to make sure to go around north of Ballast Island (between Ballast Island and Middle Bass) instead of between South Bass and Ballast Island.  We entered the bay without any problems and scanned the shore to figure out where to find our dockage for the night at Miller Marina.  As soon as you enter the bay, the no-wake starts pretty immediately.  The Boardwalk mooring balls are immediately to starboard and we had to go around them to get to the marina.

Seapickle docked at Miller Marina, Put-In-Bay, Ohio

Docked at Miller Marina, looking out into the bay and Gibraltar Island

Sunset over the bay from Miller Marina

 We arrived at Miller Marina just before closing time (5pm) as we usually seem to do!  We got tied up for the night, with the harbor master requesting we set out extra lines (uh oh!) and would settle up in the morning.  We knew from researching and looking at photos of the marinas that dockage at Put-In-Bay was.... interesting... but we were happy to be at a marina with a reservation and settled in for a few days.  We'll expand more on a review of Miller Marina in the next post, and then also more information about Put-In-Bay and South Bass Island!

Where to next??

Planning the next adventure!

Photo copyright Clevelandmagazine.com

Visiting Northern Michigan - by Boat and Car!

Visiting Leland

 Our third day visiting Elk Rapids, we decided to leave Seapickle at the dock for the day and explore some of our favorite areas of Northern Michigan by car!  Our first stop in the morning was Leland, for breakfast at Early Bird and a nice walk and shopping around Leland and Fishtown.

Launch ramp at Leland - for future reference :-)

Leland Marina

 We still haven't stayed at Leland with Seapickle, only visiting once before and stopping for fuel on our 2010 trip before crossing to Wisconsin.  It's a very cute little marina, though, and we hope to bring Seapickle next time!

4 Month Pregnant Hike

View from the overlook on the Whaleback Natural Area Trail

After buying a cute Leland ornament for future Baby Liss we drove down the coast and looked for a place for an (easy) hike.  We happened across the Whaleback Natural Area Trail a couple miles south of Leland, at the beginning of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  It was a nice, but still a little difficult, hike for this mama-to-be.  The view from the top was well worth it though!

Couldn't resist checking out the tiny life jackets at West Marine

One of the buildings not yet renovated at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons

Inside the mercado of the Village at Grand Traverse Commons

Our next stop on the driving tour was Traverse City.  If you know Ben, you know we had to stop at West Marine in Traverse City before we were able to do anything else. :-)  Next I had been wanting to visit the Village at Grand Traverse Commons - built in 1884 and previously the Northern Michigan Asylum and Traverse City State Hospital.  We walked around a bit then grabbed some cheesecake for the road!  If you're a old building or history (or cheesecake) fan, it's worth a visit in my opinion.

Operation Adventure - Northern Lake Michigan Boating

Dinner on the deck at Wagners

Thursday, July 25th: We have been looking forward to "Operation Adventure" for quite a while now and the time has finally come to start our adventure! Our friends Dennis and Christa had an extra leg of towing added to the trip to bring their boat "Wet Ink" up from Lake Shelbyville, Illinois to the starting point of Portage, Indiana. They decided to come up the evening prior to leaving and stay in a nearby hotel. We used this as an opportunity to have a pre-trip planning dinner and catch up with friends Joe and Pat from "Better Yet"! 

2 Four Winns in a row

Part-way through the 6 hour tow

Friday, July 26: The next morning we towed Seapickle over to the hotel and departed Portage for our destination of Petoskey, Michigan some 320 miles away! The tow was one of the easiest we've ever had, and it was nice traveling with another couple and sharing the experience.

Storm Heading our Way - over the Petoskey Marina launch

The mad dash begins!

Wet Ink launching

Seapickle tucked into slip 19

Celebration drink - "We made it!"

Once we arrived in Petoskey, we noticed dark storm clouds were rolling in off the bay, the wind was picking up, and it was just starting to drizzle. We had to make a decision...put the canvas up and launch as quickly as possible, or try to wait the storm out. We decided to try to launch as quickly as possible and try to beat the storm.  Within minutes of reaching our assigned slips we realized it was the right choice!

Walking to dinner at Mitchell Street Pub, Petoskey

Mitchell Street Pub - Moose

After settling into vacation mode and enjoying the fact that we had FINALLY made it to Petoskey, we decided to have a late dinner at a nearby pub in Downtown Petoskey. Dana chose Mitchell Street Pub based on the fact that they covered 2 of her Friday night dinner requirements: fried fish and interesting beer. We loved the fried walleye, and salmon for Christa, along with some interesting local beers. Dana enjoyed the "Petoskey Horny Monk," a Belgian Dubbel by Petoskey Brewing.

After dinner, we were all stuffed and tired from a long day, so it was off to bed! We all had a great first day of vacation, and cannot wait for the rest of the trip!

Trip details:
Portage, IN to Petoskey, MI - 320 miles towing
Left Portage 8:10am CST, arrived Petoskey 3:30pm EST
3 fuel stops along the way (+ one bathroom stop)
 Weather: rainy, cloudy, strong west wind - which made the Petoskey Marina quite uncomfortable

The Beginnings of Operation Adventure

For years, our friends Dennis and Christa have trailered their boat "Wet Ink" to Lake Michigan to stay for a week-long visit with a small group of us from the Four Winns Forum. During last year's visit, they took a trip from our marina to South Haven, Michigan for a few days, and we could tell they had fallen in love with Michigan's high bluffed sandy shoreline, clear water, and lovely lakeside harbor towns.

Wet Ink and Seapickle II hanging out in Lake Shelbyville and making plans

Over the winter as we tried to figure out our own plans for a summer trip, we thought of how much we enjoyed our first big trip exploring Michigan's coastal towns and how after 3 long years it was time to plan a return visit. Remembering how much Dennis and Christa enjoyed their cruise to Michigan, we sent them an email telling them of our newly formed summer plans, and offered for them to join us. Luckily for us, they accepted! We spent the coming months making plans, picking out destinations, and locking in harbor reservations as time got closer. We even named our newly forming plans, "Operation Adventure!"

A week spent with friends in Northern Michigan is sure to be a great time, but we didn't stop the planning there. We really felt that after last summer's North Channel trip gone wrong, it was time to give our dream trip another go. So at the end of the week spent in Michigan we will load our boat back on the trailer, say goodbye to our friends Dennis and Christa, and head North to Spanish Ontario.