Put-In-Bay

Today we traveled from Toledo Beach to Put-In-Bay on South Bass Island.   Although there were thunderstorms to our left, right, and behind, none caught up to us and we had quite a nice sail.

Put In Bay is a town on the island of South Bass in Lake Erie.  It is just north of the Ohio coast and part of that state.   We are not really sure how the town came to become the party central that it is today, but now it is wall to wall bars, restaurants,  and fudge stores.  It reminds me a little of Mackinaw Island except not as pretty and full of golf carts instead of horses.

It is nicely set up for boats and has a large mooring field out in the harbor.  In a mooring field there are permanent anchors set on the harbor floor and chains that lead to the surface and are fed thorough floats.  You just motor up to a float, tie up to the chain, and you are done.

A real nice feature they have here is a water taxi to take folks from the mooring field to the town docks and back.  We took the taxi to town to look around for awhile.

We did find directions that will help us with the rest of our trip.  Notice the major American metropolis just 50 miles north of here not mentioned.  The “D” just don’t get no respect.

So, the temperature was smoking hot and we walked around town to visit the obligatory tee shirt and souvenir shops.  After an hour or so of trying to thread our way through ladies with red hats and gagging on the golf cart exhaust, we found a nice little park by the harbor to sit for awhile.  Just when I was ready to be done with Put In Bay, I sniffed the sound of a banjo behind me and wandered over to see what was up.

There I found a couple playing guitar and banjo and singing.  Turns out that they were practicing for a performance tomorrow at the Perry Monument.  After a couple of songs we introduced ourselves.  Brandt and Brenda perform American Roots music (my favorite) and it really redeemed the entire island (and the State of Ohio)  to be able to listen to them for awhile.  We chatted for a bit and invited them out to the boat for a drink after dinner.

One thing we can recommend here are the lobster rolls at the Boardwalk Restaurant.  Not quite east coast standards, but pretty darn close considering we are in the middle of Lake Erie.

We water taxied out to the boat and fired up the generator to charge our batteries.  Brandt, Brenda, and their kids Schuyler and Ellery taxied out a little later and we shared wonderful conversation, a perfect sunset, and some pretty good wine.  Brandt and Brenda are one of those couples that you feel like you have known for years after the first 10 minutes and I’m so glad we met them.

I know every day won’t be like this, but if every new day included thunderstorms parting around me, easy mooring, lobster, good wine, and new friends, I couldn’t ask for more.