PUT-IN-BAY EXPEDITION!

It was a commemorative coin from the U.S. Mint's series on state quarters, that was probably the seed that was planted, making me want to see the subject of this 2013 twenty-five cent piece.  Up until I saw this quarter, I was familiar with most of the subjects embossed on the state quarters.  In fact, I published an article about the Indiana State Quarter, called "The Quarterly Expedition", that you can see in the archives, dated May 23, 2011.   However, I had to do some research to find out what the "Perry's Victory" quarter was about, and where in Ohio, it was located!  

 

Getting to the location of the Perry monument involved boarding a ferry at the Cataba Island dock, in Ohio,  then cruising a few miles across Lake Erie, to land on the dock of Put-In-Bay Island (www.visitputinbay.com).   I had traveled this far on my quest, on a big motorcoach,, as a part of Making Memories Tours (www.MakingMemoriesTours.com), so a boat ride was a nice change of pace.  Although a few cars are allowed on the island, our group went on foot, and walked onto the ferry.  For people whose bladder starts to spasm, as soon as they see a big boat on the water that might not have a toilet, you can notice there is a port-a-potty located in the holding area, just before boarding.  

While we were in the holding area, I noticed some of the people in the group in front of us, were wearing the uniform of National Park Service employees, so I assumed they were taking the ferry to Put-in-Bay (abbreviated PIB), to report for work at the National Park Service Perry Victory Monument.  The EMS worker, accompanied by an empty stretcher, is a reminder to say there is no hospital on PIB, so avoid having an accident, which would probably involve a helicopter flight to the mainland!

 

Getting onto the ferry involves a bit of walking and stair-climbing, so keep this in mind, when planning your visit.  

This is the view from above, where most people go, once aboard the ferry.  

When we disembarked from the ferry on Put-In-Bay Island, we hopped onto an open-air trolley, to get a narrated tour around the island.  

The cart driver gave each of us a souvenir PIB bag, that had maps of the island, post cards, attraction brochures, and a souvenir ink pin.  

 

Many visitors rent golf carts during their visit, and the rental office is adjacent to the ferry landing.

 

I was thankful not to have to deal with driving, because it gave me hands free, for taking photos!

 

Our tour package included a fifteen dollar meal voucher, so the tour driver was pointing out places where we could use the voucher, such as the easily-accessible Burger and Fries cafe.

 

PIB has a nickname of "Key West North", and even has a miniature replica of the famous Key West, Florida, landmark:

I decided to use my meal voucher at a cafe on the boardwalk, that allowed me to sit on the deck and watch the boat traffic. 

At the Boardwalk, I noticed a small poster advertising harbor tours, on a decommissioned Coast Guard boat, which caught my interest, because I have a friend on active duty in the Coast Guard:

 I saw a man on on the boat preparing it to set sail, and he told me that no advance reservations were required, and I could go on the next tour, which left in five minutes.  He took the payment with my credit card, and VOILA!  I was cruising like a cadet, in a decommissioned Coast Guard vessel.  The boat only holds six customers, and it departs, even if there is only ONE customer, which was the case today!  The Boardwalk looked entirely different from the water, than it did from the land!

We circled the C-Shaped island, which gave us a good view of the Perry Monument:

 

The boat captain put the boat in neutral, and came down from the upper bridge, to where I was sitting, to see what questions I had about the tour, so far.  I asked if he would take my photo, and I explained I usually lift my arms in gratitude in a photo, to give thanks to God for getting to see a particular scene.  He very skillfully lined up the shot, so it would appear as if I had the Perry Monument, resting in the palm of my hand!

The harbor boat tour also cruised by the dock of The Ohio State University Stone Laboratory, that conducts fresh water research.  When I posted photo of this on Facebook that day, a friend from my church commented that he had done some of his graduate studies in environmental science at this location, and lived in the "castle" building which housed students at that time.  

When the very enjoyable 45 minute boat tour ended, I disembarked, and started walking back through the main part of town.  That gave me the opportunity to enjoy the shaded tranquility of DeRivera Park

Across from the park, is the hundred-plus year old Round House, which has a very colorful interior, as well as its distinctive exterior shape:

 

Eventually my walk down main street led my to the site of the National Park Service Facility :

After getting my obligatory NPS rubber passport stamp, showing the date and the location, I watched the short video, telling about the famous Battle of Lake Erie, which was a part of the War of 1812.  Then it was time to study the diorama that had miniature ships, depicting their location during the battle.  I thought of my son when I saw the diorama, because he often sets up battle dioramas on a large tabletop, with miniatures, to re-enact famous and imaginary battles.  

 

The statue that is depicted on the Ohio quarter, is the centerpiece of the Visitor Center.  I had done a bit of studying of the War of 1812, due to attending its centennial celebration in Baltimore.  The story of that event is in a blog I published called "A Very Admirable Expedition!", that can be seen in the archives, dated June 22, 2012.  

 

It is the Battle of Lake Erie,  that made the phrase "Don't give up the ship", famous:

Since my son has the word "ship" in his name, I bought one of the souvenir flags, for him to hoist on the mast of his sailboat!

 

Another famous phrase from this battle, is the one Commodore Perry wrote to his commanding officer, and was painted on the wall of the visitor center:  "We have seen they enemy, and they are ours."

The confidence that Commodore Perry had, reminded me that students of the Word can have that same confidence, because they know the triumphant conclusion of events, because of what the Bible says in Revelation 19:19-21.  "Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.  These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone."

 

Before I arrived on the island, I had been looking forward to getting to visit the top of the tower, to brag I had been in the tallest structure that was part of the NPS system.  However, it was not to be.  In celebration of a huge AMERICA 250 event taking place the following weekend, access to the grounds surrounding the tower, as well as the tower itself, were closed off to the public, as NPS workers were giving it a thorough scrubbing and paint touch-up to get it ready for the big celebration:  

 

This photo shows an empty lawn around the tower, but this will be a much different scene, when the America 250 Celebration opens the grounds to the large crowds expected: (Flags were at half mast in recognition of the death of U S Senator Lindsay Graham.)

 

After a very informative visit to the NPS Visitor Center, it was time to head towards the meetup place for our group, to take the free Downtown Bus, that would take us back to the ferry dock:

At the ferry landing, cars were beginning to line up, as well as several folks who had come on bicycles, including recumbent bicycles:

Once on board the ferry, a person takes the stairs to the upper deck, where we enjoyed a beautiful, sun shiny day, gliding across the water, while meditating and giving thanks for the gorgeous weather, and the many blessings of living in the beautiful United States of America!  This trip to Put-In-Bay, Ohio, gave me "MILES OF SMILES"!  Tricia

Note:  In addition to being "motivated" to travel to a spot shown on a state quarter, it was nickel, that inspired a visit to Monticello, as shown in blog called "MONTICELLO EXPEDITION!", dated April 6, 2017.  Likewise, the blog titled "FDR PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY EXPEDITION",  dated April 17, 2026, tells the background of the Roosevelt dime.   Wonder where my next "coin trip" will be??!!


ADDENDUM;

I was thankful to receive this photo, indicating my son had received the "Don't Give Up The Ship" flag and decal, that I mailed him!

 

 

CLEVELAND EXPEDITION!!

GOOD NEWS!!  If you are a fan of a favorite, vintage holiday movie, you do not have to wait until December to relive some of your favorite scenes!   Instead, plan a trip to Cleveland, Ohio, and tour the actual house shown in the movie, A Christmas Story  ( www.AChristmasStoryHouse.com ).  A photo of this famous facade is shown in the photo below:

And, thankfully, as the sign on the outside shows, it is open year round for tours and photos!  In fact, there is a lodging property nearby, where you can spend the night!  This is not a typical historic house tour where you are not allowed to touch anything.  Rather, they encourage you to sit in the chairs, lounge on the couch, and even get your photo made under the sink, if desired!  In a nod to the famous scene in the movie where the little boy hides under the sink, to escape his father's wrath, I crawled under the sink myself, for the photo op shown below:

Have your picture made with the famous "leg lamp" that has become an iconic symbol of this movie!  Replicas of this lamp are widely available now, and my daughter-in-law gave one of them to my son, (whose name, "Grover", is also the first name of character Grover Dill in the movie.)

And in their gift shop (shown below) you can purchase that famous leg lamp in its original size, or dozens of smaller versions that are available.  As you can see from the photo, there are plenty of the pink, bunny shoes and bunny pajamas to choose from, as well.  If running shoes are more of your speed than bunny house shoes, then you might be interested to know there is a running/walking event held every December, that uses props from the movie in their logo.  This year it will be December 7. 2019.  Check out their website to register or get more information ( www.AChristmasStoryRun.com )

If you want to see Cleveland from the water, book yourself a trip on the Nautica Queen.  It is shown here at its mooring location on the Cuyahoga River, which flows into Lake Erie 

The night our group took a cruise, the weather was warm and sunny when we started, so I wanted to check out the upper deck, to take advantage of its excellent height for taking photographs!

As we sailed out of the Cuyahoga River, and onto Lake Erie, our captain came over the loud speaker, and told us to be sure and notice one of the entries in the  Tall Ships Festival, that was beside us, full of waving passengers, and would-be sailors. 

The captain told us that we were seeing the Appledore IV and Appledore V, which were the only ships that were taking out paying passengers, for a cruise on Lake Erie.  I had been one of those paying passengers who had taken a cruise on a "pirate sailing ship", when attending the Tall Ships Festival in Portland, Oregon.  Likewise, I used Ticketmaster, to purchase tickets for a sailing ship event in Tacoma a while back, at their event called "Festival of Sail".  The moral of this story is, make the effort to get a ticket to actually go out on one of these sea-faring vessels, and it will give you a whole new appreciation for those early adventurers, who sailed across the ocean with no clue of what lay on the other side of the horizon!

The Appledore IV is owned and operated by BaySail, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Bay City, Michigan.  They have offered more than 40,000 students an educational program aboard Appledore IV.  The Appledore V is also owned and operated by BaySail, and serves as an integral part of a youth sail training program "Windward Bound", which has five to ten day voyages where trainees are involved in every aspect of running the ship.

The Nautica Queen cruise I was on, was called a sunset dinner/sightseeing cruise, and the views at sunset did not disappoint!  The photo above shows the sun, as it slowly sinks into Lake Erie.

We saw plenty of interesting sights as we cruised the waters around Cleveland, and also were able to get a nice view of the Cleveland skyline at twilight. 

One the second day of this visit to Cleveland, our group went to the area of the city known as "Playhouse Square" (www.playhousesquare.org )  The gigantic "light fixture" shown in the photo above, has the reputation for being  America's largest outdoor chandelier, and I can tell you it is a magnificent sight to behold, with the sun illuminating those thousands of crystals, as it rises through the morning, in downtown Cleveland.  The chandelier was added in the last few years, to unify the various attractions that make up the theater district of town.

Our group toured several of the theaters, including the one where the new musical, Come From Away, was scheduled to be part of the 2018-2019 Key Bank Broadway Series, from July 9-28, 2019.  Seeing this merchandise booth in their lobby made me even more excited to see the actual play later that day!

  In the meantime, our group went down to the North Coast Harbor wharf, where the 2019 Cleveland Tall Ships Festival ( www.tallshipscle.com )was taking place.  This is a tri-annual event in Cleveland, so start making plans now, to go to the next one, which will be in 2022.  When I go back in 2022, I want to do an activity I observed while touring the ships----that is, individuals paddling around the ships on Stand-up Paddleboards ( SUP ), and kayaks.  I read that these are available for rent at Great Lakes Watersports, located at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. 

Tall Ships Festival had not been to Cleveland since 2013, so they were excitedly telling folks they could expect to see 10 replica, and restored, traditionally-rigged, sailing ships, representing the U.S., Canada and New Zealand.

In a nod to festival presenter Tall Ships America's commitment to education and preservation, these awe-inspiring ships are partially staffed by young sailors between the ages of 13 and 25. 

A general admission festival ticket allowed attendees to climb aboard and tour the ships.

Once inside the controlled-access area of the harbor, visitors could enjoy the live music, food, drinks, and sailing-related gift vendors. 

From the Tall Ships Festival location, our group took the short walk along the water, to get to the famous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I have written about this Cleveland landmark, in a previous blog, so the reader can view the saga of me and the blue suede shoes, in the blog archives (September 12, 2008).  For other information on planning a visit here, check out their extensive website at www.rockhall.com  If you want to be inundated with photos of the place just look up #LONGLIVEROCK in your computer's search engine.  ( #LONGLIVEROCK ) 

This photo shows a tourist family, who is taking advantage of the opportunity to have a "garage band" recording session, using instrument and sound equipment, provided by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  If your group is interested in trying this, I would recommend going on a day with low visitation numbers, because on the Saturday I visited, there was a very long line of folks waiting to be part of the Studio A Garage Band experience!

Our group also fit in a quick visit to the Cleveland Museum of Art, shown in the photo to the left.  I was very impressed how the architects had used a glass roof to form a sunny atrium that united the "old" Museum of Art building on the right, to the new, and more modern architecture of their facility, on the left side of photo. 

After dark, the group I was in made it back to Playhouse Square, so that we were able to see what America's Largest Outdoor Chandelier looks like after dark.  It was even more stunning than when I had seen it in the morning, lit up only by the rays of the sun!

This is a photo of the playbill and ticket for the musical we saw on Saturday evening, July 13.  Notice the prices here are much more reasonable than Broadway theaters!!  This production was FANTASTIC!!  I especially found it touching because it used a Bible reference, Philippians 4:6, as an integral part of the story.  That verse says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God;"  If I say much more, it might be a "spoiler" for those who have not seen the play, so instead, let this be a "teaser" to make you put it on your "Must See" list!

The final day of our trip, our Destination Cleveland hostess took us on a walking tour of downtown Cleveland.  The statue and fountain shown in photo above are actually the "roof" of the Cleveland Convention Center.  The front of the Convention Center opens out to expansive views of Lake Erie.  Similar walking tours (Free of Charge!) are offered from May 14 through September 15.  Since city walking tours are sometimes called "Urban Hikes", it is not surprising that this service is called "Take A Hike", and folks can learn more at www.TakeAHikeCLE.com .

The vintage photo on the left shows an impressive structure that was a bank, during the Gilded Age of Cleveland.  Since then, the majestic looking edifice has been converted into a swanky grocery store, called Heinen's:

 This is a view of the first floor coffee shop, taken from the second story balcony.  When standing on the balcony, it also enables the visitor to get a good view of the architecture of the space:

This photo shows the viewer the intricacies of the inside dome:

For those who do not want to get dressed and go downtown, Heinen's also offers on-line grocery shopping, and you can find out more on their website at www.heinens.com .

Thanks to Heinen's Grocery Store, downtown Cleveland is not a "food desert" area!   (Food desert is a term nutritionists use, to refer to an urban area where it is difficult to find fresh produce to purchase for home use.)

The old name of the building is still visible in stone, but the new name of its occupant, is also prominently displayed on the outside.

Another former bank building that has been repurposed, is the Holiday Inn Express where our group stayed.  The rooms were very large, and had the original ( and beautiful! ) hardwood floors that were in the bank , when it served as an office location.  More information available at www.holidayinnexpress.com .

Another incredible bank building that has been repurposed as an elegant restaurant, Corn, is where our group visited to tour and have lunch.

We had the experience of passing through this incredible vault door, to get to the private dining area, designed for groups such as ours.  

I hope you can tell from what I have written that Cleveland is a destination that is outstanding in the variety and quality of experiences that a visitor can enjoy.  That is why I hope you will go there, so that you, like me, will "Come From Away" with "MILES OF SMILES"!!    Tricia

If you have never been to Cleveland, Ohio, you need to go!!  Likewise, if you have been to Cleveland in the past, but not recently, you need to go!!  I learned SO MUCH by talking to representatives from "Destination Cleveland".  Destination Cleveland ( destinationcle.org ) is a private, non-profit convention and visitors bureau whose mission is to drive economic impact and stimulate community vitality for Cleveland through memorable leisure, convention, and business travel experiences.  They publish a wonderful magazine , known as the Cleveland Official Visitors Guide ( www.ThisIsCleveland.com ), and have an extensive presence on twitter, facebook, instagram, youtube, pinterest, and trip advisor.  Their official hashtag is #ThisisCLE