The huge Cedar Point Park boasts some of the fastest roller coasters in the USA (we don't do this). The Merry-Go-Round Museum has a working vintage carousel (we do this) and restored wooden animals from the 1800's. And, a Maritime Museum has exhibits on boat-building, shipwrecks and ice harvesting from Lake Erie ... yes, I think it gets cold here if they used to harvest lake ice!
The weather for us was absolutely beautiful, 75-degrees with light wind, sunny, and no humidity. Since we don't do roller coasters, our favorites here started with a tour of the Maritime Museum. This museum is a favorite, with so much history, dioramas, scale models and two buildings out back with beautifully restored wooden boats and old outboard motor displays. Here are a few pix.
Our next stop was Marblehead Lighthouse State Park. This trip we made time to climb the 77 steps to the top to see a 360 degree of several Lake Erie islands, Cedar Point amusement park, and Sandusky City. The lighthouse is the oldest continually operating lighthouse on the US-side of the Great Lakes, since 1820. We didn't tour the lightkeeper's house this trip because we saw it last trip, but there was evidence of more restoration and possibly more of the house open to the public ... maybe next trip!
Also in the park is an excellent replica exhibit of a "lake rescue station", where a cannon was used to launch a rope out onto the ice, or to launch a boat to rescue fisherman in distress.
Of course, no trip to Sandusky would be complete without a trip to the Merry-go-round Museum. This is a magical place of history and has a working vintage carousal you can ride included in the $5 admission price. The museum is housed in the old Post Office building, an historic monument itself!
We took 75 pictures, way too many to post here, but I'll add a link at the bottom for you to poke around in. On this trip, the two elderly docents were so nice to us, finding out we had been here before. And, they offered us a behind-the-scenes tour of the downstairs wood shop area where animals were being restored, allowing us to go off by ourselves ... an incredible experience! Some of our favorites follow:
And lastly, you can't go to Lake Erie without a fresh, perch sandwich lunch ... no frozen fish here! We have a favorite spot and, although the name was changed, the new name and paint hadn't changed the fact they were still serving-up some of the best perch and shrimp we've ever had. We always get ours to go and head for our favorite park on the shore of Lake Erie ... on a beautiful day, you can't beat this experience.
Oh, one more stop ... Toft's Dairy, the oldest operating dairy in Ohio, for some homemade ice cream! Soooo good!
So, today we say goodbye to Camp Sandusky (quiet and close to everything) and head West towards the next adventure. We hope you've enjoyed riding along ...
A few links to check out:
Wow, what a climb up those stairs! Looks like a great spot
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