Land time around the west side of Cleveland, Catawba Island, and Lake Maxinkuckee

Various locations -- July 4 thru 12

We spent the day of the Fourth at Janet's sister Lee's house in Bay Village for a family cookout, then went to stay with our friends Rick and Connie in Rocky River. Two other couples that we hang out with a lot in FL and sometimes in OH were also there. We all went to a house right on the lake to watch the Lakewood fireworks. Watching all the boats heading back to the harbor afterwards was almost as fun as watching the fireworks. All those little lights out on the lake below the lit shoreline are individual boats. 

On Wednesday the four guys played a round of golf at Pine Ridge over on the east side of Cleveland while the girls went to a fancy spa in Canton. John was very pleased with himself because he broke 90 -- probably for the first time this century! We had dinner that night at the Cleveland Yacht Club, which is always a treat. There was a guy there making balloons for a kids birthday party and he came over to our table and John asked if he could make a British Admiral's hat like in HMS Pinafore. The guy made a valiant effort, but it ended up looking more like a blue canoe with a yellow racing stripe.

We took care of chores on Thursday and spent the night on the boat back in Vermilion.

On Friday we ran the boat over to the Catawba Island Club to meet our friends Ted and Julie and her brother Andy, who belongs to CIC and got us in to this very fancy resort. We took them all for a ride around South Bass Island and then had dinner at CIC. 

There are some very interesting cottages on South Bass, including one built from the forward deckhouse of an old freighter. South Bass is also home to the Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial, which commemorates both the victory of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry over a British fleet during a battle on Lake Erie during the War of 1812 and the subsequent enduring peace between the US and Canada. 

Here are our friends Ted and Julie with the First Mate at CIC -- and sunset at CIC with some kids out on the pier.

Saturday the 8th brought rain and uncertain boating conditions, so we decided to bag the boating and just use Ted's fancy new car to drive around the area and see the sights. John acted as tour guide, as his parents had cottages in this area after they emptied the nest. We had lunch in Port Clinton, took a walk through the old resort at Lakeside, and visited the Marblehead lighthouse. We also visited the ice cream shop down the road from where John's parents had their last cottage and where John and Janet took their kids growing up. This place is now owned by the sister of Ted and Julie's daughter-in-law. Talk about a small world!

On Sunday morning Ted and Julie drove back home and we took the boat back to Vermilion. We drove into Bay Village to spend the afternoon with Lee and Scott.

On Monday we took Craunological II over to Vermilion Power Boats to get hauled out to have her bottom cleaned and her hull washed and waxed. Then we drove four-and-a-half hours to Lake Maxinkuckee in northern Indiana (the home of Culver Academies) to stay at the new lake house of our friends Jim and Kim -- along with three other couples who are also long-time Indianapolis friends (minus one poor husband who couldn't get away from work). Jim and Kim are awesome hosts who always keep everyone well-fed and watered. The last picture shows Janet with our friends Jeff and Michael.

We left Maxinkuckee on Wednesday, drove back to Vermilion, picked up the boat (which looked much nicer) and drove her back to the Vermilion Yacht Club. 

We'll make a brief plug here for folks who've never been to spend some time in the western end of Lake Erie visiting the islands and resort towns. It's a lovely area.