Ohio & Indiana

We said goodbye to family and friends and started our trek west, leaving from Mechanicsburg, PA on June 6, 2022. Our first stop was going to be Mars, PA, because I wanted to see their spaceship and the residents are called Martians.  Unfortunately we did not pass through Mars and went straight to our hotel in a place called Cranberry Township outside of Pittsburgh.

Couldn't tell you anything about Cranberry Township, except we stayed at the Staybridge Suites (actually located in Warrendale) and had dinner at Bravo Italian Kitchen. We were pooped 💩 after our long weekend. Ohio, here we come!

Our first stop in Ohio, based on a recommendation by the Julian's, was the Avalon Downtown Pizzeria.  We placed an order for the Meatball Bowl, 4 homemade meatballs with marinara sauce & bread. We also ordered the Traditional Pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.  

The place was pretty cool 😎 and the food was delicious. We could see ourselves hanging out there. 

Mural on the wall with the Julian name

Our next stop was Miller Ferry ⛴ on Catawba Island.  We caught the ferry ⛴ to Put-In-Bay with our car since our hotel had parking.  Parking is limited there. We had never even heard of Put-In-Bay until a few weeks before, thanks to Jack Bannister.  Put-In-Bay is supposedly the Key West of the north.  

We were able to book a room for 3 nights at the Grand Islander Hotel. The hotel was in a great location and clean.  I also liked that the vanity was on the outside of the bathroom. I could do makeup (the little that I wear) while Rob was showering or vice versa. We were afraid of getting stuck on the elevator 🛗 so we always took the stairs.  There was no refrigerator, but we did have a working ice 🧊 machine right outside our room.

We checked out the area a little before heading to Mojito Bay. Nothing like drinking while swinging. What could go wrong? Actually, nothing, I did not even have a beverage. Our next stop was the Beer Barrell Saloon to listen to Ryan Dunlap and Alecia Arnall. A local convinced Rob to try their jello shooter.

Jello Shot

We decided to be tourists. We went to Perry's Cave Family Fun Center.  We chose to do three attractions, the Perry Cave, the Butterfly 🦋 House, and the War of 18 Holes Mini-Golf. I was disappointed with both the Cave and Butterfly House. We did enjoy playing golf, Sharon especially since she won.

Butterfly landed on Rob's head

Sharon won by 3 😁 

On the property there was an Antique Car Museum. It was interesting.

1930 Peanut Wagon

1930 Chrysler Coupe
(never left the island)

1915 Model T Speedster
(Oldest car on the island)

1924 Model T Snowmobile 
(Built for the Gov. To deliver
mail in Minnesota)

We decided to have drinks at the Goat 🐐 Soup and Whiskey Biergarten, definitely a great choice. They even had a beer that Sharon liked.  It was a little chilly for us Floridians, but we were able to hang out with our bartender, Pinky. Pinky informed us Goat 🐐  Soup and Whiskey had the best food on the island. We took his word and went upstairs to have dinner.

Fish Taco 🌮 

Beet Salad

The next touristy thing we did was rent a golf cart. We toured the entire island, including the South Bass Island Lighthouse, the Sheeff East Point Nature Preserve, and the Perry's Victory & International Peace Memorial.

Rob loves heights! (NOT! 😱)

We discovered several bars (imagine that), some I already mentioned above.  We visited Fire 🔥 Engine Pizza 🍕 Company, The Round House Bar, Margaritas on the Rock, and Topsy Turvy's Bar & Grill.  There were plenty of places to choose from.  Our favorite was Topsy Turvy's and the Biergarten.

Fire Engine Pizza Company

Inside The Round House

Roundhouse Chicken

Round House Bushwacker
 (thank goodness I carry floaters)

Margaritas on the Rock

Topsy Turvy

We really enjoyed Put-In-Bay. We could have stayed longer, but decided it was best to move on before the rowdy 🤪 weekend crowd arrived. Plus the rates more than doubled with a minimum two-night stay. Back on the ferry ⛴, beautiful day for a boat ride.

Our travels took us across the Michigan State line and into Indiana. We stopped in South Bend, IN for a night so we could explore the University of Notre Dame.

Main building

Basilica  of the Sacred Heart

The Basilica and grounds were beautiful.

We had a very popular German Restaurant directly across the street from our hotel.

That's a huge Dunkel!

The next stop was Indiana Dunes National Park/Lakeshore, where we made our first stop at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center. We picked up our little Dunes map and talked to a Ranger about some of the trails. Afterwards, our first trail was the Bailly Homestead, Chellberg Farm, Little Calumet River, Mnoke Prairie Trails. This trail was 3.4 miles. Don't forget I'm still a couch potato 🥔.

Joseph Bailly and his family arrived in 1822, one of the first settlers in northwest Indiana. He established a trading post on the Little Calumet River near two major Indian trails. The Potawatomi Indians brought pelts by canoe to trade. The main house was completed after Joseph died and has been altered several times. The exterior of the house was restored to how it looked in 1917.

This house was built for Bailly's granddaughter, Rose Howe, in the late 1870's.

We had a nice little picnic lunch before heading on.

I have a National Park Service (NPS) app that displays all the National Parks with things to see and do, maps, where to stay, Visitor's Centers and so much more. We love the military America the Beautiful pass for FREE visits to National Parks. Rob uses AllTrails for info and maps.

 

Our next trail was Diana's Dunes. Alice Gray came to be known as Diana of the Dunes, who shunned the 1900's conventional world 🌎 and chose to live in the remote coastal Dunes from 1915-1925 (I can't even imagine doing this). 

Glad I was going down

We spent some time on the beach where we put our feet in the (cold) water 💧 before moving on to the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk, where we walked the fishing Pier.

We spent the evening in Chesterton at the Quality Inn.

Where are we heading next?