Ocean City, Md

 I am in Ocean City, Md with college friends from 45 years ago! They are a true blessing in my life. We reunited inn2009 (?) when I flew up after my father’s death. A sad time became a little more joyful as we picked up our friendships as if it hadn’t bee decades since last seeing each other. We laughed and laughed and laughed some more as we talked about old times. That one serendipitious reunion turned into more yearly reunions. This week there are 4 of us in a condo right on the beach in Ocean City. We catch up on each other’s lives and a common thought is, ‘when we were in the dorms, did you ever predict the events in our lives?’ No! We’ve each experienced very unexpected events, but the friendships are firm. I look out at today’s rainbow and give thanks for my abilitu to travel and see a rainbow miles away from my inland home. But, more importantly, I give thanks for sitting here with lifelong friends!

Put-In-Bay

 Today we wrote the ferry over to put in Bay Island. Once there we watched the 2 miles down town to the Perry Memorial. This memorial is a tribute to Perry who led his ships in the battle of lake Erie. Unfortunately Monument was closed and we could not go to the top. So we watched a short movie and walked around the small museum. This is a national park site. From there we walked around the downtown area which is very touristy, lots of stores and restaurants. We walked just a short ways out of town to a German beer garden and had lemon Shandy‘s with a big pretzel and cheese . It was delicious and the beer garden definitely had a German feel to it. And we walked down to the waterfront and from there we got on the bus and went back towards the ferry. We walked over to the south bass island lighthouse. This lighthouse was different because  the lighthouse keepers quarters were attached to the lighthouse. It is now owned by Ohio State University and is only open on Saturday for tours. We took the ferry back to the mainland and found a stand to buy some peaches corn and a tomato. Too bad we didn’t buy more tomatoes, it was the best one I’ve had all year . We decided to take the kayaks out into the bay and paddled 3 miles around the bay. On one side of the bay, there were lots and lots of boats docked. For dinner we had hamburgers corn on the cob and potato chips. After such a busy day we were hungry and it taste great.

East Harbor State Campground

 Once again was a day of driving but today was only six hours. We got to the Campground and quickly set up the camper.  Within drove over to Port Clinton and saw the Port Clinton lighthouse. This is a small lighthouse only 40 feet high and it is sitting on a pedestal of rocks. It is only open on Saturdays to the public but we happened upon one of the docents. He offered to take her picture and then told us quite a bit of the history. Apparently at one point the city Council wanted to turn the land surrounding the lighthouse into a development. And Lighthouse had previously been stored by a local resident. The city Council was overruled and the land was developed into a park and the lighthouse was moved into its current location. It’s a beautiful park right beside Lake Erie. It’s nice to know that it was saved.  This lighthouse was first constructed in 1833 in the restored lighthouse was constructed in 1896. In 2010, the owner at the Lighthouse transferred the building to city ownership In the Port Clinton lighthouse conservancy was established. From here we drove over to twin oast brewery. This brewery has only been open for a year, but it is obviously very very popular. We had a flight of beers and our favorite was the lemon Shandy. We each had a Smashburger on a pretzel roll with kettle chips. It was a delicious dinner. 

Camping - Webster Park

 Today was a travel day, seven hours driving. We’re camping at a county park, Webster County Park in Webster New York. It’s a small campground and seems to be very well-maintained. The sites are somewhat level but the problem is that the water outlet is far from the electrical outlet. So we hooked up the electricity but not water. It’s fine as are only here for one night. From our campsite we hiked through the woods over to Lake Erie. As expected it’s a huge lake and almost looks like the ocean as you can’t see the other side. We hiked two. 3 miles and came home and cooked up some haddock and fresh green beans. Yummy dinner.

Gloucester - Whale Watching Tour

 Today we did a whale watching tour with seven seas. It takes about 20 minutes to get out into the ocean, maybe 30. Once out there we started to see the whales snorting. Soon after they snort they would appear on the surface of the water. The guy on the boat knew the names of the different wheels from the markings on their tail fins. It was truly breathtaking to see these magnificent creatures surface. We also were surrounded at one point by dolphins all around the boat. It was a great ride and I’m glad we did this.

Gloucester - Back to Shore

 We loved up the tractors and headed down to the boat house and got on the launch boat at 8:30. The water was rough so it made for a fun ride back to the harbor. It always seems sad when our week is over and we head back to the mainland. Rich and his wife and Charlie took Scotty back to the truck. Scotty returned, picked me up and we headed over to the trailer. We unpacked everything, say goodbye to Dave Andrew over to the campground. The campground is much bigger than we had expected with about 200 lots. The road is winding and hilly and there are many rocks and boulders to be seen. We parked the trailer and then headed out to lunch at Woodmans. Scotty had a platter with fried fish and fried shrimp, french fries, onion rings and a bowl of clam chowder.  I had a lobster roll with french fries. Everything was absolutely delicious. From here we went to bearskin neck and walked around the shops. It was getting warmer and warmer, especially for me as I was wearing a long sleeve T-shirt. Even though I need another T-shirt like I need a hole in the head , I ended up buying a Rockport T-shirt just for the short sleeves. Within headed over to the Cape and will watch where we had bought tickets for the firework show. An unexpected surprise was that we were also able to see whales on the way out to the ocean. It was amazing. We also were able to see the twin light houses made up at night which we really enjoyed seeing from the ocean. We headed back towards shore and the firework show began. It was a beautiful show as the fireworks reflected off the ocean and it probably lasted a good half hour. We also saw an absolutely gorgeous sunset. The sun was a vivid orange ball and we could see the reflection upon the dark ocean waters. Unfortunately I was not able to get a photograph of this beautiful site .

Thacher Island - Organizing

 Today the work crew from Straightsmith came over and delivered wood to fix the ramp. Dock and Dave also assessed the winch and said they had a handle to replace the one that snapped off. That’s a good thing. The better thing is that I was not kicked off the island. They said I’d have to do something worse than that and I can’t imagine what that would be. Coastal  discoveries came and walked around with over 20 kids. It rained during the afternoon and although I never took naps, today I did. Then Scotty and I went down into the primary keepers house basement and organized the paint corner . On Wednesdays the work crew comes out and they often go straight to their project. That means no one is organizing their tools and supplies, so hopefully this will help. The evening ended with a rainbow but it didn’t show up very well in my photos.

Thacher Island Storm

 I haven’t done a good job of keeping up with my blog, probably because we are so busy and I’m exhausted by the evening.  Today we made a sign showing miles to Clarksville as the crow crow flies. I cleaned up Wedmore’s walk and collected lots of Buoys and sawhorses.  The best part of the day was when a storm blew in towards the evening. We could see the clouds form a shelf in the sky and come blowing up from the south. It was a spectacular show put on by mother nature!