Ohio - Put-in-Bay

            With Cleveland in our rear view mirror, we headed west to East Harbor State Park, close to Marblehead and Put-In-Bay.  We visited the Marblehead Lighthouse on Lake Erie.  Built in 1821, it is now owned by the State of Ohio although the light itself is still maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard.  It is the oldest operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes.  The current 300mm light flashes green every six seconds and can be seen for more than 11 nautical miles on a clear night.  

 

We took the ferry to Put-in-Bay to visit the Perry Peace Memorial.  Rising above Lake Erie, This Memorial commemorates the lasting peace between nations once at war – The United States, Great Britain, and Canada.  The Memorial also honors all who fought and died during the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813 and the War of 1812.    

We were told that Put-in-Bay is a very busy, bustling, party time in the summer although it was certainly extremely quiet when we were there.  Most of the shops and restaurants were closed for the season and we could walk down the center of Main Street without worrying too much about traffic.   We laughed at the replica of the Key West buoy marker at the harbor.

            We then headed south, stopping for one night in Lima so we could visit the Armstrong Air & Space Museum.  This museum is dedicated to Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on the moon and an Ohio native.  Although small, it had a nice personal collection from his childhood and several artifacts from his space program career.