A little of this, a little of that....

Put In Bay...

Last weekend, Jim and I had originally planned on going camping up at Put In Bay. We were supposed to leave Friday morning, camp three nights and then come home Monday afternoon. We usually love camping, but we really weren't in the camping mood for this trip. With all that we have going on, we were tired before we even thought about camping! We kept thinking about everything involved with camping- getting the food ready, packing the coolers, loading the car, unloading the car, setting the campsite up, taking the campsite down... you get the idea. Plus, with me being pregnant and Jim working 60 hour work weeks lately, we just didn't have the energy. Also, it was supposed to be upper 80's for the first two days we were there. Yuck. I hate camping when it's hot. I know, I know, I DID make reservations to camp in mid-June, but I just didn't feel like sitting around a campfire while I was sweating.

We agreed that we did need a change of scenery, so we modified our plans. We ended up still going to Put In Bay, but we went up Sunday morning and stayed one night at a Bed & Breakfast. We still got the same fun experience of Put In Bay, without all of the work involved with camping!

We stayed at The Anchor Inn...

It had four rooms. We stayed in the 'Captain's Suite'. All four rooms have their own private bathroom. Our room had a king sized bed along with a small TV with Direct TV (apparently the other rooms do not have a TV). The B&B was OK... our biggest complaint was we didn't sleep very well. The room was too stuffy and the sheets were scratchy. The room also had a crack and hole in the ceiling. We thought if this was their busy season, they should probably make sure their rooms were in tip-top shape. Maybe our standards were too high. The other hitch was our room was the only one on the first floor, right off of the kitchen/communal room. The owners were nice though, and the husband made us breakfast... we even got to tell them what time we wanted to eat breakfast. We also got a coffee and juice tray an hour before our breakfast. They also set up our breakfast out back in the garden which was nice. Overall, I'd recommend this B&B, just pick one of the rooms upstairs.

While were were on Put In Bay (technically South Bass Island, but I always just call it Put In Bay), we went to Heineman's Winery for some Catawba and Concord Grape Juice. Jim even had the grape juice with me, since I couldn't drink the wine. We walked around the square, looked in the shops and then had dinner at The Boardwalk (as always, to enjoy a bowl of The Boardwalk's artery-clogging Lobster Bisque!).

For this next photo, LOOK AWAY BERNIE! LOOK AWAY!

While walking around, I spotted one of the shop's signs and had to take a picture. I cracked up because at my cousin Sara's wedding, the DJ announced Granny as 'Lovella' instead of 'Louella'. So I had to take a picture of this...

Granny, is this your side business we don't know about? You really manage a clothing store on Put In Bay? Now we know what you're doing when you're off 'volunteering at the hospital'. Ha ha!

The other thing about Put In Bay that is noteworthy was the disgusting Mayflies. They were EVERYWHERE. Seriously EVERYWHERE. I didn't take a picture of the Mayflies, but found this picture on the internet. All of the boats, buildings, and EVERYTHING was covered just like in the picture. We learned that the Mayflies come mid-June and stay until the beginning of July. The adult Mayflies live 24 hours (they have no digestive system). The B&B owner told us the Mayflies are a good sign... they're a sign that the lake is clean. They used to come in waves in the 40's, but then with all of the contamination and pollution of Lake Erie, the Mayflies went away for decades. They just now started to return within this decade. There's so many dead Mayflies stuck on every surface that every house and building has to be power washed once the Mayfly season is over. The B&B owner then joked that they "want an oil spill like in the gulf so the Mayflies go away". Ummm... really? You'd really like that? I know he was joking, but not very funny. 

Overall, a good trip. It was nice to get away and have a relaxing time with my baby daddy. But we'll never go back again during Mayfly season (unless there's a Lake Erie oil spill).

Put-in-Bay part B...

Here are more pics from PIB...

The Boardwalk restaurant and bar... AND the source for the 'best Lobster Bisque in Ohio' (?).  I tried it, and I thought the lobster bisque at Bon Vie at Easton was better.  Who gave the Boardwalk this coveted title?

Jim and I went on the Crystal Cave and Heineman's Winery tour.  The tours were short, and the two tours and a wine sample was only $6.  We sampled four different wines at the winery and I bought two bottles to bring home.

This is the 'War of 18 Holes' mini-golf course.  Jim and I played here as a rematch from our first mini-golf adventure a couple of weeks ago, where, well, I won.  Jim's been talking smack ever since, so this was his chance to reclaim his skill at golf (regular or mini).  Sure enough, Jim won this round (by 7!).  I 'chili dipped' (golf lingo that Jim taught me) on one hole and it was all downhill from there...

This is the cliffside at the SBI State Park.  There are campsite on the cliffs... Jim and I scoped out our next campsite by the cliffs.  After we packed up everything, we went over to the cliffside to have a picnic lunch. 

Perry's Monument...

Put-in-Bay...

Jim and I ventured north towards Lake Erie to enjoy some days at Put-In-Bay.  We've drastically upped the camping ante and since our Hocking Hills camping excursion, we've made the jump to air mattresses (complete with an air pump) and a new 10x14 tent. 

We mapquested our loaded car towards Catawba Island and made it to Miller Ferry and was able to drive right on the ferry.  We were on the top of the ferry enjoying the water and the wind, but definately not enjoying the dark rain clouds looming overhead and becoming darker the closer we were getting to South Bass Island.  The rain then completely unloaded on us and I could have sworn was hitting us sideways!  Jim and I thought we were in for a rough couple of days! To our delight, the rain stopped right as we pulled up to the dock on SBI.  We headed to the campsite, checked in early and then, per Jim, following the rules of Survivor, the first thing we needed to do was set up shelter.  The rain clouds were still coming in and it was only a matter of time until they dumped another round of rain on us.  With our new tent, we actually needed some help from the directions.  We managed to get the tent up, complete with a screen 'porch', and then rumble, rumble, rumble.  Thunder and rain.  Lots of rain.  We managed to throw everything into our big camping container and dash inside the tent out of the rain.  Our new tent completely rocked- it was tall enough (7' tall!) so Jim could stand up inside.  We waited about fifteen minutes for the rain the let up some, and then ran out to get more of our stuff so we could have lunch inside the tent.  During lunch, we got another downpour.  Our camping trip was looking a little gloomy at this point.  :(   We finally managed to get everything inside the tent- complete with a card table and two chairs.  We were soooo glad we got this tent... it was our saving grace to why we survived this camping trip.  We were able to hang out inside the tent out of the rain without feeling cramped.   We had quite a bit of rain the first part of our camping trip, but once the weather cleared and the sun came out, it was all worth it.  We had a great time. 

Here are pics of our new, 10x14 nylon home-away-from-home....

Here's Jim standing up inside our tent.  We were able to hang one of our lanterns up in the tent, so we could have light in the evenings.  Our tent has 'windows' on all sides so you can see out on all sides and let air in (this was one of the reasons why we loved this tent).