Port Clinton, Lake Erie

The drive from Buffalo to Port Clinton, Ohio took about 4 hours.  A pretty straight drive along the edge of Lake Erie. 

We had booked a condo through VRBO on the Waterfront II complex.  It wasn't directly on the lake, but you could still see it through the gaps of the other condos.  We were a little early getting there, and the owner was just cleaning up as we arrived.

We got settled quickly and headed to the pool. This was a very nice pool…..

With water sprinklers by the side which the kids loved.  

We played for a while before heading back to the condo and trying to decide what to do for dinner.  Port Clinton is probably best known for being the gateway to Lake Erie's islands, Put-in-Bay is probably the best known of these.  We had already decided not to visit the islands, we were here to relax after the craziness we had just been through!

We decided to walk to check out the town, so we headed out over the draw bridge in the direction of town, passing the boat terminal on the way.

There is not a lot in Port Clinton, 2-3 restaurants and a couple of bars.  We eventually settled on McCarthy's.  This is an irish pub/ restaurant that was pretty popular.  We were seated quickly in the window.  The server was very prompt, polite and friendly.  I ordered a Shocktop, Paul had a Harp, and the boys all had sodas.  Once we had our drinks, we ordered our food.  Typically Isaac and Seb had grilled cheese sandwiches, Oliver had a cheese burger.  Paul can't remember what he had (so should have done this a while ago), but thinks it was chicken of some description.  I decided to go with the Irish Stew, hoping it was like my mum made.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. It didn't taste quite right, almost like it had too much celery in it.  Such a shame, as I had ordered a large portion. I did my best, but it wasn't great.  Everyone else finished theirs though.  I did make my thought known to the server, so hopefully he passed on my comments to the chef.  Other than that, its a good restaurant, very accommodating with a good atmosphere.  

On our walk back, we were fortunate enough to see the bridge open to let some sail boats through.

The next day was spent relaxing.  The whole point of coming to Port Clinton was to relax.  We spent some time on the lake beach,  nice to play near dead fish.  I must admit, although Lake Erie's level of pollution has improved, we are still not very keen on Lake beaches.  Maybe we will come round one day.  We spent most of the day going between the pool and the condo.  Being on holiday in the States is awesome, particularly by the pool.  There are always plenty of people with a beer in their hand, even at 10 in the morning!  Makes you want to join the party as early as possible…..

We decide to try Dock's Beach House for dinner that evening.  This place is on the beach, and a 2 minute walk away.  You could hear it from the condo in the evening.  There was a bit of a wait for a table, but we were able to grab a couple of seats at the bar for the boys while we waited.  We all indulged in drinks, the boys with soda, I had a frozen cocktail and Paul had a beer.   

We waited about 15 minutes before we got a seat outside.  The boys ordered the usual (same thing they had the night before).  We are 100% sure we both had a steak, though I think they may have changed their menu since we went.  

Although the place was busy, the server was attentive at just the right level.  The food came in a timely manner.  The boys meals were served on frisbees (awesome idea), and they demolished all of theirs.  Mine and Paul's steaks were delicious, really nice and tender, and perfectly cooked.

We headed home, nice and full.  We awoke the next day to this…..

It rained all morning.  We decided to have lunch at Dock's.  It just stopped raining as we headed out the door.  It was not as busy as the night before, and we didn't have to wait to be seated.  We ended up with the same server again, which was nice, as she remembered us.  Turns out she was from Bali, so we swapped many stories about living in a foreign country.  We ordered drinks, Paul and I decided to try an Ohio Rose wine.  It was lush, and the bottle was gone in no time.  The kids had the same food again, though Paul and I went with sandwiches this time.  Paul had the grilled chicken on a Kaiser roll, and I had the Beachhouse Chicken Sandwich on a croissant.  Again, the food and service did not disappoint.  It was raining again, so we decided to have dessert.  We shared 2 chocolate melting puddings between us, and they were yummy.  Paul and I barely got any, as the boys loved them.  We really liked Docks Beach House, it has a real holiday feel, very comfortable, friendly and well managed.  We ended up wit h6 frisbees, and Paul and I both purchased a t-shirt (something we hardly ever do…..)

After all that rain, there was a lot of puddles around the condo complex.  It would have been rude to not  let the kids splash in the puddles…..

We kicked around the condo in the evening, just relaxing before the next stage of our journey.  We did sneak out to take this beautiful photo of the sunset over Lake Erie.  Stunning…...

The BIG trip - the plan

So seeing as we are about a month away from our trip, I thought I would share our itinery as we have had requests from family.  So here goes....

These are all the journeys we will be doing.  It is about 2500+ miles in total! and that's just from accommodation to accommodation.  There are hotels and vacation rentals spread out across the trip, 9 different accommodations over 16 nights.  The longest we stay on one place is 3 nights.....

Leg 1- Simpsonville to Norfolk, 431 miles, 6 hours 50 minutes

We initially wanted to head straight to Washington, D.C., but it is just too far.  I decided on Norfolk, as it seemed a good place.  We have a hotel right on the beach, and intend to leave early, so when we finally get there we can check in and chuck the boys straight on to the beach, then into the pool.  We are only staying one night here.  

Leg 2 - Norfolk to Washington, D.C., 188 miles, 3 hours

On our journey to Washington, we are hoping to stop at Norfolk Naval Base and do a bus tour.  This is one of the biggest naval bases on the east coast with a very interesting history (find it here).

Our hotel in Washington is pretty central, with underground parking (at an additional cost of course). We are staying 2 nights, which gives us 1 full day and 1 maybe 2 half days.  We will see how we go! We want to see the monuments, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Air and Space museum.  And of course the White House!

Leg 3 - Washington, D.C. to New York, 231 miles, 4 hours 5 minutes 

We are actually staying in Queens.  We are renting a top floor apartment, for a very reasonable rate.  The hotels were soooooooo expensive, especially in Manhattan.  The area we are staying looks interesting but there is an Indian restaurant within walking distance, and the subway is 15 minutes walk.  We are staying 2 nights again, so the one full day we have we intend to jump on a subway and go in to Manhattan.  The subway will take us to a boat trip in lower Manhatten, plus the World Trade Centre site.  Then up to Central Park, where we want to go to the zoo, then to the Empire State Building and Times Square, then back over the Brooklyn Bridge, change trains at the Barclays Arena (Brooklyn nets basketball team play here) and head back to the apartment absolutely exhausted!

Leg 4 - New York to Douglas, MA, 185 miles, 3 hours 15 minutes

This looks like quite a scenic drive along the coast of the Long Island Sound.  We are staying in a cottage in Douglas for 2 nights.  The cottage has a lake at the back of the garden, supplied by a small spring, and the owner maintains a beach there, so hopefully the boys will enjoy it.  

I initially wanted to stay in Boston, but it was sooooo expensive.  Douglas is about an hour away from Boston, so we will take a day trip.  This is for me really.  I want to do some of the Freedom trail, the USS Constitution boat, and take in the culture (as much as you can in one day!).  It looks like such an amazing old city, depending on our first impressions, we may go back again at some point in the future.

Leg 5 - Douglas to Cortland, NY, 285 miles, 4 hours 40 minutes

This was actually the first thing I booked through Groupon.  2 nights in a resort with day passes to a water park on site.  I have looked at the water park, and it seems good for the boys.  It is in the Finger Lakes area of New York State, so will hopefully be very beautiful.  This is a good stop over point, with hopefully enough for the boys to do.  It is actually a pretty good deal when you throw in the water park tickets (they would be $150 for all of us if we weren't staying at the resort)

Leg 6 - Cortland, NY to Buffallo, NY via Niagra Falls, 187 miles, 3 hours

As we are up there, we may as well do Niagra Falls.  Due to complications with the car insurance, we cannot go into Canada, so will be seeing the falls from the American side.  We plan to do the Maid of the Mist boat trip, and take lots of photos.  Other than that there doesn't seem much to do.  We are staying in Buffalo for one night as it is cheaper.

Leg 7 - Buffalo, NY to Port Clinton, OH, 280 miles, 4 hours 30 minutes

We have booked a ground floor condo in Port Clinton on the shore of Lake Erie for 3 nights  It has a pool, a beach and a playground, and appears to be a walk into town.  From what I have seen, the Great Lakes are quite touristy.  There are a few islands in the lake which we may take a trip to, or there is a big amusement park about 30 minutes drive away. We will probably do a bit of exploring, and a lot of relaxing here

Leg 8 - Port Clinton, OH, to Indianapolis, IN, 256 miles, 4 hours 3 minutes

My boys want to see the race track.  If you know my boys, you will understand this.  We have a hotel booked right in the centre of the city, which is about a 20 minute drive from the track.  We are already booked on to a tour.  The boys are excited about this, as am I.  We will be in Indianapolis for 2 nights, so intend to have a little explore.  I can't imagine it is that different from any other medium size city in America, but we shall see.  We are planning on doing the zoo also, and possibly the children's museum, it gets very good reviews.  I have also just found out that the terra-cotta warriors are on a special exhibit there while we are in town.  Super exciting!!!! From here on in we are heading home....

Leg 9 - Indianapolis, IN, to Knoxville, TN, 340 miles, 5 hours

This is a one night stop to break up the journey.  You can even see Greenville on the map above.  This is a hotel with a cool pool, so hopefully it will be ok.  

So there you have it!  It is a lot to take in, many places will be seen, albeit briefly.  But we are not the kind of people who go and crazily explore one place, we like to just scratch the surface and get a feel for places.  It is going to be hard with the kids, but they are excited about seeing loads of different places, and watching lots of films, so hopefully it will all work out ok.  I have lots of stuff planned in my head to make it go as smoothly as possible....

I am going to try and blog as I go too.....wifi dependent of course!