Day 23: Shore Day at Sandusky Bay

September 1, 2021: A LONG walk to visit two museums and have a fish sandwich. And a milkshake.

We had a full day in Sandusky Bay because rough weather was expected out on Lake Erie, with high wind and high waves. Capt Paul picked a very sheltered, pleasant marina that had one drawback: it wasn’t anywhere near the two museums he and I wanted to check out: the Maritime Museum of Sandusky and the Merry-Go-Round Museum.

But despite the strong breeze, it was cool and the humidity wasn’t bad at all. I needed exercise. I agreed to walk with him — nearly 2 1/2 miles each way.

The Walk

We let Google tell us how to get there. It took us along a busy and rather unattractive road for at least half a mile. Dianne came with us that far. She didn’t want to walk into town, but there was a Dollar General where we parted ways and that’s where she headed.

We continued on, turning onto a nicer road after a while. The first thing we both noticed was the architecture. There were a number of large stone buildings that probably dated back to the late 1800s. Most were in excellent condition, including an old firehouse that had been converted into offices or living space (or both).

Then we were at the Maritime Museum. I’d originally wanted to skip it, but since I was already there and it wasn’t terribly expensive, I went in.

The Maritime Museum

This was either the third or fourth maritime museum I’d visited since starting the trip 23 days before and I wasn’t very enthusiastic about it. There was a video presentation that went longer than I expected and covered several aspects of lake-related history in the area: coal transportation, ice harvesting, and lake cruising come to mind. It was all interesting; they managed to cut each topic right when I was ready to be done with it. And it was nice to sit down in a cool room after that long walk.

The exhibits in the marina focused on the same topics covered in the video. I think it was this focus that made the museum worth visiting after all of the others. If each museum focuses on its own local history, each museum is different, despite sharing the general subject matter of boats and operations on the water.

Outside they had two buildings with other displays. One housed a large collection of antique outboard motors. The other housed a collection of wooden boats by the Lyman company, which had been based in Sandusky. I saw a boat that reminded me of the first one my dad had bought in the 1960s and send him a picture of it. He confirmed that our family boat had been similar.

The museum had a large collection of outboard motors dating back to the early 1900s.

Another building housed a collection of Lyman wooden boats.

Lunch and a Merry-Go-Round Ride

From the museum, we went in search of lunch. The girl at the front desk had suggested New Sandusky Fish Company but Google said it was closed. Still, we walked over in that direction. It turned out to be open. It was a takeout place and we ordered perch sandwiches, which we ate outside.

The spot where we ate was right on the bay, which was full of whitecaps and waves splashing against the rock wall. The wind was fierce; we could only imagine how bad it must have been on the open lake.

From there, we walked through town to the Merry-Go-Round Museum. This was a very small museum with a room full of merry-go-round animals — mostly horses, of course — and a full-sized, operating merry-go-round. Our admission got us a “wooden nickel” that we could exchange for a ride.

The museum’s fully operational merry-go-round pretty much filled the room.

We walked around the museum, checking out the carved animals, and spent some time talking to a craftsman who wasn’t working on animals but was knowledgeable about them. The exhibit included several horses in various stages of completion; the craftsman told us that two other pieces would eventually be delivered and put on display.

There were dozens of beautifully carved merry-go-round animals on display.

When we were done looking at the exhibits, Capt Paul asked for our merry-go-round ride. The woman who’d checked us in (and worked the gift shop) let us and three other people onto the merry-go-round and we climbed onto our animals. I chose a very traditional horse on the outside ring of the ride. Then she started it up and we rode.

I can’t explain the feeling of joy I had when the ride first started. Such a silly thing — here I was, a 60 year old woman sititng on a merry-go-round horse, moving up and down as the whole machine spun and music blared. Then I started feeling a little meloncholy about the fleeting nature of youth and how simple rides like this no longer interest us as we get older and more “sophisticated.” I chased those thoughts out of my head and focused on the joy of it. Then the ride started to slow until it eventually stopped and was over.

I have to say that that five minute ride was the highlight of my day.

The Return Trip

By that time, both Paul and I were exhausted, but we still had a 2 1/2 mile trip back ahead of us. I tried to get and Uber or Lift to come for us but had no success. So we walked.

It wasn’t a pleasant walk, but it wasn’t really a hardship either. The temperature and humidity levels certainly made it bearable; if it had been 10° warmer, I wouldn’t have made it. And there was a bonus: we passed an ice cream place on the way back and I bought a chocolate banana milkshake that was perfection in a cup.

Flitting the Afternoon Away

I took a short nap when we got back, then packed my shower bag for a trip to the shower. I also brought my bathing suit. When I ascertained that that pool and hot tub were still unoccupied, I put on my bathing suit and walked over there.

I soaked alone in the hot tub, listening to a recorded book on my phone. I had the immense pleasure of watching a white egret standing on the roof of the pool house gracefully take off into the sky. It was amazing. First he stood there pointed into the wind, which blew his feathers around gently. Then he just opened his wings and lifted off into the sky. It was one of those things that I’ll remember for a very long time.

After a good soak, I got out of the hot tub and showered, dressing in some clean clothes — I had done laundry that morning before we left on our walk. Then I spent the evening working on blog posts in my never ending efforts to catch up, publishing posts for Day 15 and Day 16 before going to bed.