My Getaway Weekend

 Hi everyone.

I've been taking a little break from blogging. To tell the truth, I've had mostly nothing to blog about. I haven't been doing any art and I've been feeling a little becalmed and in the doldrums from this miserable summer we've been having. The temperatures came down to the mid 80s last weekend, so a friend and I decided to get out of Dodge and head up to Lake Erie. On Saturday we went to Kelly's Island off the coast of Sandusky, Ohio.

 We hiked the North Shore Alvar State Nature Preserve where you can walk on the limestone shoals. An alvar is a limestone plain with thin or no vegetation, sometimes offering fossils. The tide was especially low this year so we could see many species of lichen and native plants and birds. Lake Erie is a freshwater lake and although it is the smallest of the Great Lakes it still makes me feel like I'm at the ocean. :-) 

 I stopped for a photo shoot.

The day was warm so after our hike we stopped by the public beach for a wade in the water. We took off our shoes, rolled up our pantlegs and walked in up to our knees. The sand was velvet soft and the breeze felt delicious. Then we joined the crowd at the VFW post for a huge roasted chicken dinner. Half a chicken, pasta salad, cole slaw, rolls with butter and a cupcake for dessert for only ten bucks! What a deal!

As evening approached, we walked to the marina for a refreshing drink at the dockside bar and waited for a spectacular fireworks show before taking the ferry back to the mainland. 

 

By the way, this was just one of the guest houses on Kelly's Island. There are many rental as well as privately owned summer cottages scattered around the island. Everything was booked that weekend so we ended up staying in a regular motel on the mainland. I'll be sure to book ahead next time.

On Sunday we visited the charming Chautauqua of Lakeside Village, Ohio. A Chautauqua is a turn of the century community of summer cottages that "welcomes all people to gather and participate in lifelong learning opportunities through four pillars: religion, education, cultural arts and recreation". We started our visit by enjoying Sunday brunch at the beautiful historic Victorian style Lakeside Inn right on the marina. 

This was my view through the window from our table. They were having an antique wooden boat show along the marina and I even saw a very fancy remote controlled wooden sailboat puttering around in the bay.

After brunch we strolled along the coast where artists were painting en plein air. There was a live band called "Wally And The Beav" filling the air with music, and I could easily picture ladies in their long pastel dresses with matching hats and parasols gliding among the trees while men in white pants and shirts played shuffleboard on the court in the shady park.

The village is just full of so many unique summer and private cottages that we decided to rent a golf cart for an hour and take a tour. I loved the colorful garden of this house and the design on the chimney is made of stained glass mosaic!

I thought this house was cute because it was shaped like a birdhouse!

 Everywhere I looked I saw another marvelous cottage and garden. We ended our day midafternoon and drove the three hours back home. This is a special and magical place and I'm sure I'll be back.  

So that's it for now. I'll see you again the next time I have something blogworthy to say.