Day 2: South Bass Island

Yay! There’s a waffle maker at the free breakfast. :D

We pick up some seasickness pills and SPF 30 at Wal-Mart, then drive directly to the Jet Express ferry dock. It’s already a bit late by the time we get there so we call ahead to reserve a hotel room on the island. We’re really lucky to still get a room at such short notice, because everything frequently sells out during high season.

The ride over to South Bass Island is pretty smooth and we get off right in downtown Put-in-Bay. What a great location! You step off the ferry and immediately you're walking down a bustling street next to the popular city park.

Although not as charming as Mackinac Island it's still a really cute place to walk around. We strike gold in a little alley off one of the main streets; there's a beautiful mural as well as a customized pepsi machine (who knew they even made those?!)

In the same category we also saw this funky truck parked outside one of the bars:

I’ve been looking forward to kayaking for a long time so after checking to see if our hotel room is ready (it's not-- but we get to drop off our bags) we head straight for Kayak the Bay. Sandy has never gone kayaking before, but after a few practice strokes in the harbor we are off to explore.

Gibraltar's Island is a tiny island in front of Put-in-Bay with gorgeous lime stone cliffs.

There’s a narrow opening in the cliffs called the needle that’s a favorite spot with kayakers and of course I can’t resist threading my kayak through the narrow opening. It’s actually pretty tricky because some of the boats throw up big waves in their wake and the water level is higher than normal which means you have to squeeze through the narrower top part of the needle.

Found a snake again! I tried to get a picture, but I disappeared below the water when it heard me coming closer.

Sandy’s having fun.

Lots of seagrass

Arms aching, bottoms dripping and stomachs rumbling we return the kayaks and start looking for a place to eat. There’s an outdoor BBQ chicken place that smells great so we ask for plop down on their patio and enjoy the hang loose island atmosphere. Golfcarts are lined up on the other side of the street.

After a quick stop at the hotel we walk to Perry’s National Peace Memorial. Part of the National Park Service the exhibits, as always, are top notch and we watch a short movie about the War of 1812. Very interesting story!

Unfortunately they’re in the process of renovating the tower and we can’t go inside, but it still looks nice. Statue inside the visitors center with the monument in the background.

There’s a tiny beach right next to the Memorial and surprisingly we get the place all to ourselves! So nice to just enjoy the sun and listen to the birds and the waves gently lapping the shore. I go for a little swim, but it’s a little freaky when out of nowhere your legs hit a patch of sea grass, especially after running into a snake earlier today haha.

We walk back to the hotel and take advantage of the hot tub for a while to ward off soreness from kayaking for two hours. Not sure if it’ll work, but it was definitely enjoyable. The other pools at the hotel are catering to the party crowd. Don't think I ever saw that many adults enjoying a pool together, but of course they're not there to swim ...

After a quick shower we change into actual clothes for the first time today and rent a golf cart from the front desk. South Bass Island does allow cars, but the majority of people travel either on foot, by bike or by golf cart.

It’s an electric golf cart which is pretty cool, because it’s super quiet and probably very environmentally friendly. Unfortunately it doesn’t go as fast as a gas powered one, but we’re not in any kind of hurry. With the wind whipping up our hair we “zoom” downhill past Perry’s Cove and a bunch of vineyards before arriving at South Bass Island State Park.

There’s a narrow pebble beach nestled in a quiet lake cove flanked by towering lime stone cliffs. It must get really crowded there during the day time, but in the evening it’s very picturesque.

The golf cart needs to be returned by 9pm so we drive back and stop at GOAT, soup and whiskey restaurant. This oddly named restaurant is a favorite with the locals, so much so that the elderly woman at the visitor’s center pretended not to know it until we repeated the name a couple of times. “Oh, the Goat?!” Erm, yep! She did give us directions though.

I stupidly decided to play it safe and go with the Lake Erie Walleye Wrap, instead of their famous Perch Tacos, but not wanting to miss out altogether we got one a la cart to share. Wow! So good that I ended up ordering another one and ate that instead of the entree I ordered :-o 

There was still time left after we finished dinner so we drove all the way to the other end of the island (it’s obviously a very small island) and snapped some pictures of the cute Victorian style houses and the sun setting over the marina.

With minutes to spare we drop off our little cart and walk back to the Boardwalk to watch the sunset over the marina.

There's a cute marker near the harbor that lists the distances (in nautical miles) to both local and international destinations.

What a fabulous day! Loving' the island live style :D