Cleveland, “The Strip” and Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio

We said farewell to Port Clinton at 6:30 am on August 10th anxious to continue on our cruise to Florida! First leg – 65 miles to Cleveland. It was one of those rare, perfect cruising days… beautiful sunny day, no wind to speak of and seas were two feet or less! I say rare because we have only had a couple days like this throughout our Great Lakes cruising so far 😦

We arrived at the Lakeside Yacht Club in Cleveland, OH around 1:00 in the afternoon. The First Energy Stadium on the waterfront adds to a striking city skyline. We spent a nice afternoon at the yacht club and then back at the boat we watched a migration of boats leaving the yacht club on their way to the stadium for one of the NFL Thursday night, preseason, kick-off games, Saints @ Browns. And the outcome? Saints 14 – Da Browns 20!

“Wheels up” at 7:00 am on Friday with a destination of Geneva-on-the-lake (GOTL), OH, a 45 mile cruise. We hadn’t heard anything about or done any research on GOTL. Instead, we picked it for a stop merely because of it’s location (midway between Cleveland and Erie) and that the marina could accommodate a 53′ vessel. We have found that most of the marinas on the Great Lakes are equipped to handle vessels up to 30 or maybe 40 feet. A few marinas can accommodate vessels up to 50′ but dockage for vessels over 50′ are few and far between. If a marina does have a long T dock or face dock, they usually only have 30 amp electrical service (we need 50 amp).

This is understandable because of the SHORT boating season. Boaters want to zip to their destination (beach, island, fishing spot or a nearby town/city) for the afternoon, an overnighter or a couple days, then zip back without breaking the bank with fuel consumption. Meandering at 8 knots on a 53′ trawler is not on their radar, leading to a seemingly disproportionate amount of 20′ to 40′ boats compared to 40′ and above.

With all that said, Geneva-on-the-Lake was a very pleasant surprise!! We arrived at 11:00 am to a beautiful protected marina that was much more than adequate for our needs with a wonderful, friendly and accommodating staff! And the moment we docked we also met a great group of people on a weekend boat club trip from a township just east of Cleveland. They immediately welcomed us into their fold with an OJ and Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, yum! Uh-oh….

During the summer season in GOTL, the famous entertainment “Strip” is alive with arcades, amusement rides, restaurants, nightclubs, live music and more. The dated ambiance lends to its charm and is a mecca for family entertainment by day and marauding bachelorette parties by night. There is a definite feel of the safety of a small town (one road in – one road out, everybody knows everybody…) with the entertainment opportunities of a larger city…on a very small scale. But GOTL has also had it’s turbulent times, namely the “riot” of July 4, 1965.

In addition to the infamous “riot” of July 4, 1965 (a comparable event shared with several other U.S. cities on that date), and just as interesting, is GOTL’s claim as Ohio’s first summer resort beginning on July 4, 1869. With its “Priceless moments and affordable pleasures” and association with names like John D. Rockefeller, Harvey Firestone, Henry Ford, Jimmy Dorsey, Ozzie & Harriet Nelson, Lawrence Welk and Cab Calloway, the small town of Geneva-on-the-Lake seems to have more than its fare share of noteworthy history.

Geneva-on-the-Lake: Cool place, albeit a bit dated, captivating history, where we had an awesome time and met some GREAT new friends!!

Oh damn….upon waking at 6:00 am on Saturday the 12th, the weather was not looking good for the 56 mile transit to Erie, PA. Lots of wind, waves and rain in the forecast. I guess we’ll have to stay in Geneva-on-the-Lake another day. 🙂