The Lady J: Oh Geneva on the Lake!

Riding the waves!!!

We left Presque Isle, (Erie) Pa early Friday morning. The weather looked promising and we originally had planned to stop at the Yacht club in Ashtabula and hopefully meet up with some friends. But found out our friends were actually on a cruise with our Yacht club up to Canada. (Yes we contacted them unannounced) and the folks at the Ashtabula Yacht club didn't call us back until late Friday evening. (Epic Fail)

So we made the decision to push on to Geneva on the Lake, since this was going to be one of our planned stops anyway and it was only about an hour or so past Ashtabula. So we left the dock with high hopes of getting to Geneva early evening. Well we did arrive at the State park around 5:00 p.m. But not after went for what we considered an 8 hour mechanical bull ride. Reason being is the waves were cresting at least at 3 feet and we were hitting them dead on all day. As you can see by the picture above it was one heck of a ride. Luckily enough though this forward and backward motion doesn't make the first mate sick (only the rocking side to side). The temperature was great and the sun was beautiful, but boy we were glad to get to our destination.

Morning at Geneva State Park

Now about our destination. Since we couldn't get any of the so called "Yacht Clubs" to return our call Mike called Geneva State Park. We were delighted to hear they took reservations, the price was more than reasonable and they had plenty of space. Best news ever since the weather folks had been predicting some storms are a brewing for the weekend. As we pulled into our dock we were met by a nice young man more than eager to take our lines (thank you Jesus) and help with docking. He then said that once we were settled he would take us up to the office (in his golf cart) so that we could get signed in and then bring us back. Wooooooow what kind of amazing service is this!!! So glad for the lift since the office was a good hike from where our boat was docked. But the facility is immaculate and found out you can call these guys anytime between 8:00 a.m .and 9:00 p.m and they will come to your dock and bring you up to the main building. This service is only for the transient boaters. "lovin it" even though we have chosen not to use this wonderful feature, but it's good to know it's there. Okay now for our day.

We had a lovely leisurely pace this morning. I had time for enjoying my coffee while the Captain had some good quality time to sleep in. We enjoyed pancakes for breakfast and then took off on our bikes to the "strip". If you have never been to Geneva on the Lake you really must go. (At least once). It is like stepping back into time about 50 years ago. This one road is filled with funky shops, all kinds of food establishments, small businesses selling touristy things. Arcades, Put-Put, Flea Market, Craft Shows, Antique shops. You know it they had it, but it seemed like you were back in the 50's early 60's. In fact Mike remembers coming here as a kid with his family. It was so much fun seeing the place through his eyes as he was when he was little. The road winds along the lake and on one side it is filled with all these little "cottages" for rent. Some in good shape, some well livable, but oh so quaint. (See more below)

The bike/walking path through the park over to the "Strip"

The weekly Flea Market, and yes we didn't purchase a thing, only parked our bikes nearby so we could walk into town.

Found this wonderful old car in a local parking lot

It seems the First Mate can get her flower fix everywhere

An antique store that used to be the old hotel. And no family I didn't come back with these, just enjoyed them.

A Ferris Wheel that wasn't in quite working order.

We chose to stop and grab a bite to eat at a place that had outside seating and looked fun and funky. Sorry can't remember the name of the place. We ordered 2 cheese burgers and decided to share an order of fries. Thinking sharing some would be a good choice. Hah!!!! What they didn't tell us is how freaking big this "single" portion is. I guess when the description literally said "single" portion we should have known something was up. What they brought us looked like a 5 pound bag of potatoes made into fries. IT WAS HUGE!!!! We both just stared at the tray and started laughing. I looked at Mike and said "we are never going to be able to finish these". His response was "I am sure as heck going to try". Well we made a good dent in them but ultimately he said "uncle" and was done.

We popped into a place called Fascination. Mike had remembered coming to it when he was a child. It was a room filled with all these games, that you had to throw these two balls continuously up the ramp and into the holes. When someone in the room got 5 across they won and you got tickets to be redeemed on "stuff". We played three games and I must admit it was a lot of fun. I actually won 3 tickets but gave them to some little kids that were playing on the other side of the room.

Just a fun old place.

After walking through the strip we decided to ride our bikes down the strip. That was a fun experience. The cars were not going fast at all and it is only a two lane road, that you also shared with motorcycles, golf carts and these peddle carts . It was a wonderful day. Tomorrow we plan to meet up with Mikes cousin Pat and her husband Tony.