The adventure continues. Read part 1.

 

So, you decided you wanted to ignore me talking about the fact that South Bass island was generally for drinking and brought your family over.Ā  First thing you need to be aware of (if you’re just going for a day trip), is make sure you know when the last ferry is heading back, you don’t want to miss it.Ā  While a large portion of the island is bars and drinking, there are some family friendly activities to do there.

To begin with, the most famous history about the island is the battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.Ā  At the north end of the island is the Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, which is one of the tallest monuments in the world, and stands over 40 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty.Ā  Outside the lockdown times, you could take an elevator up to the top and visit the observation deck.Ā  That was closed unfortunately.

In first picture, you can see the the flags of the three countries that were regarded for the peace: the US, Britain, and Canada.Ā  In the second, you can get an idea of the scale of the column.Ā  That little spec at the bottom in the center?Ā  That’s my girlfriend.

This is a national park, and they do have a little history section which talks about the battle of Lake Erie, and has some artifacts that were recovered from the lake long after the battle.Ā  Including a replica of Perry’s battle flag, which was emblazoned with the motto: “DONT GIVE UP THE SHIP”.Ā  Based on the note on the wall, the original flag is hanging up at the Navel Academy.

Because I know my audience, those guns on the back wall are (from the top) a British Tower musket recovered from Lake Erie, an Eli Whitney contract musket (ca 1809), and a replica (sorry, no real details there).Ā  They’ve got a map of the battlefield, and a movie you can sit and watch if you want (we did not).

After the history, you can then go check out a claimed world record (but one not authenticated by the Guinness people), and enter the Crystal Cave aka the world’s largest geode.Ā  It’s a quick little tour, which lets you walk down into the cave, look around, and come back up.Ā  The geode is large enough that you’re standing inside of it.

While drinking our glass of wine that came with the tour, we did run across a lurking Glib:

This is all at one of the wineries, across the street from there is another location that is of interest to families: the Perry’s Cave and Fun Center.Ā  Here, they have a historic car museum, a butterfly house, a mini-golf course, a souvenir shop, a snack bar, “gemstone mining” (buy a bag of dirt with some pretty rocks in it, and screen it in some running water), and finally Perry’s Cave.Ā  This is a limestone cave under the island that was used to provide fresh water to the American troops during the War of 1812 (drinking Lake Erie water in summer was not the best idea, even back then).Ā  One of the former owners of the cave cut out the stalactites and stalagmites for sale in the gift shop, thinking they would grow back like plants.Ā  This is… not accurate.Ā  This cave has a very low ceiling, for a lot of the walk, I had to bend over at the waist to avoid hitting my head.

 

Other then that, there is camping, boat rentals, and nature trails.Ā  That’s about it for the family minded folks.Ā  Next time I’ll wrap this up with the bars, and the economic impact the lockdown has had on them.