| We stayed over with our hosts in Lorain and they took us to Sandusky, about 30 miles to the west, a pleasant town on the banks of
Lake Erie. This avenue of majestic willows caught my eye. They are just
coming into leaf. |  |
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Out at lakeside is Cedar Point with magnificent houses on the way out and a
huge amusement park at the end. I have never seen such a large car park.
However it doesn't open until May 1st and so was very peaceful for a few
days more. |
| Sandusky was an important way station on the
Underground Railroad. This was not a real railway but a chain of safe houses
and anti-slavery activists who helped escaping slaves to make their way to
freedom in Canada. There were huge penalties for those caught assisting
slaves but that did not stop a number of prominent people giving them
shelter and even work along
the way. This recent sculpture made from iron chain links celebrate this period.
The Second Baptist Church was founded by free blacks and former slaves here
in 1849 and was an important part of the railroad. |  |
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We took a ferry across to Kelley's Island which was owned by the Kelley
brothers in the mid 1800s and was the centre of quite a thriving community,
before cheaper limestone from Michigan and the costs of shipping caused a decline in the
mid 1900s. Today it is suffering again with many of the houses on the
island up for sale with few buyers and the credit squeeze biting. |
| The reason we came out to the island was to view the
glacial grooves at the old quarry area (right). These are amongst the finest
examples in the world today. There were even larger grooves here but they
were destroyed by quarrying in earlier years. They date from the last
Wisconsin Ice Age (15000 years ago) when the ice here was over a mile thick
and extended over most of Ohio. These grooves were excavated in 1971 and are
almost 400ft long. |  |
| Our host insisted we should have our photo taken at
this historic point, so here is a rare photo of us. |  |
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These catkins were particularly attractive. The tree, we were advised, was a
black walnut and seemed to grow out of the rock. |
| In fact, trees will grow anywhere and even surround
anything in their way as with this example which has embedded the fence. |  |
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There are a lot of large and very attractive houses on the island
reminiscent of a time when wealthy people had homes like this for the summer
months. |
| Some are extremely grand. This may have been used as a
hotel at one time. Many are now falling on hard times. This is no longer
such a fashionable place to come. But in summer there will still be plenty
of boats in the marinas. |  |
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This is a 100 year old daffodil variety. When we saw it at night we thought
it only had five petals. But I think the photo shows that it actually still
has six like all narcissi. However it was very attractive and has quite a
history. |
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