At first, we wanted to skip Ohio all together but ended up being pleasantly surprised by the beauty and fun Ohio had to offer us. We were there for a total of 18 days and loved it more and more each day. Although our visit seemed long, we were back and forth between responsibilities in Michigan at the same time. It was still more time than we imagined but could have enjoyed another week or two yet. Our first stop in Ohio was Put-In Bay.
On the travels through Detroit, our friends Courtney and David convinced us to stop at a place called Put-In Bay. They described Put-In Bay as an Adult Disneyworld where the world’s longest bar, the world’s largest geode, and probably many other claims to fame come together on this island community. They also mentioned that the main transportation would be by golf carts. We thought they might be joking at first but immediately ruled it in as a better plan than Sandusky.
As we approached the island, we immediately saw Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial standing tall to greet us with its historical past. We decided to find a mooring ball to stay at for the couple days we’d be around which then ended up being almost a week. The mooring field was very affordable but the comfort was only good half the time. Many nights ended up being rocky, causing us more pain than we had already subjected our bodies to at all the fun bars & restaurants.
Highlights of the island were most definitely the bars and restaurants. There are an overwhelming amount of places to eat and drink in which we apparently took as a challenge during our visit. We went to the majority of the places but here are our favorites (in no particular order) –
Mojito Bay – They’ve got swings! This place is by far our favorite. It was so much fun to swing at the bar. They also have incredible cocktails. Swings + cocktails = Ultimate Happiness.
The Boat House – This place had a fun band playing and provided us delicious food. We randomly went here and soon realized that the inside is actually shaped like the inside of an old ship. A neat interior.
Joe’s Bar – This would be the hole-in-the-wall bar in Put-In Bay and it’s off the beaten path some. If you go to Put-In Bay, you have to go here. They had the BEST beer selection at much more affordable prices.
Put-In-Bay Brewing Company – We love our beer and they were a great representation of craft beer. Amazing service and was of course the first place we decided to go to.
The Boardwalk – They manage the mooring balls and are a huge complex of different restaurants in close proximity to the boat. They have a free tender service, which was awesome for the dogs and for our laziness in using the dinghy all the time. I tried a Boardwalk Bloody Mary which has shredded shrimp and lobster in their signature recipe. It was actually VERY good.
Topsy Turvy’s Bar & Grill – This place was a little hide away and allowed us to escape the busy weekend of visitors. We like getting away from people sometimes.
Pasquale’s Garden Bar – We found this gem as we were walking the dogs one night. They allowed us to bring the dogs in and immediately turned into another favorite. GREAT company, amazing service, and tasty beers.
Other attractions we enjoyed were going up the tower for an incredible 360 degree view of the area, driving around a golf cart all over the island, dinghy exploring Gibralter Island, and enjoying live music almost every day and night. I wouldn’t describe this place to be an Adult Disneyworld but more like an Adult Spring break. It’s similar to Mackinac Island but with golf carts instead of horses. Its fun for work outings, bachelor or bachelorette parties, and people who in general enjoy drinking.
In our case, we celebrated our first anniversary and was the reason why we stayed longer than expected. It was so much fun and glad we made the stop. We’ll remember it forever and always.
Cheers and thanks for reading!
