Every time we have visited Kelleys Island, located in the western basin of Lake Erie about four miles north of Marblehead and twelve miles from Sandusky, we have always found new things to do and see. The entire island measures more than four square miles and is the largest fresh water American island in Lake Erie.
Our first visit to Kelleys Island, around 1975, was just for a day as pedestrians. The twenty minute ferry ride itself is captivating – standing on the main deck catching the spray, or going inside or topside to see the view going up and down in those infamous Lake Erie waves. Kelleys Mansion, built by island co-founder Addison Kelley in the 1860’s, was our first stop. The Mansion, which features beautiful woodwork, rose colored cut glass windows, and a unique free standing spiral staircase, can be toured daily for a small donation. We would love to bring our friends Jody and Kathy Victor, whose own home is gorgeous, to tour the Mansion.
We rented bicycles (golf carts are also available) and cycled around the quiet town, shopped at Kelleys Cove and The Village Peddler, ate lunch at The Casino right on the docks, and later had some ice cream at Dipper Dan’s Ice Cream Stand. We found out that you can also charter fishing and sailing boats from several locations, take ferry cruises to other islands, visit Kelly Island Wine Co. for wine tasting and tours, rent boats and jet skis, take hikes through the state park, and observe many birds and other wildlife in their beautiful, natural habitat, plus much, much more. We could not wait to come back and bring our friends Fred and Linda Harteis and Orrin and Laurie Woodward for the fishing and shopping.
A week at Kelleys Island State Park was our next visit. Our campsite was close to the beach where we made campfires in the evenings and listened to the waves and watched the stars. In the morning we walked a few short steps to the sandy beach and wriggled our toes in the cool blue water. One late afternoon we took our boat out from the free, double boat launching ramp, just past the swim buoys, to fish. No sooner did we have our lines in the water than we started catching white bass. It was exciting watching the frenzied school of fish feeding and practically jumping in our boat. Those white bass tasted as wonderful that evening as the walleye, perch, catfish, or smallmouth also caught around Kelleys and Lake Erie. When I didn’t want to cook we ate dinner at The Village Pump, Island Café & Brew Pub, or one of the many other dining spots.
On another trip to Kelleys we took our two school-aged boys for a week. One of their favorite sights is the Glacial Grooves State Memorial. It is the largest and most spectacular example of glacial grooves left in the world and measures 400 foot by 35 foot wide. They also enjoyed Inscription Rock State Memorial, a flat-toped limestone boulder on the south shore of Kelleys Island. The faint pictographs of men, birds, and animals carved by the Erie Indians 300-400 years ago, are signs of the island’s era as an Indian hunting ground. Being boys, they also loved the hiking trails, bicycling, the beach, and fishing off the stone pier. Our friends Billy and Peggy Florence would love this island too. But Billy would have to leave his plane behind, the Kelly’s Island airstrip is not quite large enough for a jet landing.
No matter if you visit Kelleys Island for one day or one week at the campgrounds, bed and breakfasts, cottages, condos, or apartments, you can’t help but have fun and feel relaxed on this enchanted island of lush greenery, interesting wildlife, and sparkling blue water.
~ Erie Gal