When we moved to Ann Arbor two years ago, my wife researched camping locations within a few hours’ driving radius of our new home. Claiming the top of the list was South Bass Island State Park. This small campground hugs the southwest corner of a 1,500-acre island sitting in Lake Eerie, just off the coast of Ohio. The island, however, is more commonly known as Put-In-Bay, named after the village on its opposite corner. We’ve visited Put-In-Bay twice now–once on foot, once on bike–and I don’t think I’ve been anywhere quite like it.
Are you sitting at home searching for where to go for your next weekend get-away? Where to have a memorable bachelorette party? Where to find an affordable swim-up-bar? Well, do I have the place for you! Please enjoy the following ten reasons, listed for your humble consideration, to visit Put-In-Bay, Ohio.
- You’re an appreciator of reliable aquatic transit.
If you don’t have your own boat, your one way onto the island is the Miller Ferry line. These ferries hold a pretty non-stop rotation to Put-In-Bay and the other islands off of the mainland peninsula, cruising outwards and inwards past each other with a honk or captain’s wave. You could keep the time simply by watching them sail by every thirty minutes, they’re that reliable. The top level of each ferry has both interior and exterior seating for pedestrians, or you can test your inner-ear equilibrium by standing on the main deck amongst the four rows of cars, efficiently loaded from pre-marked lanes on the dock. We were even impressed by the readiness of the ferry workers to spontaneously offer to take our picture in front of the boat after disembarking, but turns out they were just doing it so we’d finally get out of the way for the next group of boarders. Whoops!
- You like driving golf carts but wish you didn’t have to pay for nine holes to get behind the wheel.
Ferry tickets cost about $20 per person to get to the island and back. If you want to bring your vehicle to get around easily while there, get ready to shell out another $50. What many folks choose, though, is to skip bringing a vehicle in favor of renting a golf cart from the armada of on-island suppliers. These golf carts range in size from two to five rows, so whether on a romantic excursion or celebrating a family reunion, they’ve got you covered. The “downtown” strip is packed with back-to-back golf cart-sized parking spaces, and you can’t go too far down any road without hearing the whine of tiny motors trying to keep pace with each other as they race to the ice cream store or the winery. What isn’t included with the rentals, though, are rearview mirrors–so maybe keep your distance if you’re a pedestrian.
- You’re doubting your backpacking abilities and need an ego boost.
For our first trip, Camilla and I went on foot. We didn’t know about the golf cart culture, nor were we exactly looking for it. So we settled our backpacks onto our hips and set out for the rigorous journey from the ferry dock to the state park…a rigorous journey that ended up being a one mile paved road. We felt a little silly with our intensity of gear that contrasted against our golf carting passersby.
While we felt like outsiders, though, we were greeted as heroes by our neighboring campers upon arrival! They couldn’t believe our savviness to carry in all of our gear unaided by a vehicle. We refrained from bowing for applause, but I guess it was nice to feel awarded for our juxtaposition rather than pushed into further self-consciousness.
- When you go wine tasting, you think, “I bet looking at a geode would really bring out the earthy notes of my Cabernet Sauvignon.”
Put-In-Bay holds two wineries within its circumference. One holds a more traditional appeal, perched on the marina in a historic mansion with affordable tasting options. But if you’re not one to be drawn towards a lake view, look no further than the second option: Heineman Winery, right next door to Perry’s Cave Family Fun Center. Who is Perry, you might ask? See #9. But his cave proudly advertises $13 tickets to tour the natural limestone formation that is registered as an Ohio Natural Landmark. If geology isn’t your thing, the Family Fun Center also offers a butterfly house and “War of 18 Holes” mini-golf course. Personally, I think mini-golf probably offers more bang-for-the-buck.
- You enjoy a scenic view, but want to be reminded of humanity’s industrial tendencies.
The main draw for us on our first camping trip, and the reason we came back, was for the cliffside campsites on Lake Eerie shoreline. The westward-facing sites give a great view of sunset brushstrokes painting the sky, and of quaint sailboats as they anchor up in the harbor. Add in some s’mores over the fire as you enjoy the view? Dreamy.
The horizon is vertically snagged, however, by a billowing pillar of cloud in the distance. Is it leading a tribe of golf carts out of Egypt? No, it’s just the cooling tower of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station. We are in Ohio, after all.
- You’re tired of the lakeshore’s seagull supremacy and are hankering for some elegant cormorant action.
As a Holland, Michigan native, I remain a loyal advocate of my hometown beaches–even the overcrowded Ottawa Beach on a hot Fourth of July afternoon. But I will admit, Holland beaches are devastatingly lacking in ornithological diversity. How refreshing, then, to be gently woken out of slumber in the mornings not by the harsh gullets of seagulls, but by the throaty creaking of their slender-necked brethren, the double-crested cormorant. The waterfront is a great place to enjoy the snaking feathers as they dive in and out of the waves crashing against the rocky shore–although you’ll want to view them while sitting cross-legged, as I’ll explain next.
- You miss elementary school because that was the last time it was socially acceptable to sit criss-cross-applesauce.
While the presence of cormorants is welcome at the waterfront, there is another guest present that is the little less charming: biting black flies. Whether you’re drying off after a swim or playing Cribbage at your campsite, these evasive buggers will make themselves known!
A quick Google search informed us that many boaters claim these flies are primarily drawn to vertical surfaces, i.e. an exposed calf that is descending from the picnic table bench. So, with some success, we adapted our Cribbage sessions to occur while sitting on the picnic table top rather than the bench, with legs pretzeled as horizontally as our bodies would allow. It really seemed to make a difference and my legs only fell asleep, like, fifty times.
- You hate it when your bartender changes the TV channel without permission.
Taking advantage of our bikes during our second visit, I ventured into the downtown area on a Sunday morning to watch the Arsenal match being televised. I was met with an empty bar, a sign advertising $3 PBRs, and twenty TVs that were broadcasting a mix of baseball and the U.S. Open. I asked the bartender if she’d be able to put the Arsenal game on for me, to which she disclosed that the employees actually weren’t allowed to change the channels. A little confused, I began to thank her and turn towards the exit, but she stopped me and let me know she’d call in the manager to make the adjustment. Sure enough, a man rolled in fifteen minutes later from off-site, found the USA Network listing for me in the TV guide, and then retreated as quickly as he came. I don’t know, maybe he was just really passionate about protecting his patrons from rogue bartenders commandeering the sports channels to watch a rerun of CSI: Miami or something.
- You are a monument connoisseur, but Washington D.C. is feeling just a little too far away.
Towering north of downtown, and visible from a good chunk of the surrounding area, is Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial. This Doric-style column rises to 352 feet and commemorates those who fought in the War of 1812, Commodore Perry’s victory against the British at the bay, and celebrates its modern proximity to “the longest undefended border in the world.” For reference, the Washington Monument is 555 feet tall–so 352 feet doesn’t seem like anything to shake a stick at for an island village most people have never heard of.
Photo courtesy of Put-In-Bay Lodging
- You believe that even the smallest of graduating classes deserve to be celebrated.
When the camp store provided us with some newspaper as a fire-starting aid, we thought we might as well take a look at what the talk-of-the-town was on Put-In-Bay these days. The headline on the first page? “PUT-IN-BAY GRADUATES THREE,” accompanied by prom pictures of said three individuals and their dates. We didn’t even know people lived on Put-In-Bay year round, let alone that there was a school there. I wonder what things are like on the island in the off-season. Do the golf cart renters stay open? Does it snow? If so, how do those vehicles handle the inclement weather? I guess we’ll need to save those questions for trip number three.
Luke Brandsen graduated in 2019 and uses his business/HR degree to inform directing mission-focused programs. He currently lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he squints at the players on his bootleg soccer stream, breaks guitar strings, and desperately tries to recall where the last D&D session he ran left off.
