Parallel Parking the
Boat in Lorain to the City of Flowers - Vermilion
Rain showers and
thunderstorms have added drama to our afternoons regularly; nevertheless, we
have managed to keep moving. The rain
has again closed the Erie Canal, but on the good side, the lakes are higher
than they have been. This may give us more options for stops on Huron and
Michigan. The extremely low lake water has closed some marinas to boats like ours
the last few years. With ‘weather’, we try to keep our eye on the upside as we
dash for cover from the rain drops.
After Cleveland, we
stopped in Lorain, OH where on arrival the harbor master instructed us to
parallel park on the D dock across from the big blue tug. Well, I was very confused about how to parallel
park a boat and more than a little confused about what she meant, but Steve,
the expert captain that he is, figured it out – even though the big blue thing
had departed before we got there. In
general, most marinas need to make their dock numbering easier to read from
the water – in Lorain the dock numbers were massive on the parking lot side
and miniature from the water! At least we never had trouble finding our boat
from the land side!
Our stop in Lorain was primarily to visit
friends Jan and Bryan who we met in Marathon many months ago. (You can review our
arrive in Marathon to remember why we are deeply grateful to those two who
saved us from running aground and helped us safely tie up to the mooring ball –
risking life and limb in front of our prow.) We owe them yet another debt since
they ferried us to errands not easily accomplished from boat docks in one
afternoon – trips to Target, World Market, superior grocery stores and
butchers, hair cutters, and discount warehouses plus toured us around the area
to see the views from the land. More than all the help, it was wonderful to sit
and catch up with fellow boaters who understand our attraction to life on the
water. They also have advised us on many
great stops along Lake Erie. So, from Lorain we moved a few miles further west
to Vermilion, OH. These two towns,
though barely 10 miles apart, are a study in contrasts. Both have very
accessible rivers and a downtown core with attractive vintage buildings close
to the harbor. However, Vermilion has managed to redevelop their waterfront and
refurbish the downtown facades. In
addition, they have a very active group that organizes free activities and
beautifies the town with more than 144 hanging planters plus pots and flower
beds. The place is in bloom and too cute
to boot. While Lorain has all this potential including a cute restored
lighthouse, it seems to lack the sustained civic energy that has revived
neighboring Vermilion. It does look like things are beginning to happen in
Lorain, and we were sorry to miss the International Festival with music and
food setting up on the river front park.
We also missed the Saturday Market in Vermilion as we left early to get
a mooring ball on South Bass Island in Put-In-Bay where we discovered the
weekend events include the Pyrate Festival – insert cannon firing. More on that
next time.
