Anybody Ever Been To Put-in-Bay, Port Clinton Ohio

[Steven@147]

Tami and I were thinking of taking a trip to the above 2nd week of September. Taking the Ferry from Port Clinton, leaving our 1 Ton Dually at the Ferry parking lot overnight to South Bass Island and Put-In-Bay. We would be staying at a B&B overnight and come back the next day. The B&B also rents golf carts to get around the Island.

Seems to be a lot to do and I want to visit the Heineman Winery, family linkage, Butterfly House, Green Island Lighthouse, South Bass Island Lighthouse, the Boardwalk and several other attractions.
Anybody ever been to Put-In-Bay and impart any wisdom?

 

[Steven@147]

We decided against pulling the rig up to Port Clinton, we'll leave it here in Richmond central Indiana (I70) on the Ohio border. However there are 4 and 5 star RV campgrounds near Port Clinton on the mainland.

We'll drive up to Port Clinton Ohio mid-week (@3 hours) Northwest of Sandusky Ohio. We'll leave the truck at the Millers Ferry parking lot. Take the Ferry $9 each one way, @ 25 minute ride to South Bass Island and Put-In-Bay. We'll take a taxi or bus to our B&B Ashley's House ($133/night free breakfast) to stay the night and return to Richmond IN the next day. We rented a golf cart ($50) to get us around the island.

It's kind of like , somewhat like, Mackinaw Island, but at least at South Bass Island and Put-In-Bay you can take a car over on the Ferry, but it's discouraged and parking and driving is very limited they say.
South Bass Island does have a campground at the State Park on the south end of the island and you can take your RV over on the Ferry, but they say and reviews say it's not big rig friendly. Small RVs.

Attractions we plan to visit,
Perry's Memorial
Heineman Winery
Historical Museum
South Bass Island Lighthouse
South Bass Island State Park
Perry's Cave & Butterfly House and Gardens
May even take in the War of 18 Holes Putt Putt Golf

Restaurants we want to try The Main Deck and or the Upper Deck. Main dishes to try Erie perch and walleye.
Of course all the shopping Tami can stand.

Will report back after our stay, should be fun!

 

[Steven@147]

Well Tami and I just returned from Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island Ohio. Great place to visit!
We left our rig back in Richmond Indiana and drove (3 hours) to Port Clinton / Catawba Point and Millers Ferry. We left our 1 ton dually at Miller's Ferry parking lot on the mainland at Catawba Island Point, it's free. There are other parking lots for $10 a day at the ferry if free parking is full.
You can take your car or truck over to the island on the ferry but there isn't a lot of room to park vehicles at the attractions, especially big vehicles.

There several campgrounds on the mainland near Port Clinton or Catawba Point you could stay with your RV, then take the ferry over for the day. The ferry is $9 / person one way and takes about 18-20 minutes.
Or if you have a small RV you can take it over on the ferry and stay at South Bass Island State Park.

We stayed at Ashley's Island House B&B on the island, a great place with 13 rooms with private bathrooms. We also rented a golf cart from Ashley's House $50 a day to get around the island. We took a cab $6 from the ferry landing to Ashley's House. Outstanding B&B, Dave the owner was great and accommodating and the hot breakfast was excellent.

There are several places to rent golf carts on the island but check the prices to get the best deal. The island is about 2 to 3 miles long so getting around on a golf cart is much better and several places to park the cart at all the attractions.

We visited Sept 16-17 Mon-Tues and it was real quiet and not a lot of tourist. On the weekends and at the height of the tourist season, it can get real busy and crowded.

We think it was a lot of fun and well worth the visit. We took in Perry's Victory & International Peace Memorial of the War of 1812 on Lake Erie. Perry was the Naval Officer that had "Don't Give Up The Ship" on his battle flag, and coined the Naval historical phrase "We Have Met The Enemy, And They Are Ours".

Other places we visited were the Heineman Winery, Maritime History Museum, South Bass Island State Park, The Butterfly House, South Bass Island Lighthouse, The Boardwalk. I upload to our YouTube channel a 30 minute video of our visit, as always our channel is non-profit. Link in our signature.

There are several other attractions including Crystal Cave where you can see the largest Geode in the world. The sunsets were equally wonderful at the state park. It was a lot of fun. Pick up a free map of the island that lists all the attractions at Miller's Ferry and they have tons of information.

If you want to get to the island in a hurry there is a jet ferry express over to the island at Port Clinton.

Did you know the US Navy had an aircraft carrier on the great lakes? See pictures and info about it at the Maritime Museum.

 

[BoredWeasel]

sorry I missed your first ask about put in bay. We go up every June for a week and stay in the state park. june 2024 it was $155 to get our trailer and tow vehicle over and back from the Island Via Miller ferry. We caught the mayflys this year, yuck.

The state park only has about 15 full hook up sites the rest are water and electric only. they do have a dump station but it is very very tight. with a u turn to get out of it. During the week the campground is very chill, on the weekend it can get very loud. This year for the first time we saw LE driving the campground.

There is enough to see and do for a week.