Lake Erie South Shore

Travel

Sep 7

Presque Isle State Park

We made a quick stop in Erie, Pennsylvania on our way up to Canada. We spent the afternoon at Presque Isle State Park - a beautiful park surrounded by water, rich with history, and featuring miles of hiking and biking trails. We parked the rig at the marina and enjoyed lunch overlooking the boats. After lunch, we visited the Presque Isle Lighthouse. The lighthouse dates to the 1870s and sits on 99 waterfront acres. You have the option to climb to the top if your legs can handle the 130 narrow steps. We did not exercise this option! After the light house, we headed over to the Commodore Perry Monument. It’s a nice monument honoring Oliver Hazard Perry (possibly the best middle name ever), the hero of the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. After completing the 13-mile, scenic tour, we made a quick stop at Pulakos Chocolates, a local chocolatier that has been making chocolate in Erie, PA for 110 years.

South Shore Wine Company

Our campsite for the evening in Erie was the South Shore Wine Company. Unbeknownst to us, the southern shore of Lake Erie has a robust wine industry with tens of thousands of acres of vineyards and scores of small wineries. South Shore features a Civil War era stone cavern tasting room that was built in the 1860’s and makes for a delightful wine tasting experience. Make sure to ask about the paranormal activity…if you are into things like that.

Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz Museum

Our second night in the area was spent in Dunkirk, NY. Here we stayed on a small private farm that was surrounded by vineyards. We visited the Dunkirk lighthouse (first established in 1827), the local pier, and an area restaurant to try their locally-famous pie! We also took a short road trip to Jamestown NY to see the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Museum. The museum was small…but well done. There was a ton of story telling about Luci, Desi and their production studio, Desilu. There was a great collection of artifacts and memorabilia, and no shortage of video clips of their various shows and movies. One of the more interesting learnings was how impactful Desilu studios was on the television industry. They brought many technical and process innovations to the industry and gave birth to some of the most iconic TV shows of all time (i.e., I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith, Star Trek, and Mission Impossible).