Sandusky, Ohio

OH-HI-OH! Ohio, I am surprisingly impressed. Can’t say I want to live there, but I’m taken back by the food choices and selection of things to do. At least in Sandusky and Cleveland. Sure, it’s only two cities in your state, but definitely something to ring home about!

This post will be “dedicated” to time spent in Sandusky. And to give you a little background, my friend, AB, and I have been going on annual trips to different amusement parks for the Halloween season. This year we had a number of recommendations to try out Cedar Point.  So for our 3rd Annual Amusement Park “Work Day”, we were off to Sandusky, Ohio!

I told AB that she was responsible for planning this trip, so other than Cedar Point and eventually going to Cleveland, I was in the dark on plans…which was totally cool (and unlike me)! When Thursday morning rolled around, we grabbed our rental car, packed up and hit the road. Think Waze had us set for a 6+ hour trip! Not bad when we decided not to take back roads. We did have a little detour, or was it confusion, on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. We should have gone one way, but we went the other. Took us about 30 minutes out of the way, but we weren’t too worried about it.

At one point, we stopped for gas. And god help me was it cold. My boss had warned me, but I clearly didn’t understand the extent of his warning. I packed “warm” clothing or at least what I thought was going to be warm, given D.C. weather had been pretty good. Well, as soon as I stepped out of the car, I bolted to the trunk to put on literally every layer I had brought with me. Immediately I knew I wasn’t going to fend well in Ohio! I don’t like the cold, nor do I do well in it. (In fact, later in the trip, we had to make a detour trip to Marshall’s for me to buy two sweatshirts to wear! ??‍♀️) Needless to say, I wore all my layers throughout the weekend, and occasionally AB’s jacket.

Since I thoroughly support and encourage AirBnB, we rented one for our stayin Sandusky. It wasn’t too bad. For the price, of course! After getting settled in, we were dead set on getting food in our systems. We didn’t really bring too many snacks and we didn’t stop on the way. So, food was first on the brain. We went with a place that an intern and the AirBnB host recommended. A place called Small City Taphouse…and O-M-G! It was “Sooooo Pho-King Good”.

For being in a small town (USA…couldn’t help myself!), Small City Taphouse was badass and then some. The selection and menu was unbelievable – I wanted to eat it all. We settled on getting two appetizers, sushi, and main courses. Everything was to die for and we never wanted it to end. We even thought about going back the next day/night, but we were going to be at Cedar Point sadly.

With full bellies and a half day of travel, we were back to our AirBnB to rest up for the next day. We had a big day ahead of us, between exploring Put In Bay and a long night at the Scare-Fest at Cedar Point. Lots to do and never seems like enough time.

We started our second day in Ohio at local, family owned breakfast spot. Yelp gave us this recommendation, and it was definitely on point. Bates Family Kitchen was great and filling at the same time. We originally sat at a picnic table, with the potential for others to join us. But I was so interested in watching the kitchen that we switched to bar seating. We filled up on biscuits and gravy, french toast with a peach compote, and a homemade pork hash with a fried egg on top. Goodness, my mouth is watering just writing it!

Then it was off to Put In Bay. Ferry. Go-cart. Exploration! The island is off the coast of Sandusky and took about 30 minutes to get there. The ferry ride was smooth and peaceful. Oh, did I mention it was also COLD! HA. Once we landed, we rented a go-cart, which might have been the most amazing thing. (Something about me and different forms of transportation these days!) We rode around the island, stopping at the National Park, shoreline to pick up rocks, Butterfly House, and Perry’s Cave. Each attraction offered something a little bit different. History, sand and rocks, butterfly friends and an underground mining cavern. Who can beat all that! Once we finished with our adventures on Put In Bay, we returned the go-cart, hopped back on the ferry and made our way to Cedar Point Amusement Park.

We got to the park shortly before opening time, only to find out that rides were already open and being rode by fellow patrons. Ugh! Lost roller coaster riding time. But it was okay – we had the next 6 hours to run around the park and ride as many rides as possible. We ended up leaving our bags in a locker most of the time, which meant we didn’t really have our phones. Not many pictures from this part of the trip.

Sadly, some of the biggest/coolest rides were closed the night we went. Not sure if it was due to maintenance Halloween part of the park. Regardless, this park was definitely the best one I have been to. Beats out Busch Gardens and Kings Dominion, and I would LOVE to go back when all the bigger rides are open (and working)! It would be worth a return-trip to Sandusky.

While our time in Sandusky was relatively short, we saw and ate our way through, happily and full. And as I started off this post, I was thoroughly impressed with the small town food and the landmarks they have to offer. We were off to Cleveland the next day, so stayed tune to another post soon.