A few specific questions about Sandusky, OH
June 24, 2013 11:24 AM Subscribe
I will be visiting Sandusky for a week in August, renting a house with family members for a few days. We will have 7 adults and 2 young kids (2 and 4). Hoping someone can help us out with some specific questions.
Is there a nice beach nearby?
Is there a pool somewhere that we can go to? Maybe a public or hotel pool we can buy access to on a daily basis?
Is there a place to ride bikes (with kids)? Is there a place to rent bikes? Looks like Saw Mill Creek Park could be an option?
How is Kelly's Island? What do you do there?
How is Put In Bay? What do you do there?
Any favorite restaurants that you would recommend (for dine-in or take-out)?
Is this a good area to rent a boat?
Aside from Cedar Point, what are your favorite things to do nearby? Any feedback on the following?
- Lagoon Deer Park
- African Safari Wildlife Park
- Seneca Caverns
We will be staying on Cedar Point Road.
Thanks so much for any advice!
Is there a nice beach nearby?
Is there a pool somewhere that we can go to? Maybe a public or hotel pool we can buy access to on a daily basis?
Is there a place to ride bikes (with kids)? Is there a place to rent bikes? Looks like Saw Mill Creek Park could be an option?
How is Kelly's Island? What do you do there?
How is Put In Bay? What do you do there?
Any favorite restaurants that you would recommend (for dine-in or take-out)?
Is this a good area to rent a boat?
Aside from Cedar Point, what are your favorite things to do nearby? Any feedback on the following?
- Lagoon Deer Park
- African Safari Wildlife Park
- Seneca Caverns
We will be staying on Cedar Point Road.
Thanks so much for any advice!
Looks like Saw Mill Creek Park could be an option?
This wasn't really ringing any bells (I live in Northern Ohio), so I did some Googling, and (if I'm reading various sources correctly) the SawMill Creek Park is part of the SawMill Creek Resort and possibly not open to the public unless you're a guest of the resort. You might want to do some checking on this.
The definitely public section is Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve that's part of the same area of Lake Erie wetlands.
I have some friends who've gone to the Kalahari Water Park and loved it. I've done some work at the associated convention center and generally been impressed by the quality of service, FWIW.
IMO & E, both Kelleys Island and Put-in-Bay are the core of an area that thinks of itself (and markets itself) as sort of a "Key West of the Great Lakes", or maybe "Jimmy Buffett Song Come To Life." Kelleys Island is more family-friendly and a little more centered around boating & swimming & other water sports (at least during daylight hours), while Put-In-Bay has more of the "Party Hard!!" approach (IOW, what you do at Put-in-Bay is start drinking early.) Lots of the bars in Put-in-Bay have bands starting in the early afternoon, if some of the adults are looking for something to do kid-free during the day.
Depending on exactly when you're there, you might be able to find things to do associated with the Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial.
posted by soundguy99 at 7:50 PM on June 24, 2013
This wasn't really ringing any bells (I live in Northern Ohio), so I did some Googling, and (if I'm reading various sources correctly) the SawMill Creek Park is part of the SawMill Creek Resort and possibly not open to the public unless you're a guest of the resort. You might want to do some checking on this.
The definitely public section is Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve that's part of the same area of Lake Erie wetlands.
I have some friends who've gone to the Kalahari Water Park and loved it. I've done some work at the associated convention center and generally been impressed by the quality of service, FWIW.
IMO & E, both Kelleys Island and Put-in-Bay are the core of an area that thinks of itself (and markets itself) as sort of a "Key West of the Great Lakes", or maybe "Jimmy Buffett Song Come To Life." Kelleys Island is more family-friendly and a little more centered around boating & swimming & other water sports (at least during daylight hours), while Put-In-Bay has more of the "Party Hard!!" approach (IOW, what you do at Put-in-Bay is start drinking early.) Lots of the bars in Put-in-Bay have bands starting in the early afternoon, if some of the adults are looking for something to do kid-free during the day.
Depending on exactly when you're there, you might be able to find things to do associated with the Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial.
posted by soundguy99 at 7:50 PM on June 24, 2013
Best answer: Kelleys Island does bike rentals, and if you're into biking, it's a nice place to spend an afternoon biking around. There are a lot of interesting-to-adults nature-y places that you can stop and let the kids stretch their legs. It also has a great beach.
Put-In-Bay is less...wholesome, I guess, than Kelleys Island, but it's still pretty kid-friendly. They have a butterfly house there that my daughter was wild about, and she loved "mining for gemstones". She was a few years older than your kids (I want to say she was six the first time we went?) but there were lots of younger kids around. It's slightly weird to take children on a winery tour, but the winery also has the Crystal Cave, which is a huge geode that you can walk through--it's pretty neat. There's also kayak rentals, though Kelleys may have that, as well. It's much more commercialized than Kelleys, and can be an expensive trip. There's a ferry between the two islands, so it's relatively easy to just spend an hour at PIB and then move on to calmer things at Kelleys.
African Safari Wildlife Park was wildly thrilling to me as a child--I would imagine that your kids will have the same response. You drive through with your windows open, and the animals will literally walk up and stick their heads into your car. Kid-me thought it was magical. My father was somewhat less thrilled, as animals masticating carrots, ect, in your car can be...messy. There's a shopvac when you're done, if I remember correctly. (Also, buy carrots. The kibble stuff they give you is mostly ignored.)
I don't know if you're able to buy passes just to the beach, but Cedar Point has a really fantastic beach. Call Hotel Breakers and ask if they will sell beach passes. It's super clean and nice, and if you have (or can get) access to it, you should use it. If you're willing to drive over to the peninsula, which is about thirty minutes from where you're staying, East Harbor State Park has a nice beach (or did ten years ago), as does Lakeside (much more recently than ten years ago). (Lakeside has a gate fee, but has some decent restaurants, nice beach, and shopping.)
Seneca Caverns is awesome, and definitely worth a trip. That said, if anyone in your group gets claustrophobic or is afraid of heights, I would suggest that they...go, but be prepared to back out and spend an hour wandering around aboveground. Be aware that it's a moderately physical thing--steps, tight twisty passageways, etc. Don't let the kids (or anyone) wear sandals or other loose shoes--sneakers are the way to go, here. And be prepared for the kids to get dirty--some steep areas may require sliding on their butts. Also, call ahead and see how many levels are accessible. If there've been heavy rains, the lower levels will flood, and it's kind of a bummer to pay for admission and then only be able to reach four levels.
If you like historical stuff Lyme Village might be interesting. I don't remember how kid-friendly it is, though, so you might want to call before committing to it. I was fascinated the one time I was there, though.
If you're into boating, the Sandusky area is a great place to rent a boat--you can take yourself out to Kelleys and PIB, cruise around the peninsula and look at Marblehead Lighthouse, head down the coast some, or whatever, and it's pretty great. I've gone in a boat owned by a friend of the family, but have never rented one and can't give recommendations.
posted by MeghanC at 11:43 PM on June 24, 2013
Put-In-Bay is less...wholesome, I guess, than Kelleys Island, but it's still pretty kid-friendly. They have a butterfly house there that my daughter was wild about, and she loved "mining for gemstones". She was a few years older than your kids (I want to say she was six the first time we went?) but there were lots of younger kids around. It's slightly weird to take children on a winery tour, but the winery also has the Crystal Cave, which is a huge geode that you can walk through--it's pretty neat. There's also kayak rentals, though Kelleys may have that, as well. It's much more commercialized than Kelleys, and can be an expensive trip. There's a ferry between the two islands, so it's relatively easy to just spend an hour at PIB and then move on to calmer things at Kelleys.
African Safari Wildlife Park was wildly thrilling to me as a child--I would imagine that your kids will have the same response. You drive through with your windows open, and the animals will literally walk up and stick their heads into your car. Kid-me thought it was magical. My father was somewhat less thrilled, as animals masticating carrots, ect, in your car can be...messy. There's a shopvac when you're done, if I remember correctly. (Also, buy carrots. The kibble stuff they give you is mostly ignored.)
I don't know if you're able to buy passes just to the beach, but Cedar Point has a really fantastic beach. Call Hotel Breakers and ask if they will sell beach passes. It's super clean and nice, and if you have (or can get) access to it, you should use it. If you're willing to drive over to the peninsula, which is about thirty minutes from where you're staying, East Harbor State Park has a nice beach (or did ten years ago), as does Lakeside (much more recently than ten years ago). (Lakeside has a gate fee, but has some decent restaurants, nice beach, and shopping.)
Seneca Caverns is awesome, and definitely worth a trip. That said, if anyone in your group gets claustrophobic or is afraid of heights, I would suggest that they...go, but be prepared to back out and spend an hour wandering around aboveground. Be aware that it's a moderately physical thing--steps, tight twisty passageways, etc. Don't let the kids (or anyone) wear sandals or other loose shoes--sneakers are the way to go, here. And be prepared for the kids to get dirty--some steep areas may require sliding on their butts. Also, call ahead and see how many levels are accessible. If there've been heavy rains, the lower levels will flood, and it's kind of a bummer to pay for admission and then only be able to reach four levels.
If you like historical stuff Lyme Village might be interesting. I don't remember how kid-friendly it is, though, so you might want to call before committing to it. I was fascinated the one time I was there, though.
If you're into boating, the Sandusky area is a great place to rent a boat--you can take yourself out to Kelleys and PIB, cruise around the peninsula and look at Marblehead Lighthouse, head down the coast some, or whatever, and it's pretty great. I've gone in a boat owned by a friend of the family, but have never rented one and can't give recommendations.
posted by MeghanC at 11:43 PM on June 24, 2013
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How is Kelly's Island? What do you do there?
I've been there with family (including kids) and it was a lot of fun. We:
- Rode the ferry over (which the kids loved)
- Rented a golf cart to drive around the island
- Walked over unique rock formations carved out by glaciers
- Swam in the lake on a beach near the campground
I'm not sure if a 2 and 4 year old would be quite old enough to find these activities fun but our group of adults and slightly older kids (6-10) had a nice time.
How is Put In Bay? What do you do there?
In my experience, Put In Bay is full of bachelor/bachelorette parties and overpriced drinks. (And the world's largest swim-up bar.) Granted my experience was pretty limited but I don't think I would take kids there based on what I saw/have heard of others' trips.
posted by halseyaa at 11:50 AM on June 24, 2013 [1 favorite]