Vermilion: A Small Town On A Great Lake

A couple of weekends ago I drove with Poppy and Sebastian out to Ohio for a big family weekend at his dad's beach house on Lake Erie. Sebastian's dad Ted is a Fellow at the Cleveland Foundation, and about a year ago he and his wife Shannon moved to Ohio so that Ted could be closer to his work. In addition to their home in the city, Ted and Shannon have a lovely waterfront cottage in the town of Vermilion.  The town's little main street looks like a movie set (complete with an adorable soda fountain), and is nestled along a river and harbor which are full of lovely sailboats. We spent plenty of time at the beach (which was dog friendly!), had a picnic on the water, visited an auction, did some antiquing, and ate lots of ice cream.
Ohio, you're for me.
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The Adirondacks - Norway Island in Middle Saranac Lake

Over Memorial Day weekend we returned to The Adirondacks, to camp on a private island in Middle Saranac Lake. The islands are boat access only, and we rented a little 12' fishing boat to get to Norway Island, which is about 45 minutes from the closest road/marina. Unseasonably cold and rainy weather on Friday and Saturday meant that the lake was even emptier than usual (we saw as few as 4 other people - fishermen - during our stay). We endured the gloomy weather by layering up in our coziest winter gear, making chili, napping lots, and drinking whiskey. In the end were rewarded for our perseverance-- on Sunday afternoon the clouds parted and the sun came out. Even Poppy was elated. Dan caught us a very tasty fish, our bravest went for a swim, and we all did a bit of sunbathing. After loading up the car, a pit stop at Mountain Mist Custard did a fine job of reminding us that summer is still just around the corner.

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