Erie, PA–Redux

Lampe Campground, Erie, PA – June 25 thru 29, 2015

We arrived at Lampe Municipal Campground and Marina midafternoon. It as still early enough after we got set up that we decided to run out to Presque Isle State Park which envelopes some of the shore of Lake Erie.

There we let a little of our inner child out and stuck our toes in the sands, skipped rocks on the water then chilled out and watched the sun set over the water.

While we were in Erie we sampled several breweries and found one worthy of filling our 49th State growler. It’s name? The Brewerie.

The Brewerie is located in the old train station. Another great example of repurposing buildings instead of building new ones. It also contains a great restaurant which we naturally had to sample along with their beers.

At the campground we chatted with the hosts who work very unique hours. The left the campground at 7AM and returned around 3PM. They handled no problems, enforced no rules but they would take your money to pay for the camping fee.

One day the warned us that they were vacating the campground because bad weather was coming. Supposedly 40-50MPH winds and lots of rain was forecast and the campground was right in the path. They were high tailing it and deserting the rest of us. We battened down the hatches and brought in the slides but the storm turned out to be a non-event.

Presque Isle has a great paved bike path so one day we took advantage of that.

I borrowed an aerial photograph from the web to show the shape of Presque Isle. The bike path runs the length of the Isle. In the War of 1812 Admiral Perry successfully defended the bay from the the attacking British. The obelisk in the first picture is a monument to Admiral Perry.

To add a little excitement to our lives, one of the lug nuts on the Element decided to take its leave. Hmmm, the last people that touched the lug nuts were the folks at Orange Park Honda back in Florida. I guess they forgot to use the big wrench.

A trip to the local Honda dealer fixed that. When we got back to the RV I tightened all the lug nuts, but I didn’t bring my big wrench either so we’ll hope for the best.

All of our critter sightings took place around the Marina. The Geese going out for an afternoon swim..

A pair of muskrats…

Some rabbits trying to be invisible..

And a Heron…

EJ caught me looking wistfully (she thought) at the boats in the marina. While I was remembering the good times we had in our boats, I am glad we no longer own one. Instead, we have friends with boats, which is much better.

This is the North Pier Lighthouse by the Coast Guard Station next to the campground. And yes, the CG Station still plays revile and taps over the loud speaker system every day.

This is the “Erie Land Light” also known as the Old Presque Isle Light. The lighthouse was originally constructed in 1818 becoming one of the first to be built by the United States on the Great Lakes. Due to poor soil conditions, it kept sinking and had to be rebuilt several times. It is now a small museum.

Hoping not to offend any readers, but our week in Erie left us with the impression that it is a tired old city. Lots of run down buildings, and shuttered businesses. Maybe it was the weather that made everything seem dreary. But this picture kind of sums it up.

And so the sun sets on our stay here in Erie. Next stop Warren, Pennsylvania.