Ohio - The Buckeye State (Week 1)

The flag of the Great State of Ohio!  

Heidi points out that we are now in her Daddy's home state of Ohio! I was born and raised here...God's country! 

Our first stop was at my college Alma mater.  BGSU is located in the town of Bowling Green, which is about 30 minutes south of Toledo.  I had not been back here in 20 years.  My good friend, Jerry, picked me up and drove me around the campus  to get my bearings again, before I wandered around the campus with my family.  You can virtually visit BGSU here: Bowling Green State University

Here is where my life as a commissioned officer began...Detachment 620.  Not much had changed here other than some nice interior upgrades to the cadet areas.  You can visit the Detachment Face book page here: Fighting Falcons

I just had to take the girls to one of my favorite places to eat, while I was at BGSU.  I remember more than a few late night munchies of cheese steak sandwich with waffle fries at this place! Check out Mr. Spots here: Mister Spots

If you were thinking it was all "fun & games"....  Here the girls help dad with a resupply mission at the Bowling Green Walmart. Yee-haw!

After our stay in Bowling Green, we wandered over to East Harbor State Park, which is right on Lake Erie.  When I was a kid, my family used to camp here nearly every weekend during the summer.  A lot of childhood memories here! This is a picture of our UAV set up at East Harbor.  You can see the official website here: East Harbor State Park

My parents camped out with us, again!  You can see my parents "rig" over my dad's left shoulder.  It was great to be able to camp here with them and my own kids. 

Another great treat!   My best friend from college and his kids also joined us for the weekend!  It was awesome to see more familiar faces!  The kids had a blast together!

In "kid world", it doesn't get much better than this! 

More people we know!!!  Stacey snapped this picture of me with my Uncle Gary.  He, my Aunt Shirley and their grand-daughter, Summer, drove up for dinner and camp fire.  Here you can see what Gary is famous for....talking!  He is a character and can give any woman a run for her money, when it comes to talking!  I really think Gary should've been in sales!  LOL!

Check out this beautiful red apple!  Just outside of East Harbor is  Bergman Orchard.  When I was a kid, we used to stop here to pick up watermelon and other treats! Check out Bergman's here: Bergman's Orchards

There ain't nuthin' finer than some Ohio sweet corn to munch on, while camping!  

Heidi checks out the Bergman pumpkin patch, which is right in front of the apple orchard.  Not quite ready to get pumpkins yet...but it's a comin'. 

As you may recall, Hailey loves "hearts" and finds them everywhere!  While mixing sugar and cinnamon for making home made donuts, she notices that her addition of cinnamon to the sugar made the shape of a heart!  Ah, the eye of a child...priceless!

We took a short drive for a field trip to Milan, Ohio, which is the birthplace of Thomas Edison.   We took a tour of the house that he was born in.  You can take a look at this Blue Star Museum here: Thomas Edison Birthplace Museum

Inside the house, Heidi poses in front of a portrait of Thomas Edison.  Thomas Edison, as you know, was famous for inventing the light bulb, the phonograph, the mimeograph (the forerunner of the modern copier) and the modern micro-phone (making the invention of the telephone use able).  Do you know how many times Mr. Edison tried to make the light bulb "experiment" work? Answer = over 1,000 times!  Now, that is faith in eventual success walked out!  

Hailey poses in the garden of the Edison household.  We learned that the Edison family dates way back to the Revolutionary War period.  The Edison family were part of a group known as the Tories, who were sympathizers with the English crown.  It became so difficult for them that they fled to Canada before the war.  It appears that later generations had a change of heart towards the English because, later, Thomas Edison's father led a revolt in Canada, whose aim was the breaking of ties with England.  This revolt was crushed and he fled to the US.  And here he had a son named Thomas...and the rest is history!

We loaded up the Saturn on a ferry to spend the day on the island of Middle Bass in Lake Erie.  You can read a bit more about the ferry service here:  Miller Ferry Service

The gals on board the ferry during the crossing to the Lake Erie island of South Bass, where the village of  Put-In-Bay resides.  Lake Erie is the southern most of the five great lakes and is the fourth largest lake measuring a length of 241 miles and a width of 57 miles.  It is also the shallowest of the lakes with an average depth of only 62 feet and the deepest point of 210 feet deep. Due to the shallow average depths any significant increase in winds can lead to the quick build up of large wave actions. 

Hailey poses in the village square of Put-In-Bay.  This village is historically famous for being the home port of the US Navy squadron commanded by Commodore Perry during the war of 1812.  

We enjoyed a picnic lunch at the marina park before heading over to the Perry's victory and peace monument. 

The Team Breitmann gals pose in front of Perry's monument. Perry's monument is the largest Greek column in the world, measuring in at 352 feet.  It was constructed between 1912 and 1915 to commemorate not only Commodore Perry's victory during the Battle of Lake Erie but, to honor the lasting peace between the United States, Great Britain and Canada.  To this day, the Canadian-United States border remains the largest undefended international border in the world, a testament to the enduring relationship between the two countries. 

A view from atop the monument looking towards the area where Commodore Perry's squadron took on the British fleet on the 13th of September 1813. 

Looking down to the area where Commodore Perry's fleet was based. 

The Battle of Lake Erie is the birth place of the famous; "Don't Give Up the Ship" quote. For Commodore Perry's battle slogan, he used the dying words of Captain James Lawrence, a friend of Perry, who was killed June 1, 1813.  Perry's own flagship, the USS Lawerence, was named after his good friend.  His friend's inspiring and dying words were a clear indication for Perry's intent to prevail. Indeed, Perry was victorious and was the only time an entire British fleet was captured in battle. You can read more about the battle here: The Battle of Lake Erie  

Hailey earns yet another Jr. Ranger badge at Perry's Monument. 

In the town of Huron, we stop at a place called "Lemmy's" for some fresh Lake Erie perch.  I had never heard of using perch in an omelet and I didn't think it sounded good..but hey, to each his own!  

At Lemmy's, Hailey gets an opportunity to feed Lemmy with a potato.  You see, Lemmy is the namesake of the restaurant.  Lemmy stands for Lake Erie Monster.  And he lives in the basement of the restaurant and loves for children to throw him a potato or two.  Once a potato is thrown down the stairs and the door is closed, Lemmy thrashes about while eating the potato.  You can hear him thump and bump beneath the floor of your table!  The kids love it! 

Hailey gets a sticker denoting the fact that she fed Lemmy!

Team Breitmann wandered on down the road to the town I was born and raised in...the home of the Shelby Whippets!  A Whippet is a type of greyhound like dog and is the high school mascot.  My girls have never been to where I was born and raised...just outside of Ohio Amish country.  This should be a grand time for all of us!!  See ya in the "heart of America"....Ohio!