This is Pymatuning State Park, on the Pennsylvania/Ohio border, and Presque Isle State Park, on Lake Erie, in July 2026.
Having decided, after losing a second day of my vacation to car trouble, to extend the trip by staying in a hotel near Erie for two nights, I spent my last day at the Pymatuning cabin relaxing and getting ready for the next phase of the trip.
I enjoyed this lovely view while doing some washing at the camp laundromat.
Inventoried my many bug bites...
And, as is tradition, did a leaf-based craft, printing onto paper with paint!
I collected a bunch of different leaves to print, but ended up doing most of it with the giant lilypad.
I had a kit that consisted of that square canvas in the background & eight or so little pots of paint like in a paint-by-number kit. I didn't have enough of any one color to cover the lily pad, so I used all of them, and I think it came out pretty well!
A farewell look at the cabin, with bonus Ted!
A last look at the tiny private beach....
It was about an hour's drive up to Presque Isle. I started with the visitor center, which is new, shiny, and huge. In terms of content it was pretty much a state park nature center, though, so when I realized it was late afternoon already, I kind of wished I hadn't spent so much time looking at everything. They did have a cool observation tower, which we are on top of here. Across the street from the state park is an amusement park; that's one of their roller coasters on the left horizon.
Presque Isle was named by the French, because it's nearly an island--it's about a 14-mile peninsula that juts out into Lake Erie, near Erie Pennsylvania. So here we are on the "bay" side, looking towards the mainland, across a stretch of water that anywhere else in Pennsylvania would be considered a fairly respectable lake.
This side has some sandy beaches, but is generally pretty standard lake stuff, in terms of how the water behaves. Ted had a nice swim! After we explored the bay side for a bit, Teddy had a nap while I went on a Boat Adventure:
The Lady Kate is a scenic touring boat that goes out on 90-minute trips several times a day, starting on the bay side and going around the point of the peninsula to the lighthouse on the lake side. The tickets are $20, which is a pretty good value for such a touristy area.
Here we are looking over toward the Port of Erie, one of the largest working ports on the Great Lakes.
Over there, in about the middle of the picture, half-hidden by the trees, is the Erie Land Lighthouse, on the mainland. It's one of three Lake Erie lighthouses in Pennsylvania, and the only one I didn't get a closer look at.
Here we are going around Gull Point, which is an important shorebird nesting area at the tip of the peninsula.
Here's the Presque Isle lighthouse, which we'll get a closer look at later on! It was built in the late 1800's, out of brick. They had originally shipped the bricks over the lake, to the site, but the first attempt got lost in a storm, so they had to send a second batch. If you find an eroded chunk of brick on Lake Erie (which I did, on the Ohio stop), it just might be one of the original bricks that was meant for the Presque Isle lighthouse!
There's a better look at the lighthouse. It is still a working lighthouse, but these days it has an automatic light, so the house part is a museum, and you can climb up in the tower. I did that on Saturday, so you'll see it later!
This is the Harbor Light, and a big pile of sand for Beach Erosion Control purposes. They have a big boat that goes out into the middle of Lake Erie and vacuums up sand, which they then bring back to Presque Isle and put on the beaches where they're wearing away. So when you're playing on the beaches, it is authentic Lake Erie sand, but it did not necessarily get there through natural processes!
Also it is a Joe Biden pile of sand! Please make sure you-know-who doesn't see this picture; otherwise he'll probably pay one of his campaign donors several million dollars to collect the sand and take it someplace where they already have more sand than they want and are actively trying to get rid of some.
After the boat ride, we walked out to the harbor light, and looked around on the beach a little bit, and then headed to the motel!
It was called the Erie Interstate 90 Red Roof Inn, and they were not kidding about the Interstate 90 part. That is it, right there on the other side of the parking lot.
The room was pretty nice, though. Definitely a good bargain as long as you don't mind the road noise.
You get a little fridge and microwave.
For some reason, one exit off I-90 had all the motels, and the next one had all the chain restaurants. I went to Eat-N-Park, which was my favorite during college, but it did not hold up well. I did get a great picture of the sunset over the Aspen Dental, though.
And that concludes the first day of the Preque Isle Extension! Next time: we play on the beach a lot! There are kites! And a lighthouse! And a Really Weird Boat!
