Every summer, we try to make the most of the warm weather and sunny skies. In the past, I’ve compiled a list of free and low cost ideas for families around Erie, PA — but now that the kids are getting a little older, we thought we’d explore some day trip options.
I heard about Put-in-Bay, Ohio and was surprised to find out this lovely little island was less than three hours away. So, on Memorial Day this year, we packed up the kids, loaded up the Spotify playlists and away we went!
We left the house about 6:30 AM which landed us at the dock just in time to gather up our stuff, apply sunscreen and catch the 10:00 ride aboard Millers Ferry (the boat leaves every half an hour). The kids absolutely loved the boat ride!
We arrived on Put in Bay and headed straight to E’s to pick out a golf cart. They even had infant seats to use, which was so helpful. What a blast it was cruising around in the island in our little cart! It made it a breeze spotting things and seeing all Put-in-Bay had to offer.
While we couldn’t make it to everything (we could have easily spent the whole weekend there!), here were some of our highlights.
The Butterfly House
The girls especially loved the Butterfly house, which hosts over 600 butterflies! I loved the water feature and the little gazebo you could sit and watch if you wanted.
The Cave
The boys loved the cave, which was covered in stalactites and stalagmites. The tour guide was great and shared some really interesting stuff about the history of the cave. Plus it was nice and cool down there!
Eats and Treats
If you head downtown, there are a ton of places to choose from for eating and snacking. We went to the Frosty Pizza for lunch:
And also visited the candy store that was on the same street (sadly, the lovely carousal next to the candy store was not yet open for the season!)
After lunch, we let the kids run around on the amazing playground in the middle of the park while we sat in the shade and relaxed. This was probably the best park I’ve seen with tree coverage — perfect for having fun without having to worry about sunburn!
After some “free time”, we made our way to War of the 18 holes (mini-golf) and made one final stop at the Chocolate museum for some ice cream before heading back to the ferry.
We had so much fun and there was a lot more to see and do that I would have imagined.
It was a perfect day trip for the family and before we even made it out of the parking lot, the kids were asking when we can return again. Who knows? Maybe we’ll make it a summer tradition!
What About You?
What’s your favorite day trip? I’d love to hear about it!
