Erie, PA

We began a long day of travel on Sunday, September 16 bound for Erie, PA.  But first we stopped at the town dock in Ashtabula to take advantage of their free self-service pump-out. Since we didn’t explore the town the day before, we decided to take a few minutes to do so.  It turned out that Lynn’s negative first impression of the day before was ill-advised.  Ashtabula was really quite charming with attractive architecture, cute shops and interesting restaurants.  It touted its designation as America’s Main Street Winner in 2018. We strolled along its Bridge Street and stopped for coffee at a cool coffee shop.  Jonny liked the featured grind so much that he bought a pound for the boat. 

From there we proceeded on our cruise on a beautiful sunny day with flat seas. It was a perfect day to be on the water!  As we approached Erie, PA, we saw a schooner leaving the harbor and a lighthouse guiding our way in.

To approach Erie, one has to enter a very long and extremely well protected harbor.  It was easy to see why this is such an important port. We thought we would tie up at the city dock and explore the town for a couple of hours but discovered that it was only for commercial traffic, i.e. the local ferry.  So we made our way to Wolverine Marina where they told us we could tie up for $5 per hour.  The dockmaster turned out to be a very friendly woman who oriented us to the town and eventually waived the fee.  

We walked up the broad main street of the town that led away from the waterfront in search of a brew pub that had been recommended by a live-a-board at the marina.  Erie is a small city that looks like it is trying to become more attractive but is not all the way there just yet.  But it does have potential and some of its architecture is quite beautiful.

It also had some interesting historical and funky murals.

Many stores were closed because it was Sunday but we managed to find a cool place called Voodoo Brewery that was open.  Jonny chose it because of its extensive array of beer that they brewed themselves.  We settled into comfortable Adirondack chairs in their outdoor courtyard and enjoyed a relaxing hour.

From there we returned to Zendo and headed out to a beautiful and extremely well-protected anchorage in Presque Island Park which forms the outer perimeter of Erie’s harbor.  The few boats that were already anchored there left by sunset and we were alone in an idyllic spot.   There were no houses and only a small marina with lots of sailboats.  Jonny went for a swim and we enjoyed dinner on the aft deck and watched a fabulous sunset.