Worth a Time Out: Van Ness's Time Out Sports Bar (Fremont, OH)

The happy unexpected is always something my spouse and I appreciate on our travels, especially when it comes to food. The Firefly Grill In Effingham, IL (which I wrote about here) definitely qualifies, as does Sandusky’s Small City Taphouse and its combo of sushi and craft beer.

As a matter of course, I have gotten familiar with the usual haunts my wife’s side of the family frequents on a regular basis. It’s easy to expect the typical with any eatery out in the rural parts of Ohio, but when it comes to Fremont, the seat of Sandusky County, a nice surprise awaits if you drop by Van Ness’s Time Out Sports Bar.

Pretty Fly for a Walleye: A Day in Port Clinton, Ohio

Marblehead Lighthouse, just one of the many attractions located in or along
Lake Erie near the town of Port Clinton, Ohio

With the Labor Day weekend at hand, millions of folks around the country will be getting in their last summertime vacation jaunts. For many in Ohio, this means a trip up to Lake Erie to ride the coasters at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky or to enjoy the leisurely lake life on South Bass Island and Put-In-Bay.

Chances are if you're driving through here, you'll pass through the proclaimed "Walleye Capital of The World" in Port Clinton, Ohio. Lest you think that nickname is just a cute saying, community members back that up annually when they brave often windy and frigid temperatures on New Year's Eve to experience the Walleye Drop, a tradition that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.  But that's not all this town of just under 6,000 has to offer the visitor though, as we found out recently.

4 Years, 6 Months and 9 Days in the Life of...G. Michael's Bar & Bistro

Like its resident eatery G. Michael's Bar & Bistro, Columbus' German Village
neighborhood has hints of a horse-oriented lifestyle scattered about

One general guideline I have about restaurant-related posts is that do my best to get more than one lone experience. However, exceptions do exist: one of the main ones comes in relation to vacation excursions, where a second visit may never be in the cards and my general impression may persuade or dissuade you to visit yourself.

The other main exception lies in fine-dining experiences, where another singular experience may be all we get (as my spouse and I observed, we are a decidedly unfancy couple in general.) For example, we felt the tasting menu of Delaware's Veritas Tavern, which my spouse and I agreed has been one of our best dining experiences in Central Ohio, was definitely worth a shout out (with Veritas' upcoming relocation to Downtown Columbus, we're definitely aiming to make a return visit,)

Perched by the Lake: Brennan's Fish House (Grand River, OH)

Other than our trip to Niagara Falls, my parents were very non-committal on places they wanted to visit, leaving the role of tour guide to my spouse and I. In terms of food, one definite was a Filipino restaurant, which we were happy to find in Niagara Falls itself (our experience at Manila Flavours can be found at this prior post.)

The second definite food item was a taste of Great Lakes fish, specifically walleye and perch. While my parents have had plenty of experience with ocean fish and crustaceans, fresh water lake fish has never been much of an option on their dining plates. On our way back from Buffalo, we sussed out Brennan's Fish House, perched out near the Lake Erie shoreline in the village of Grand River.

When one drives into Grand River to the area where Brennan's is located, one can sense that this is a place that had once seen both better and worse days. Adjacent to Brennan's, a fairly large lot with a closed restaurant and parking lot as well as a funky barn building with an advertisement for Mail Pouch Chew Tobacco are quite prominent. Off in the distance, one can trace the Grand River, the town's namesake, downstream to where its mouth meets Lake Erie. On this sunny day, we spotted a boat slowly chugging down the river, further enhancing the lazy vibe of this fairly hidden area of Ohio.

Some of the paraphernalia (mostly nautical) found around Brennan's

The interior of Brennan's has more than its share of nautical and fish-related paraphernalia scattered about the premises; we ended up sitting next to a mini-display devoted to the most ubiquitous of Great Lakes shipping events: the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the ore freighter which sank in a violent storm November of 1975 on Lake Superior.

The menu is also pretty typical of a seafood place, with plenty of options to get your fish and seafood jones taken care of. While most items (generally in the $10 to $20 range) are aimed for some big-time chowing down, a few items are sold in portion-sizes geared toward smaller appetites in either sandwich form or sans the bread and are friendlier to the budget. Other non-seafood basics like steak and chicken (listed on the menu as "Shore Picks") and a unique item or two (e.g. Frog Legs) are also available for restaurant-goers.

Brennan's menu and the Fried Walleye small appetite platter

Basically, we all ordered some form of the fried perch and walleye geared toward smaller appetites. Still, the portions we received still pretty substantial. Our food was prepared well, the fish was quite tasty, and we all felt quite stuffed and satisfied by the end of our lunch here. In addition, our servers couldn't be more friendly, assisting us with our menu choices and checking up on us to make sure things were going well.

Brennan's is a bit of a detour off the main Interstate between Buffalo and Cleveland (lying halfway between Ashtabula and Cleveland), but would not be too out of the way for those cruising closer to the shore (on State Route 2 or U.S. Highway 20) or for those who might have a little time to drop by an area with that has seen a nearly 180-year boom-and-bust history. If you and the residents of Grand River are lucky, you might be visiting during what the owners of the restaurant describe on the history section of their website as a "new era of growth and prosperity."

Brennan's Fish House
102 River St
Grand River, OH 44045
(440) 354-9785
Facebook   Website

Buckeye Firsts: Putting in at Put-in-Bay

Go figure - my first encounter with the town of Put-in-Bay, Ohio, was smack dab in the middle of California gold country in the Sierra Nevada mountains in 2010.

Truth be told, I had neither a clue exactly where the unusually-named town was in the Buckeye state (I knew it was somewhere around Lake Erie) or what made it particularly special when my spouse (then girlfriend) noticed this flag for Frosty Bar proudly posted in the gift shop at Mercer Caverns in Murphys, CA.  I learned that Put-In-Bay was a popular summer destination and recreation spot for the locals located on South Bass Island on Lake Erie, but didn't learn too much more about the place until my spouse guided me for a visit there three years ago this July in what was my first big Ohio-based excursion.

Before we made the trip over to Put-in-Bay, we took a side trip over to Marblehead Lighthouse, the oldest operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes. Built in 1822, this lighthouse has a history that mirrors most of the lighthouses my spouse and I have visited, related to improvements in technology and transfers over the years from one agency to another. However, each of these unique landmarks spins its own intriguing storylines as time wends forward, and this is no different here at Marblehead. The small fee ($2 per person at the time) we paid to access the top is worth it, if only to get the unique panoramic view that all lighthouses are designed to gather. From our vantage point, we were easily able to see the various Lake Erie islands as well as monoliths of speed that are the roller coasters of Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky.

For those who don't own their own marine transport, the only way to get over to Put-in-Bay is by way of ferry.  Jet Express offers the faster method of transport in the form of catamarans with water jet engines, and its port on the island is closer to the downtown area.  However, since we were in no particular hurry to get over to the island or the downtown, we chose the more leisurely transport offered by Miller Ferry.  Aside from the cheaper fares (roughly half the cost of their competitors), they offer automobiles the chance to get on the island and allow people to bring their bikes along (for an additional fee.)

Once on the island, we strolled along the roads heading to downtown and I noticed one thing fairly quickly: Put-in-Bay knows what pays the bills (tourism) and there are plenty of opportunities for the city's visitors to separate themselves from their cash.  Bi-plane and helicopter rides, laser tag, golf (both the putt-putt and regular variety), bike rentals, museums, caves, historic buildings - you name it, this place probably has it somewhere.

We targeted the basics on this visit.  My spouse (then-girlfriend) made sure I knocked out two Ohio culinary staples during our tour of the city. Having lived in California (and within stone's throw of the big wine producers), I knew that the Golden State had little in the way of wines produced by native North American sweet grape varietals such as Niagara and Catawba. Heineman's Winery, established in 1888, offers a rounded representation of what's out there in terms of Ohio wines for a casual wine fan and/or newcomer like me.  The tour ($7 these days) itself also proved fairly decent and included the Crystal Cave, where one could view the world's largest geode. My spouse and I tried a sampling of their offerings at $2 per plastic cup. While I have gone on to sample better versions of these varietals as time has gone on, at the time, these sweet wines proved refreshing on what was a very warm day.

With no real food to speak of at the winery other than a cheese plate, we moved on into downtown to find something to eat. Unlike typical trips where we suss out good eats beforehand, we were here to seek out the second basic on the list: my first sampling of walleye and perch.  After wandering from place to place, we found what we were seeking at The Boardwalk.  Essentially, this restaurant acts as one huge concession stand on the Main Deck with three different options. Meanwhile, the Upper Deck is where you can receive more of a sit-down-style service, and then there's Rita's Cantina, which essentially acts as the restaurant's bar and general hangout area.  We stuck with the Fish Shak on the Main Deck for what seemed to be a slightly high-priced platter each of your basic fried walleye and perch, along with fries and onion rings.  Nothing spectacular about either preparation, which in this case provided the perfect neutral setting for my fish-tasting battle.  In the end, I preferred the walleye just a wee bit more, but would not turn down a good perch dish if I was in a seafood mood.

Finally, we traveled down to see Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial.  Originally built to commemorate Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's naval victory during the War of 1812, the memorial now stands as a symbol of the peace between the United States, Canada and Great Britain.  While we could not not go to the top of the memorial tower (one of the tallest within the continental United States) at that time due to ongoing construction, the live demonstrations (including firing of a cannon,) the historical artifacts and information within the visitor center, and the ample greenspace to amble around made this historical site well worth the visit.

On the ferry ride home, I remember sitting with an arm around my future spouse, breeze in our faces as our transport lumbered toward the mainland.  As I glanced over the water, the sun starting to set on the horizon from where I had traveled, I contemplated this first big travel excursion within this state and what I had with going with this then long-distance relationship and confirmed what I probably already knew deeper down.

Ohio as a new home?  Yeah, I can see that happening.  No problem at all...

Marblehead Lighthouse State Park
110 Lighthouse Dr (Google Maps)
Marblehead, OH 43440
(419) 734-4424
Website

Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial
93 Delaware Ave (Google Maps)
Put-In-Bay, OH 43456
(419) 285-2184
Website

Heineman's Winery
978 Catawba Ave (Google Maps)
Put-In-Bay, OH 43456
(419) 285-2811
Website

The Boardwalk
341 Bayview Ave (Google Maps)
Put-in-Bay, OH 43456
(419) 285-3695
Website