Saturday July 23 (Toledo)

Yet another warm day was forecast and we set off for Toledo via the chiropractor where Lisa and Harry both had appointments. 

We were heading for the National Museum of the Great Lakes where a retired freighter was moored.

We had a good run to Toledo and arrived in good time, we used the Ohio Turnpike! We followed the road to the Port but the freighter and museum was moved in 2012. We eventually found the new area where there is also a lot of empty ground waiting for new development.

The freighter is very large but I am not sure if I like the new colour it has been painted as part of the refurbishment, lol. We went inside to pay our entry fee and it is very reasonable, we chose to include exploring the ship as part of our fee and were given green wrist bands to wear. 

As it was so hot, we were advised to tour the ship first as it could be closed off, due to extreme heat!

We climbed up the long gangway and yellow arrows had been painted on the deck to guide visitors, a very helpful idea. We walked along the deck to the rear, passing all the huge cargo holds and the Hatch crane that moves along the rails and is able to lift the very heavy hatch overs for unloading. 


We also, went down into one of the holds to see how large they are.

We followed the arrows to the rear of the ship where the quarters for the engineering officers were located. The huge kitchen and mess were also located in this area which was above the engine room. We were able to go down two levels with just the lowest level blocked off. 

It was very interesting, especially the area where the ship was steered from and the commands the bridge used to give orders for the speed and direction the ship was to travel at.

We then walked forward and were able to walk through the captain's quarters as well as the Observation Room. This was for passenger relaxation and commanded a 360 degree view. Only this ship and one other freighter had a room like this. 


We then visited the Pilothouse and it was fascinating to imagine what it must be like out on the great lakes. It is noticeable that all rooms have deep doorway steps to stop any water getting inside.

We then went into the museum and it is larger than I at first thought. It is very interesting with lots of photos and artifacts. There is much information about the freighters themselves and the development throughout the years. Also, the lakes themselves and the fact that they generate their own weather called lake effect and it can be very stormy, especially in November. Of course, there is much information about the Edmund Fitzgerald that sank with all hands in Lake Superior on November 10 1975.

We then saw a short film about the great lakes. It is quite incredible that one fifth of the world's fresh water is stored there. There are also some wonderful natural phenomena around the shores of the five lakes and, of course, there is access to the open ocean via the St Lawrence River. The lakes have been a political football in the past and wars have been fought over them. They have been the lifeblood to people over the centuries from the first peoples until the present day. They are a source of food, trade, education, leisure, adventure etc. It is obviously important that these water are take care of!

We had a very pleasant drive beside the river and saw some fabulous homes passing through Rossford, Perrysburg. a quaint old world small town, and onto Maumee. We then returned to Toledo heading to Frickers to have wings for lunch, and this generated yet another Toledo eating story. The server took our drink order and they came in good time, we were not quite ready to order and she took some time to return or it. 

We were distracted as I had given Lisa her birthday gift, purchased when I visited Kalgoorlie earlier this year and made from Australian gold. We placed our order and then had to wait so very long that Lisa asked another server what was happening. Apparently, our server was distracted by a large party!! Finally, our food arrived as did the manager and he did knock some money off the bill when it came, lol! The food was good and all ended OK!!   

it was time for some shopping and the first stop was TJ Marx and while Lisa was in there Harry drove me across the road to the Starbucks for a coffee, lol!! We then visited Sam's Club and I ended up chatting to a fellow from Denmark originally, he has been to the UK as well as Auckland, New Zealand! We ended up having quite a long conversation.

It was then time to head for home via the country route so we could stop at a number of Ice Cream shops, lol. The first one was barely out of Toledo and was called Chitter Chatter, I think it serves the best soft serve around. I did not get any Ice Cream until the shop in Delta where they had hard Ice Cream, I had the Butter Pecan as they did not have any with fruit in it, it was not too bad.

We arrived home to be welcomed by the animals and just relaxed for the evening, tired but happy after a great day out. It was a good way to celebrate my good mum's birthday, she died in 1978 at the age of 59, far too young!!