Domestic Tours - Lake Erie and Lake Ontario II
Dates
August 24 – 29, 2006
Itinerary
Thursday, August 24
Check in to the Sheraton Airport Hotel.
Friday, August 25
Travel west to visit the Cedar Point and Marblehead Lighthouses. Marblehead Lighthouse is part of the Ohio State Park System and the oldest on the Great Lakes. Leaving the Marblehead Lighthouse, a short drive takes us to a ferry for a short trip to South Bass Island. South Bass Island Lighthouse is a short walk from the ferry. This beautifully restored lighthouse is owned by Ohio State University and is a multi-use educational facility. We will tour the lighthouse and enjoy a box lunch on the grounds.
Returning to the mainland, we head east with a stop at the Great Lakes Historical Society Museum at Vermillion, Ohio, and then contiue on to Lorain and a very short boat trip to the Lorain Lighthouse. We return to our hotel for dinner and the night.
Saturday, August 26
Travel to Fairport Lighthouse and museum. The tour then takes us to Erie, PA to visit the Presque Isle LH, and a short photo stop at the Erie Land lighthouse. Next is another photo op just across the New York State border at the Barcelona LH. At the Dunkirk Lighthouse we'll climb the tower, visit the museum and have a box lunch. Head to Buffalo to check-in at our hotel and have dinner.
Sunday, August 27
Our coach takes us to the Buffalo Lighthouse for a tour. We then board a vessel near the lighthouse for breakfast and a harbor tour viewing the South and North Entrance Lighthouses. Leaving the harbor we pass the Strawberry Range Lights and Bird Island Lighthouse. We depart the vessel at Grand Island and board our motor coach for a short trip to a nearby restaurant.
After lunch we visit Niagara Falls, Fort Niagara Lighthouse and the Fort itself. Afterwards we have a special treat of cocktails at the home of Rick Lohr in Youngstown, NY and then dinner at his Yacht Club. After dinner we return to our hotel in Buffalo.
Monday, August 28
Visit the Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse and take a cruise on the Erie Canal aboard a mule driven canal barge. After lunch we drive to the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse for a visit before arriving at our hotel in Rochester, NY.
Tuesday, August 29
The first lighthouse of the day is Big Sodus Bay, a nicely interpreted facility. Afterwards there will be a short photo op of the Oswego Breakwater Lighthouse, lunch at a restaurant on the lake and a visit to the Stony Point Lighthouse. The tour ends at the Syracuse, NY Airport.
The tour includes five nights lodging, all meals from Friday morning to Tuesday lunch, four vessel trips, all entrance fees, donations to the non profit lighthouses we visit and the Society.