We decided to make a brief trip to Erie to relax for a few days before heading for Dayton. Although a little out of the way, we wanted to visit Presque Isle State Park and see what else Erie had to offer. Presque Isle is a wonderful park, a wooded sand spit with over 300 acres and a 13-mile auto loop that passes beaches, picnic areas, and boat launches. It’s a busy place; there are always people on the bike paths, the walking trails, and the 
beaches – but there are no campgrounds. We stayed at Sara’s Campground, near the entrance to Presque Isle, a sprawling, crowded park that must be chaotic during the summer weekends. We almost had one of those ruin-your-day experiences when the GPS and web site said the campground was on the left, without any indication that a left turn puts you at the office and beach camping. Turning there 
would have put us on a dead-end street and forced us to unhook the Tribute and execute a 64-point turn to get out. Fortunately, I noticed the “RVs enter here” on the right side of the road and was able to get across the other lane of traffic to enter. After setting up, we headed to the park to enjoy the evening and as you can see, a beautiful sunset.
The next day we headed to the downtown area and the Maritime Museum. The museum is nice, but the real attraction is the Niagara, a recreation of Oliver Hazard Perry’s flagship during the Battle of Lake Erie. The price of admission included a guided tour of the ship, which is really a “brig” (two square-sailed masts). The Niagara is an active ship, sailing around the Great Lakes for festivals, and on the day of our visit was getting ready for a day sail, so there were volunteer sailors crawling around in the rigging – with a 
topmast of 119’, a real challenge. Our tour guide was especially knowledgeable and entertaining and we learned that a “rope” is just a length of material, but a “line” is a rope that has a function. And there are lots of “lines” everywhere; coiled, strung, piled, and looped. There was more hemp on display than in a Berkley college dorm. We took a tour down into the living quarters, and quickly discovered that living in a dark, 5-foot 
tall space and sleeping on a bunk the size of a pantry drawer was an experience that we think we’ll pass on for now. But it was an interesting tour, and we came away with a greater appreciation for those who manned these ships.Tomorrow’s a travel day, and we both look forward to moving on to a new location. C’mon back and visit!
