11th July - 21st July 2008

We finally got to go sailing on Frank's boat, Callaloo, called after a plant grown in the Caribbean and used to make an excellent soup which Frank loves to eat. We went to Kelley's island, which is about a three hour sail from the marina at Huron. We had a lovely sail and lunch on the island but on the way back we were enveloped in a swarm of small flies (plus a few of the larger biting types). There were thousands covering us and the entire boat. William had the dubious pleasure of taking six girl scouts out on the lake for a sailing lesson. It was hard work as none of them could sail, so he had to sail the boat alone plus teaching them.

It was William's birthday on the 16th and Nancy got him a cake. We all went to Cedar Point amusement park where we went on some of the roller coasters and to the shows. Frank and I went on the 320 foot Millennium Force. The view from the top was very good, all across the lake, then it came back down at 90 mph.

Jim and Nancy took us to their local theatre in Huron where the local college students put on an excellent performance of Honk, a comedy musical based on the ugly duckling.

At the weekend we sailed to another of the islands on the lake and stayed overnight at a place called Put-in-Bay. Apart from being the party capital of the area with live music every evening in the numerous bars, one of which is listed in the Guinness book of records as the longest bar in the world, it is the site of a famous naval battle between the British and Americans in 1813. We lost, so I won't go into detail except to say there is a monument to commemorate the battle and Perry the American commander. The view from the top is very good, we saw all the other islands and across to the Canadian coast. The Boardwalk restaurant does a very good lobster bisque. On Sunday evening we went to a classical concert featuring the Cleveland orchestra one of America's top orchestras.