Lakeland Boating - May 2018

PHOTO COURTESY OF

decades, Sandusky produced barrels, boats, motors, fertilizer,

underwear, crayons, washing machines, rubber life rafts,

radios and television sets.

At the turn of the last century, Sandusky’s Hinde and Dauch

Paper Company revolutionized paper packaging and shipping

when it developed corrugated cardboard. In 1918, the company

opened a new factory built on a pier facing Sandusky Bay.

Today, that red brick industrial building contains upscale

condominiums with residents who enjoy fine views of Lake

Erie’s stunning sunsets, of freighters going to and from

Sandusky’s massive coal dock, and of the boat and ferry traffic at

the neighboring Paper District Marina and Jackson Street Pier.

Stroll the sh��eline

Although its population is only 25,000, Sandusky boasts

a remarkable 22 miles of shoreline within its city limits.

Even more remarkable, much of that shoreline consists of

downtown marinas and parks with docks that are open to

the public and easily accessed by boaters.

“Lots of boaters from Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland and Erie like

making trips to Sandusky because they

can walk to downtown, see a museum

or art gallery, and get something to eat,”

says Jill Bauer of the regional visitors

bureau, Lake Erie Shores & Islands.

The city-owned Paper District Marina offers daily, seasonal

and overnight dockage, as well as breezy walking paths along

a seawall. During Lake Erie’s prime late spring to early fall

boating season, the marina is also home to the Dockside Café.

Don’t be fooled by its concession stand appearance. The Café

overlooks Sandusky Bay, has a full bar, and is a perfect place to

rub shoulders with locals who come for the fish tacos made with

Lake Erie favorites, walleye and perch. Whenever a freighter

travels Sandusky Bay, Dockside Café serves a refreshing rum

punch called, you guessed it, “Freighter in the Bay.”

Since the four-acre Jackson Street Pier is near part of

Sandusky Bay’s mile-long shipping channel, you’ll get good

views of passing freighters there. With its benches and binoculars,

the Pier is a popular place for Bay-gazing and observing the

Marblehead Peninsula and Sandusky’s version of skyscrapers:

The towering skeletons of Cedar Point’s roller coasters. If

you spy a tadpole-shaped bit of land just south of Marblehead

Peninsula, that’s Johnson’s Island, a National Historic Landmark

that served as a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate officers

during the Civil War. The camp is gone, but its poignant

cemetery endures and is open to visitors.

Besides being a beloved fishing spot

for many Sanduskians, the Jackson

Street Pier is the boarding place for

Goodtime I pleasure cruises and Jet

Express jaunts to the islands and Cedar

Point. In front of the Jet Express dock,

look for the G.A. Boeckling Building,

a striking example of amusement park

architecture with big, arched windows

and carved images of fish and aquatic

creatures. Although that fanciful

building now contains Ohio Department of Natural Resources

offices, George Boeckling, the ingenious businessman who

made Cedar Point a successful resort, constructed it as the

park’s winter headquarters in 1928. You can rent bicycles for

getting around the waterfront or downtown near the foot of

the Pier along Shoreline Drive. Transportation includes taxis,

city buses and Uber to outlying places like Sandusky Mall, the

venerable Firelands Winery (Tip: It offers tours and tastings),

or the Kalahari and Great Wolf indoor waterparks.

Bicentennial cele��ati�n

Since Sandusky is celebrating its bicentennial during 2018

(see sidebar “Sandusky 2018”), this year is an especially good

time to get acquainted with the town’s proud heritage and

enjoy its vibrant, visitor-friendly downtown.

“Sandusky has always been a vacation destination, but

leisure travelers usually focused on Cedar Point and the

islands,” Bauer says. “Now that more people want destinations

with an authentic small-town feeling, downtown Sandusky

is building on that. Visitors love its abundant mom and pop

restaurants and businesses.”

Virtually anywhere boaters stop in Sandusky (consider

Dock of the Bay Marina for deepwater slips or Battery

To celebrate Sandusky’s

200th anniversary, the

city will be hosting

plenty of events in 2018.

Mark your calendar

for the Festival of Sail

and Downtown Street

Fair on July 12-15, one

of the pillar events for

Sandusky’s bicentennial

celebration.

This event will

showcase six or more

rare, historic ships from

around the world, as well

as the World’s Largest

Rubber Duck (at 61 feet

tall and weighing 11 tons).

This unique festival offers

up a rare chance to catch

a glimpse, step aboard

and even set sail on some

of the most grand ships of

yore. Along with onboard

tours and day sails,

other exciting activities

will include live music,

entertainment, local

craft beer, educational

programming, local food

and fun for the entire

family.

Other events

include: Stars & Stripes

Celebration and Boy

with the Boot Bicen10k

& Family Relay on July

4; Founders’ Weekend

on August 18-19; and

Winter Kickoff on

November 23-25.

Events will be added

throughout the year at

SANDUSKY2018.COM.

LAKELANDBOATING.COM | MAY 2018 

DOCKSIDE AND KALAHARI PHOTOS COURTESY OF LAKE ERIE SHORES & ISLANDS; BOECKLING PHOTO COURTESY WIKI; FERRY PHOTS COURTESY OF GOODTIME WEBSITE; CEMETERY PHOTO COURTESY OF MAPIO; ROOFTOP PHOTO COURTESY OF FACEBOOK; HOTEL SIGN SIGN COURTESY OF WEBSITE

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