Our Beach-y Adventure

On Friday, we went on our last day trip of stay-cation. I really wanted to go to the beach so we decided on Maumee Bay State Park. I overheard a bunch of my local mom friends talk about it so I thought it might be a good place to go and it's relatively close to where we live. The day started off on a bit of a rocky foot because for whatever reason, it took us forever to get out the door. I think I may have mentioned to everyone in my house that it felt like each of them was working against me to go to the beach that day. When we finally got our act together, the drive there continued to foreshadow the experience we were to have.

It wasn't exactly a scenic route.

But at least the new I-280 bridge looked cool...

And we got a small taste of cultural diversity.

Despite GPS telling us us to turn down a grass covered, no access, dirt path we finally made it to the beach. Now, before we went, we knew there would be two beaches to choose from, Lake Erie and a man-made lake. I had considered calling one of my friends to ask if they would recommend one over the other, but we decided that we would figure it out for ourselves. It would be part of the adventure. And it was. When we finally found the park, I was shocked to see how empty it was. We seemed to be one of only 3 or 4 other cars there. My initial reaction was, what does everybody else know that we don't.... We decided to drive past all the parking lots that led to the man-made lake and went straight to Lake Erie. When we parked, there was only one other car near us (near being a relative term since it looked about 1/4 mile away). Once we walked up to the beach, we saw two people taking photos and 3 people walking (completely clothed) along the shore. Again I wondered, what do these people know that we don't. Since the only sign we saw was "no lifeguard on duty" we decided that this beach couldn't be that bad and proceeded to unpack all our stuff. We walked down to the water to discover the sand was covered in seashells and wasn't exactly comfortable to walk on or to play in but we still kicked off our shoes, steadied ourselves down the steep decline to the water, and waded into the water to discover yet another steep decline into the depths of Lake Erie. Still, we didn't leave. Chris and Colin started digging trenches in the sand and Eli started running off down the shoreline.

I was chasing after the little nut taking pictures when I suddenly heard "Um, excuse me". I looked up and there was a woman talking to me with a very concerned look on her face. That's never a good sign. "Eh, I'm not sure how true this is, but earlier this morning there was someone out here testing the water and they said it came up positive for blue-green algae. They said the beach is fine but people shouldn't swim. I just thought you should know since you have small children." Thank you for letting me know. How exactly does blue-green algae affect us? "Basically, it can destroy your liver." (Among other things). Thank you! That's when I snatched Eli out of the infested water to which his response was ear-piercing screams, and started sprinting down the beach toward Chris and Colin waving my one free hand in the air and yelling "Get out of the water! Get Colin away from the water right now! The water is infested!" Looking back, I think I would have been a fantastic extra in Jaws. After cleaning everyone off as best we could, we noticed it was already time for lunch so we decided to picnic at the park since we were already there.

We found some tables near the man-made lake and finally discovered where people actually go to swim. This beach here also wasn't busy, but at least there were other humans and more importantly, no blue-green algae. After we ate, we went back in the water. Unfortunately it was already after noon so we only stayed for maybe 20-30 minutes before we had to leave for Eli's nap. The trip felt a bit short-lived, but Colin did say he had fun and since then has created a new game where he goes to the beach and has to leave one lake to go to another lake because the first lake is giving off "bad energy". And no, he did not learn that term from either of my sisters, he pick it up watching Fireman Sam. LOL!

Our day at the beach was definitely an adventure but those always make for better stories than trips with no mishaps. And although Lake Erie was nasty, the man-made lake was pretty nice. I doubt we'll make it, but I'd love to go back before the end of the season. If not, there's always next summer.