Presque Isle

July 6, 2021

We’re having a bit of a rest day today. The plan is to bike over to nearby Presque Isle State Park, but a complete loop of the park starting from the hotel is only about a flat 25 miles. With unloaded bikes and a plan to stop and look around frequently, we anticipate a pretty lazy day.

We’ve been unsure about when we’d make this outing, waiting to base the decision on the weather. It stormed a bit overnight but was just clearing up when we get up this morning, and it looks now like we’ll have the whole day open. We could wait and go out later but we leave the hotel early before the day heats up much more - it’s already 77 when we go down to breakfast at 6:30.

We’re on the road before 8, backtracking for five miles along the lakefront to the turnoff to Presque Isle.

The view east from our window this morning.

It’s quite windy this morning. The sidewalk behind Rachael is wet from spray that intermittently blows up from the lake.

The GBO gets his look at Pennsylvania - a view across Presque Isle Bay. He’s glad we’re biking over there to the other side later rather than taking the excursion boat. He gets seasick.

I’m excited about this excursion - it’s the reason I planned for a layover day here in Erie. Presque Isle has been lingering in the back of my mind for so long that I don’t recall now when I even first heard of it. I think though that it was on a landscape poster back in the college years - my first wife and I may even have had one on the wall of our apartment.

Reading up on it now though, I’m startled to discover that there are two noteworthy Presque Isles: Presque Isle Park in northern Michigan, a wild and rugged peninsula that juts into Lake Superior; and this Presque Isle, a scythe-shaped, flat peninsula that arcs out into Lake Erie.

Presque is the French adjective for nearly, so maybe they both have this name because they are thinly attached peninsulas, nearly islands. In any case, I don’t believe this is the same Presque Isle I’ve imagined visiting all these decades. Which is fine - there’s always something new out there waiting to be explored down the road.

In the meantime though, we’re happy to explore this version. It’s a very interesting place, and well suited to exploration by bicycle. It’s essentially a long, vegetated sand bar, with a quite different character on its bayside and ‘seaside’ fronts. On the bay side it’s very flat, soggy and boggy. Looking out, you get views across the bay to the mainland and the Erie cityscape. A great place for turtles, ducks, and I’m sure much more.

The opposite front is open to Lake Erie, and has the feel of an oceanic coastline. The beach is sandy, and a popular bathing spot - a series of lifeguard towers lines it at one point. There’s a bit more contour to the land on this side, and the vegetation is different - larger, more established trees rooted in firmer soil.

On Presque Isle. Beautiful cycling, and even though it’s 80 already the fresh breeze keeps it comfortable as long as we keep moving.

An overlook of one of the many ponds along the south shore of the peninsula.

One neat painted turtle. Also, I wonder about the figure at the upper left, which I didn’t notice at the time. Bullfrog?

I like the fact that you can see their eyes peeking out of the muck.

Looking across the bay to downtown Erie. It’s pretty hazy today.

Wild roses. At least I know this one. One out of four ain’t bad.

The interesting thing about these purple martins is that they’re stalling out as they fly back home against the strong headwind.

It’s warm and windy, but we’ve been enjoying otherwise fine conditions up until now. we warm up quickly when we stop in the sun, but cool off again almost immediately once we start moving again.

Several miles into the circuit I look back to the picnic area by the east pier and steer us over to it. Something about it attracted my attention, but when we look out in this direction we’re startled to see how gloomy the sky has gotten behind us. There’s shelter here, and we decide to sit and watch the weather for a few minutes just in case. We lean the bikes against a picnic bench inside the shelter, and then Rachael excitedly points out a colorful bird nearby. It’s a red-headed woodpecker, repeatedly flitting from the trunk of a maple down to the ground and then back again. He’s finding something down there.

Yippee! I’ve been hoping to get a good look at a red headed woodpecker. It’s a species we don’t have out west.

I stare at him for a few minutes and then realize it’s starting to sprinkle. I return to the shelter, and within literally seconds it’s pouring out and the wind is blowing fiercely enough that we’re getting wet under the shelter, even standing all the way at the back away from the wind. Then comes a flash of lightning, thenanother, then a startling clap. One second, two seconds, three seconds, crash!

We aren’t alone. For a few minutes there are eight of us here under the shelter, then four of them dash off to their car. The other two are on bicycles like ourselves, and we visit with them for about fifteen minutes until sanity returns to the skies again and it feels safe to venture out.

Suddenly the sky grew very dark. We dashed for nearest shelter, and within seconds six others joined us.

Within five minutes it looked like this. The wind was blowing so forcefully that it was wet even under the shelter.

After fifteen or twenty minutes the fireworks moved on.

Once the squall passes conditions are back as they were before - improved, actually. The air feels fresher and cleaner. We continue our ride, complete the loop, and then work our way back to the room. Along the way we stop at a farmer’s market and pick up a small basket of black raspberries. We’re trying to decide the best way to pack them to get them back to the room safely, but end up scarfing them all down on the spot instead. Problem solved!

The monument to Oliver Hazard Perry and his victory here over the British in the Battle of Lake Erie, a conflict in the War of 1812.

The Presque Isle Lighthouse, built in 1872, is the second oldest lighthouse on Lake Erie. For seven bucks I could have climbed up to the top, but didn’t.

The northern shore of Presque Isle. Canada’s out there, just over the bend.

We loaf around in the room for the rest of the afternoon and then head up to our hotel’s rooftop restaurant for dinner. Afterwards we take a short walk to get a closer look at the Russian Orthodox Church we’ve seen from the window of our room. An interesting walk, and just right for an after dinner stroll on a rest day.

The Russian Orthodox Church, the Church of the Nativity, was established by Old Believers fleeing religious persecution in the late 19th century. Many of them settled in Erie, in a neighborhood known as Russiantown.

The church was built in 1919. Two years ago the domes were reguilded in celebration of its hundredth anniversary.

A few blocks from the Russian Orthodox Church is this small, unnamed church or chapel.

And directly across the street is Saint Patrick’s Parish, “The Spirit of the Bayfront” since 1837.

At Saint Patrick’s Parish: some colorful hydrangeas, and a crooked grinned pareidolia?

The stack of the old coal fueled power plant. Most of the plant was converted to the maritime museum and city library, but no decision has been made over what to do with this huge stack. One vision is to restyle it as a faux lighthouse.

It’s nice to pass by here late in the day when the light illuminates the brick inner lining.

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Ride stats today: 28 miles, 500’; for the tour: 1,437 miles, 37,300’

Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 1,437 miles (2,313 km)

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Rachel and Patrick HugensHi Rachael and Scott,
We are liking your style of riding, we are thinking eventually we'll start doing more short tours, and then exploring with unloaded bikes like you guys do.
And Happy Anniversary tomorrow!
Racpat
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauAs a former resident of Marquette, Michigan, I am very familiar with the other Presque Isle. It extends into Lake Superior like the Pennsylvania Presque Isle juts out into Lake Erie. (It's a lot smaller though.) The Michigan version has some great views and some cool cliffs from which you can dive into the always-frigid water of Lake Superior.
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2 years ago

Bruce LellmanI'm also familiar with the Presque Isle Park of Upper Michigan. It's gorgeous. A bit west is the Porcupine Mts. Park which has the gorgeous Presque Isle River flowing right though its middle and emptying into Lake Superior. Two of my favorite places.
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Bruce LellmanRegarding your assessment of the Porcupine Mountains: RIGHT ON! It's a great backpacking destination too, and I've spent quite a few nights in the backcountry. Plus, it's got all the bears, mosquitoes, and deer flies you could ever hope for. And leeches in the interior lakes. That kind of freaked me out after a quick swim one evening.
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2 years ago

Kathleen JonesI’d only ever known of Presque Isle, Maine, until a sister-in-law in Chicago was talking about her trip to Presque Isle, which confused me since I didn’t know she’d gone to Maine. No, it was Michigan. Huh. So now you tell me there’s another one in Pennsylvania. Huh.
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Kathleen JonesWhat? Another one? I don’t think this is the one from that poster though. It’s just a city. Odd choice of name for it.
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2 years ago

Keith KleinHi,
“Presqu’île “ is the French word for peninsula (which itself is Latin for a “almost an island”). The accent circonflexe indicates the missing “s” in isle that was dropped in the years between french colonization and modern times. I suspect you’ve only scratched the surface of the Presque Isles in North America .

Cheers,
Keith
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Keith KleinWe’ll, we’re up to three, and still counting. And thanks for the linguistics lesson en passant - I’ve never heard the term accent circonflexe before.
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2 years ago