My daughter and I would stay at Lakeside - she really enjoyed it (she was 11-12-13 then). Haven't been there in many years so can't say if it is still going strong with the concerts and programs. Side trip over to the Marblehead lighthouse; other days took the ferry over to South Bass Island and Kelley's Island, rented bike and explored. Glacier Grooves, Crystal Cave, Native American rock art, Perry Monument, and other activities.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland!

I stopped at Geneva on the Lake one day during a road trip, and felt like i was at an East Coast beach town. Really darling. I think there's even more kid-centered stuff there that my quick visit didn't expose.

I have a summer cottage on Lake Erie near the PA/OH border. If you have kids Cedar Point is a must. It is in Sandusky. Also a ferry to Put in Bay in that area as well. Next stop Cleveland for the Rock Hall of Fame. Geneva on the Lake is a bit run down these days but there are many wonderful wineries in that area. If you’re in the area around August 20 or so the largest DDay reenactment takes place in Conneaut Ohio. Moving on to Erie PA and beautiful Presque Isle for beaches and biking. Driving toward New York on 90 is Lake Chataqua. Of course Buffalo and then the falls as you get closer to Canada.

Niagara on the Lake is a pretty town. Will you be able to go to Canada? Is the border open for visitors? We also stopped in a lovely town called, I think, Jordan Station. Wine country. Had a fabulous lunch at, might have been On the Twenty. Desserts were works of art. But that is away from Lake Erie, closer to Lake Ontario.

In Buffalo you can see where President McKinley was assassinated and died. (My son was his killer in “Assassins” in college so of course we had to surprise him with a stop when we were passing through.)

Presque île is nice! It has a lighthouse you can go in and UP. Really cool. The drive out along the peninsula is longer than you think, it’s not a drive-by stop, plan for a couple of hours there. I’d like to go back and stay in town, and then make a day in the park with bicycles and a picnic along with the lighthouse and Perry Monument.

Lake Chatauqua is so pretty. At the south end is Jamestown, with the Lucy Desi museum (Lucille Ball was born there) and the new National Comedy Center. It might be too far south for you though.

TBH, I don’t think there’s much along the lake in Ontario, it’s pretty flat. North of the highways, though, is Uncle Tom’s Cabin, part of the Ontario Heritage Trust. If you go up there, you can cross with the ferry at Marine City/Sombra, which is a short but sweet ferry ride and there are some cute snack spots and ice cream in Marine City, and both sides have parks where we usually eat lunch.

Just to add to Bestyears recommendation of Geneva on the Lake. The Lodge at Geneva on the Lake offers canopy tours- ziplining.

Thank you all!! I will look into all of this!!

Really hoping that Canada is open this summer for U.S. tourists--has anyone heard anything?

DH heard sometime in late April, but we won’t be vaccinated by then. And I expect they will keep a quarantine in place anyway.

In Toledo, the National Museum of the Great Lakes, and this audio tour of the Maumee River valley that takes in some colonial era forts and battlegrounds: Self Guided Tour

East of Toledo is the Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge, a bit farther east is Magee Marsh Wildlife area (very popular for spotting migrating birds in spring and fall), and east of Cleveland in Mentor is the Headlands Dunes State Nature Preserve, the only remaining sand dunes along the Lake Erie Shoreline.

RE Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: take ear protection, it is excessively loud in there!

Both Cleveland and Toledo have fine art museums if your interest tend that direction.

You might have the kids do a little research about the history of the Great Black Swamp and the Firelands in NW Ohio

This all sounds fantastic! We don't know a lot about the Great Lakes so keep the pro tips coming!!

The last time we were in Cleveland we had drinks and lunch in the entertainment downtown, by the river. They now have boat cruises on the river, I think. It looked fun, wish we had more time! And just south of Cleveland are two nice recreation areas, Rocky River Reservation and Cuyayoga Valley National Park. Beautiful, cliffs and rocks and hills and wildlife and great walks! Kid paradise.

Tell us more! What else did you do, where else did you go, and what did you like or not?

Tell us more! DH and I are going to a wedding in Ohio in August and are thinking of another stop coming or going.

We all had a wonderful time. Thanks for all the tips! We visited Kent, Columbus, and Sandusky in Ohio, Presque Isle in PA, and Niagara Falls and Corning in NY.

Zoombezi Bay (Columbus) and Cedar Point (Sandusky) water parks were huge hits with the kids. Everyone liked Jolly Donut, and we also found a great pizza restaurant, Brick Oven Pizza, with standard pies for the kids and grownup pies for the adults. We stayed at Cedar Point's budget hotel but agreed that if we go again, we would like to stay at either the camping resort or the Hotel Breakers. The beach at Cedar Point is pretty nice too.

In Kent we toured the shooting site. There is a series of explanation plaques of what happened in chronological order. However, the plaques are not in geographical order and there is no walking path. Get a good map before you go and be prepared to zoom all over a common and around a building. The campus has not changed that much since the shootings so it really drives home how shocking the shootings were.

Next time, we'll do Presque Isle differently. We camped as the most COVID- and kid-friendly lodging option. Lampe Campground is extremely clean and quiet but has no shade or wind protection. Our tent almost collapsed on us!

Luckily, the Watkins Glen KOA made up for the Presque Isle tent disaster. Two pools, a bouncy pillow, mini golf, and lots of kids to play with. We visited the Corning Museum of Glass, which was AMAZING. If you go, be sure to book yourself in for a make-your-own-glass-project workshop!

What a memory for me. We made a similar trip when I was a kid and the Corning Museum was a fave. It was 101 in the shade the day we went to Cedar Pointe. That's all I remember. Not conducive to standing in long lines . . .

Kent State is such a nice college and nice area. Makes it all the more shocking that something so violent happened there. So sad.

We live in Western NY, very close to Corning. The museum is special, and the town is very cute.

Sounds like fun! I didn't really have any that Lake Erie was ~ Niagara Falls or I would have thrown in my 2 cents. We loved Niagara on the Lake.

Making glass in Corning sounds like super fun.