On our recent trip to Ohio, we had an adventure day with Mom and Dad to Grand Lake St Marys.  Mom had seen an article about Boardwalk Village and wanted to go there.  Anything they want to do, we are happy to try.  We had a beautiful day for our adventure.  The sky was blue and cloudless and the temperature was in the low 70’s.

Grand Lake is the largest inland lake in Ohio.  The lake was formed as a reservoir for the Miami and Erie Canal in 1837.  Although the lake is large, it is shallow with an average depth of just 5 to 7 feet.  Grand Lake sits on the continental divide with an outlet to the east that flows into the St. Lawrence seaway and an outlet to the west that flows to the Mississippi River.  Water flows into Grand Lake from Coldwater, Beaver, and Chickasaw Creeks to the south.  Grand Lake St Marys State Park occupies the lakeshore on the eastern side of the lake.  Private homes and developments ring the rest of the lake.

Our first destination was the Boardwalk Village, a mini-resort on the western shore of the the lake.  The village is a mix of vacation and permanent housing with two swimming pools, small shops, and restaurants.  The buildings are colorful and cheerful.

We stopped at the Boardwalk Grill for lunch.  Just walking into the grill was fun – it had a tiki bar, Margaritaville vibe.  The restaurant wasn’t busy and it was a little confusing because the website said they were open, but the sign out front said they were not.  The website now says they are closed for lunch Tuesday – Thursday, so the hours might have changed after Labor Day.

The Boardwalk Grill has a variety of sandwiches and entrees, but they seem to be best known for their pizza.  Tom and I shared a 16″ pizza and Mom and Dad got a 12″ pizza.  When the pizzas came, they were hot, fresh and delicious!  In fact, Tom and I agreed that it was the best pizza we have had.  Instead of big pepperoni, they had small slices that curled up and held all the oil and flavor.  The pepperoni covered the top of the pizza.  Mom and Dad got extra cheese on theirs and they had a hard time lifting a piece without strings of cheese following.

I had noticed a golf cart rental place next to the restaurant.  While we were waiting for our pizza to come, I walked down and talked to the guy running the rental place.  I asked him how much it would cost to rent a golf cart for an hour.  I thought it would be fun to tool around on the golf cart instead of being inside the car.

The man said the carts were rented by the day or half day.  I knew my dad wouldn’t be up to more than an hour on the cart, so I asked again about renting for an hour.  The guy wasn’t busy and none of the carts had been rented that day, so he finally said I could have it for an hour for $20 cash.  Perfect!  After lunch we picked up the cart, picked up my parents, and headed out to explore the west shore.

The only problem with the golf cart was getting Tom to drive slowly enough to enjoy the scenery.  We drove by the Boardwalk Village and enjoyed seeing the colorful cottages built on the levee.  We saw the western spillway with water heading to the Mississippi River.  The Celina lighthouse was one of the stops on our “tour.”  Built in 1986, it is more of an observation deck than a lighthouse.  In addition we saw a section of the state park and noted the wonderful bike path/walking trail.  Lots of people were out using it and enjoying the beautiful day.

When our hour was up, we returned the golf cart and climbed back in the car.  Our next destination was the Otterbein St Marys Senior Living Center.  We had planned to stop by the old lighthouse but it is located on a golf course.  Tom had been there when he was in college on a retreat.  Back then it was St Marys Church Camp.  He showed us where the dorm had been that he stayed in.  Now it is independent living condos with boat docks on Grand Lake.

Our final stop was Memorial Park in St Marys.  We got out and walked around to see the canal boat, the covered bridge, and a memorial clock tower.  Tom even found a cannon and I took his picture next to it.

We were planning on taking our time and meandering back to Mansfield, looking for some ice cream along the way.  But our plans were upended when Dad realized he had left his phone on the counter in the Boardwalk Grill Restaurant.  We called the restaurant, they retrieved the phone, and we drove back to pick it up.  After that we headed back home a little more quickly.  We did, however make stops in Kenton and Bucyrus.

By the time we got back to Mansfield, we were all tired.  But it had been a wonderful adventure day and we all enjoyed our journey to Grand Lake St Marys very much.  It is always fun to spend time with my parents and to explore new places with them.