September Sunset at Mentor Headlands

The weather was comfortably warm and there was no breeze, perfect weather conditions to watch the sunset on the beach at Mentor Headlands State Park. Lake Erie was calm, and some distant clouds obscured the sun near the horizon, but the golden glow was still beautiful. Boaters and jet skiers were also enjoying the weather conditions. There were many gulls scattered in large groups on beach.  One huge gull, a juvenile Great Black-backed gull, sat in the center of a luge group of herring gulls. It all made for some nice photos and video that required no color adjustments; the bold orange on the lake and in the sky is exactly how it looked to the eye!

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Cleveland’s West Side Market

One of my favorite places in Cleveland, Ohio is the West Side Market, located on West 25th Street and Lorain. It’s a great place to find every kind of food you can imagine. It’s impossible to go there and not buy something! The building itself is beautiful and is almost like someone built a cathedral for food. Here are a few photos I took while visiting this week.

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Lake Erie Bluffs On A Beautiful Morning

It was a beautiful day today, and a perfect day to take a morning walk through the Lake Metroparks' Lake Erie Bluffs in Perry, Ohio. We visited both sections of the park and saw many birds and butterflies. There were almost no waves on Lake Erie, and little wind. The sky was painted with wispy cirrus clouds, making for delightful pictures. Here are a few!

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Laurentia Vineyard in Madison Ohio

Yesterday, we visited the newly opened Laurentia Vineyard and Winery in Madison, Ohio. The building and grounds are lovely and provides a wonderful setting to sit and relax. We enjoyed a glass of the Cabernet which was fragrant and delicious! Here are a few photos.

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Mohican State Park & Pleasant Hill Dam

On June 10, we visited Mohican State Park in Loudonville, Ohio so my husband could do some fishing on the Clear Fork River and so I could take some photos. I captured the usual landmarks – the covered bridge and the Pleasant Hill Dam. There were many great blue herons fishing in the area which seemed to indicate that there were quite a few fish to be had. My husband caught many sunfish and was rewarded by catching his first brown trout. Sadly, while catching that brown trout, his fishing rod broke. Luckily, he brought a backup rod and continued to fish. Right before catching the brown trout I saw movement in the wooded area near the trail to the dam, and was surprised to see an American Mink who posed for a minute for a photo before jumping into the water and swimming away. Here are a few photos from our visit.

(Note: Sadly, two teens drowned in the dam spillway area this past weekend. The water levels were far higher than they were when we fished the area. There are warning signs posted in the area and even when water levels are low, the area directly outside that spillway can be highly dangerous and should be avoided. )

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Cuyahoga Valley National Park & Scenic Railroad

We spent some time yesterday at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We hiked a few trails and only scratched the surface of all the lovely sights in this huge park. The boardwalk hike to Brandywine Falls takes visitors down into the gorge to the falls by a series of stairways and walkways that snake around some rock layers which jut out over the walkway.

We also visited the Brecksville station area, where we hiked the trail along the Cuyahoga River and the Ohio & Erie Canal. After the hike, we waited for the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad to arrive. Here are a few photos and video.

Here’s just a short loop of the train’s arrival:




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