3 Sep - Cleveland, Fairport OH Lighthouses

3 Sep
We decided to head to Cleveland this morning and take in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum first and then return via the coast and see a couple lighthouses.  Well, the whole Cleveland thing did not go as planned!  Someone decided to have an airshow today and the traffic was gridlock trying to get in there.  The Cleveland National Airshow is 3,4,5 September and it promises to draw quite a crowd!  http://www.clevelandairshow.com/  Unfortunately the same streets are used to access the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  We made a couple attempts and then decided to pull the plug on that for today and head back towards the lighthouses.

Two of the lighthouses between Cleveland and our campground are located in Fairport OH.  The first one we visited was the Fairport Harbor West Breakwater Lighthouse.  It is located on a rock breakwater that helps to control the waves on Fairport harbor.  It was originally built in 1911 and like many of the other lighthouses was overcome by technology, sold several times and most recently sold to a lady in Virginia in 2011.  She planned to create "the ultimate summer home".  She planned to incorporate a self-contained and environmentally friendly water and waste water system with a solar or wind power system with a backup generator.  There is no direct access to it, so we parked in a nearby park and hiked along the beach to the breakwater where we took a few pictures and then I climbed part way out on the breakwater rocks to get a closer shot.

A view from the beach

Beautiful lighthouse, picture taken from the breakwater rocks

Boat traffic, from the beach

Taken from the Fairport Lighthouse.  The breakwater is visible.

After that we drove into town and found the Fairport Lighthouse and Museum.  The lighthouse is showing it's age, but the museum is really nice and full of marine artifacts.  Doreen got her lighthouse passport stamped, we toured the museum and then climbed the 60 steps to the top of the lighthouse.

A painting of the lighhouse and the keepers residence

The lighthouse today.  The wear and tear of it's exterior is showing

The keepers house

Erosion on the exterior

The oil house

Inside the museum.  Ship's engine room instrument panel

Old Navy Mark V dive helmet and weighted boots

Salt from the nearby Morton salt mine.  Here salt is mined 2000 ft below lake Erie.  It is used for street application and died blue so that it shows where it has been applied.

The Morton Salt Mine, picture from atop the lighthouse.

The bridge from the USS Frontenac is part of the museum.  

A view from inside the bridge

Ship's compass

USS Frontenac communications device

The museum also contained some items from the Edmund Fitzgerald

Some of the sailors on the Fitzgerald were from this area.

The Fresnel lens from the lighthouse

This view shows the torch inside

Atop the lighthouse

Doreen taking a picture of the other lighthouse from up here.

Her knee held out for another climb

A lifesaving boat on display.  Many lighthouses also has a Coast Guard life saving station nearby

 

Selfie with the breakwater and lighthouse in the background

Even thought the day did not start so great we made the best of it.  We can reattack the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday.  Tomorrow we attend a Cleveland Indians baseball game!