The Joy of a Day Trip

A holiday weekend like Memorial Day is ideal for a day trip. Over the past couple of years, in January, I put a hold on one entire day of Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends for family day trips. A day trip should be defined fully by ease. Nothing else will be planned the entire day to allow the experience to evolve without time constraints. 

On Saturday we took a day trip to Huron, Ohio, as I had planned in my 2025 Great Lakes summer intentions. Huron is a town that sits right on Lake Erie about 50 miles west of downtown Cleveland. It’s your final quiet option before descending into Sandusky, home of the famous Cedar Point amusement park and all of its hubbub. 

I had stopped in Huron once before to check out Nickel Plate Beach which would be a great northeast Ohio destination for a beach day or afternoon. It has broad expanses of sand, some play equipment and volleyball courts, a roped of swim area and lifeguards in the summer. However, Saturday was beautiful, but cool with some wind. Not a day for the beach.

After bagels at home, we tossed hats, sunscreen, jackets and waters into a big tote bag. We set out on the hour drive to Huron and made our first stop Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve. There is an easy 1.6 mile round trip walk from the main parking lot to Lake Erie. The walk is on a paved road that was at one point part of the original road to Cedar Point when it first opened in 1912. The preserve at this time of year was humming with bird activity. Marshlands (a category of wetlands) are critical for migratory birds and regional bird life cycles. 

Marshlands are also critical for plant biodiversity and pollution and flood water management. Unfortunately multiple forms of human development have destroyed much of Ohio’s marshland. We learned more about this in the afternoon when we stopped at Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Center and State Nature Preserve. There was a visitor center there as well as a network of trails and a sliver of beachland where Old Woman Creek flows into Lake Erie.   

Between marshland and estuary exploration, we had lunch at the Old Fish House near the old Huron docks and lighthouse. Over a lunch of perch sandwiches for adults, chicken fingers for the girls, and lemonade for all, we watched families fishing in the Huron River and boaters potentially taking their inaugural outing of the season.  

On the ride there and back we listened to 90s tunes and talked over our summer ahead. We made one stop at a card collecting shop to let my husband indulge in his hobby for a few minutes. We opened up the sunroof of the car while on a secondary highway. Let the air whip around a little bit. Felt a little bit of leisure and the pleasure of slowing down. 

Summer intentions accomplished: One beach clean up with Cleveland Metroparks (Euclid Beach, May 18th), day trip to Huron (May 24th). Next up: 4 Miles for 4 Water with Drink Local Drink Tap (May 31st).