We had a picnic lunch at Erie, PA. then shopped to replenish our larder. The sun and heat became overbearing in mid-afternoon, so we sought out a shady spot of reprieve near Madison.
We were impressed with the abundance of large vineyards along the south shore of Lake Erie, in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. A Lake Erie Wine Alliance works to promote their products through tours, tastings, and marketing. They are second, behind California in total vineyard acreage, however the primary variety is the concord grape, which is dominated by the Welch Food Company. The area between Lake Erie and the Adirondacks, in New York primarily produces fine wines from American-French, and European varieties. Not to be overlooked, Pennsylvania and Ohio produce some fine wines too, but it’s only about 5% of their total production. We like the Welch Concord grape products but they have too much added sugar.


We encountered a severe thunderstorm at Cleveland and had to seek refuge in a Church parking lot. The Cleveland Indians were hosting the SF Giants nearby, but the storm halted the game. It resumed after we left town and we ended our day at Cedar Point, in Sandusky, on Lake Erie.