Oddities and Anomalies of the Marblehead Penninsula

Of nostalgic landmarks around the Marblehead Penninsula, two wistful notes come to mind.  One is the larger than life fiberglass figure setting near the Shell Station (I think) on route 163.  He’s in sad need of repair.

Not too far from there is the former Mystery Hill.  No longer in operation, there’s a cave and an entryway that went to somewhere long before I came to live in the area.  Recently the vendors that were there closed it down for good.  The old fiberglass dinosaur looks so lonely there.  His tail is all bandaged up and covered in plastic.

Here's where there used to be the only bridge that spanned between the main land and the Marblehead Penninsula.  Now it's a state park, and the strangest one I've ever seen.  It's easy to find when you take the Bayshore Road exit from Route 2.    Turning right a.s.a.p. from the exit, you'll soon see the state park sign a few hundred feet traveling as if to Port Clinton and Portage County.  Make a left by the state park sign, (sorry, I can,t think of the name of "park.")  And that's probably because, as I said earlier, it's the weirdest park I've ever seen.  It's nothing more than a road with rails on either side, and a few dumpsters.  

Fishermen and women go across the railing, climb some steep rocks to get close to the water, and they go fishing.  For others, it may be a place for lovers to have clandestine, romantic interludes.  For high profile people, this could mean trouble if seen there in an embrace with someone who isn't the spouse.  This actually happened quite to the embarrassment of a local resort organization situated on Lake Erie.  He was high profile enough to come out of it unscathed despite the photos that were shown in the local rags.

As the story goes, the bridge used to lead to Castalia, a tiny, family oriented town.  Once the powers that be decided the old bridge was dangerous and had to be demolished, the town of Castalia disallowed it.  The citizenry simply wanted a nice place to raise a family.  The mayor and chief of police are the same person.

Interesting Email about Asian Carp, Lake Erie and Government Involvement

The tourist industry really brings in a lot of money to the state of Ohio.  For the residents, it's easy to notice by the increased traffic everywhere.  See the statistics in this letter.  Hopefully, the solutions won't get bogged down in governmental red tape.

Stopping the Threat of Asian Carp The Great Lakes region and the Ohio River basin are invaluable resources—providing a source of water for countless households, generating economic activity for the region, and providing jobs through commerce, fishing, and tourism. In fact, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, some 450,000 people fish in Lake Erie annually – contributing about $680 million to Ohio’s economy. But our fishing and tourism industries are threatened by Asian carp. Protecting the Great Lakes region and the Ohio River basin from Asian carp is about protecting our regional economy and the livelihood of thousands of Ohioans. These invasive species, with their voracious appetites, significantly alter the habitat – by crowding-out native bass, catfish, and walleye – and are also a threat to boaters. The time to act is now as Asian carp have already been identified in the Ohio River – at the mouth of the Little Miami River, near Cincinnati. Although several federal agencies have already been combating Asian carp, we have yet to designate an agency as the lead. Simply put, we need a coordinated federal response. Last June, I helped pass the bipartisan Stop Invasive Species Act to expedite a strategy to block Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. And though the bill was signed into law last summer, there is still more we must do. While we rightly focus on keeping the carp out of the Great Lakes in the Chicago region, we must also protect other pathways into the lakes. That’s why I’m re-introducing bipartisan legislation, Strategic Response to Asian Carp Invasion Act, with Senator Pat Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, to stop Asian carp from entering streams and rivers in our states. The Strategic Response to Asian Carp Invasion Act would coordinate a new federal effort with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Army Corps of Engineers, and state wildlife agencies to share best practices and technology to stop the threat of Asian carp. It would also require a yearly report to Congress on the efforts and movement of Asian carp within the Ohio and Upper Mississippi River region. We must all work together to protect the Great Lakes region and the Ohio River basin from this invasive species. The Strategic Response to Asian Carp Invasion Act is another much needed step to secure the economic drivers shoring up Ohio’s multi-million dollar fishing and recreation industries.  Sincerely, Sherrod Brown U.S. Senator