The Village of Kelly's Island, Ohio, is a Lake Erie Island

Kelly's Island, Ohio, a village of 367 permanent residents is situated on a 4.6 square mile island in Lake Erie, four miles north of Marblehead, Ohio. Except for the few people who reach the island by private plane or boat, access is by private ferry which makes the trip every hour or half-hour, depending on the season and time of day. It runs mainly during daylight hours. This information is from the website, "Kelly's Island, Ohio" on Wikipedia.org.

They also state, "Kelleys Island is both a village in Erie County, Ohio, United States, and the island which it fully occupies in Lake Erie."

I suggest you click to enlarge the photo of the island as it gives you a very nice view.

My wife and I decided to see Kelly's Island, and we decided to travel there on a weekday in September. We thought this would be a good month to go because it should be less crowded with school in session.

We stayed in a delightful motel in Marblehead, Ohio, named The Lighthouse Resort. Our off-season rate for a king-size bed and a kitchenette was a surprising low $79 plus tax. The on-season rate was $119.

The motel had a wonderful, unobstructed view of Lake Erie, which was only about 150 ft. from the front of the motel. Being a lake instead of the ocean they don't have to worry about high tide, but the stiff breeze blowing over the water did provide some very impressive waves that exceeded those on the Gulf of Mexico on a calm day.

The ferry landing is a short distance west of the motel. As we arrived, we viewed the ferryboat on the lake about halfway to Kelly's Island. We had to wait 50 minutes for the next trip.

We had always heard cars were not allowed to drive on the island, so we decided not to take the car and rent a golf cart instead. After arriving on the island we found to our chagrin that cars were indeed allowed on the island roads and we had to pay a $14 hourly rate for the golf cart. In retrospect, using the golf cart was very enjoyable. The fresh air and the unobstructed view from the cart was ideal for a leisurely ride along the lakeside drive. Other people must have felt the same way, as the golf carts definitely outnumbered the cars on the road.

Although many of the shops had evidently already closed for the winter, we probably enjoyed our visit much more than we would have with the summer crowd.

A very interesting sight on Kelly's Island are the grooves carved by the ice age glaciers, 14,000 years ago. This information is given on the webpage titled, "Kellys Island in the News," on the website kellysisland.com. This webpage also features an excerpt from a National Geographic video. "PBS-Naked Science: Great Lakes," discusses the origin of the Great Lakes and the glacial grooves on Kelly's Island This short video is well worth your time.

This video states that a perfect example the glacial grooves found on the bottom of the Great Lakes can be observed on Kelly's Island and range from 15 ft deep to 400 ft. long. According to Wikipedia, these grooves "are the largest and most easily accessible remains of glacial groves in the world."

In a conversation with a shopkeeper, we obtained the following information. The lake expanse between Kelly's Island and the mainland is usually frozen during January and February. Sometimes it freezes over beginning in December. Even before the water freezes solid, wind-driven floating ice packs can block the ferry landings, depending on the direction of the wind. During that time it is necessary to phone to see if the ferry is running.

The shopkeeper also said there is a strong spring flowing from the lake bottom in the area between Kelly's Island and Marblehead. This relatively warm spring water can cause soft spots in the ice making crossing the ice too dangerous for all but the most knowledgeable people. Some people do cross the ice to South Bass Island which is several miles northwest of Kelly's Island. When the lake is frozen, the only other way for the 367 residents to leave is by plane from the small airport.

You might enjoy this Chicago Tribune article, "A Tale of 2 Lake Erie Islands." (Kelly's and South Bass Islands.)

We enjoyed our visit very much. The island definitely has a unique charm.

Sources:
"A Tale of 2 Lake Erie Islands"/Chicagotribune.com

"Kelly's Island, Ohio"/Wikipedia.org

"Kelly's Island in the News"/Kellysisland.com