Visit Presque Isle and Three Historic Lighthouses in Erie, Pennsylvania

Publishing glitches buried my recently published articles "Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania" which details the year-round activities on Presque Isle (click here) and "Historical Lake Erie Lighthouses" (click here). (Appreciate it if you'd check them out and comment over there. )

Since my daughter moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, we have made the eight hour drive from Philadelphia at least twice a year. (AAA says it only takes 6.5 hours, but that's if you break every speed law on the books, don't mind eating while you drive, and take a portable john with you.)

The first year we went up at Christmas, in a snowstorm. Saw six accidents, two of them serious, one involving a tanker and car full of college students. That's the year I discovered Presque Isle in the winter. I had stumbled onto to Erie's Presque Isle years before in August, and we usually visit my daughter's family in September, and while it is tons of fun in the summer and breathtaking in the fall, is an absolutely spectacular place to visit in the winter. The lake freezes and people erect ice-fishing huts, something you don't see in my neck of the woods. (My son-in-law, who spent part of his childhood in Erie, says his uncles used to try to walk to Canada on the lake, and always ended up being rescued!) It may not always be "sunny in Philadelphia" as the TV show title suggests, but in the winter it IS always snowy in Erie.

At first, you wouldn't think of Pennsylvania as a stop on a lighthouse tour but in Erie, on the shores of Lake Erie, there are three, and all three had a part in the shipping history of the area. The Erie Land Lighthouse, built in 1818, bears the distinction of being the first American lighthouse on the Great Lakes, despite the claim of the Buffalo Main Light, also built in 1818. The North Pierhead Lighthouse, circa 1830, and Presque Isle Lighthouse, circa 1873 are located on Presque Isle.

That first trip was also when I discovered the historical significance of Erie. If you missed it, click here for my article, "Erie County Museums,"where you can learn about the War of 1812 and the culture and development of Erie.