Day #2: Presque Isle
Dry Run Road Trip - Entry #5
In doing my research for this trip, I had decided that we would make a stop in Presque Isle State Park.
It was supposed to be a ‘day trip’ kind of stop. The plan had been to visit Niagara University on the afternoon of the first day, leaving us able to wake up, drive straight to Erie, PA, and spend some time checking out Presque Isle while the car charged at what the Plugshare app suggested would be free charging.
I had never been to Presque Isle. But it looked extensive online, and I figured we’d be able to fit in at least a few hours of something while the car topped up. They had a nature center. They had a beach. They had a tower, complete with 120+ steps - probably not for me, but I could wait at the bottom while Ben climbed it, right? They had a marina. We’d find something to occupy the charging time…
I’d expected we’d spent four, maybe five hours, tops, here. The plan was to continue on in the afternoon, finding a place to stay overnight in Ohio - Cleveland, perhaps. Or closer to the lake in Sandusky.
It would turn out that we’d drive into Presque Isle and those plans would almost immediately change.
Erie, by all accounts, is nothing special.
It has a downtown.
It has some high-end hotels on the lake.
It has suburbs - they call them townships - with your normal suburb stuff.
A shopping mall.
Chain restaurants.
A Tesla Supercharger, which is how we came to include Erie as a destination in the first place.
It’s the same as so many other cities, I imagine.
And then there’s Presque Isle.
Presque Isle State Park is on another level as state parks go. I’d been tipped off by my brother, who’d spent a night on the causeway in his camper van without being harassed. (Ben and I hoped we’d be able to do the same). He told me I’d love Presque Isle. When we got there, I saw almost immediately, how much.
Presque Isle State Park, courtesy WikimediaFrom their Wikipedia page:
Presque Isle State Park is a 3,112-acre (1,259 ha) Pennsylvania State Park on an arching, sandy peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, 4 miles (6 km) west of the city of Erie.. The peninsula sweeps northeastward, surrounding Presque Isle Bay along the park's southern coast. It has 13 miles (21 km) of roads, 21 miles (34 km) of recreational trails, 13 beaches for swimming, and a marina. Popular activities at the park include swimming, boating, hiking, biking, and birdwatching.
Immediately upon entering the park we realized we were somewhere special. There was no ticket booth. Nobody to take the money. No signs with rules and regulations that greet you in every New York state park. I’m not even sure if we spotted a sign that said we were entering a state park. We were just kind of swept into a paradise of beaches, observation areas, hiking and biking trails, and more. It began with an amazing looking ice cream stand - Sara’s Ice Cream. Then, behind it, Sara’s Diner. Turns out Sara owns most of the town, because next on our drive, on the right: Sara’s Campground. Sara’s influence appeared to end after that, with the first parking area facing the bay. There was a beautiful, full moon that evening, and it was reflected off of the water.
Was this paradise?
It probably didn’t hurt that Ben had found the Tesla music streaming service just minutes before we entered. We were being treated to the sounds of Polynesian Elevator Music, a blend of tropical music and a genre known as Exotica. It was so peaceful, so relaxing. Misiriou by Martin Denny… Pearly Shells (Popo-O Ewa) by the New Hawaiian Band… Rio by Les Baxter… Yellow Bird by Arthur Lyman. The music just slowed things down, and the traffic on the peninsula seemed to slow with it. At one point I realized that it was just us in the Tesla, with no cars before us and no cars following us. It seemed to be that way for miles. We just drove, so relaxed, barely keeping pace with the cyclists rolling by on two wheels. It was perfect. And driving the Tesla - set to the ‘hold’ style of driving - probably just added to the bliss.
We’d driven around much of the peninsula before we finally decided to stop for Beach #8. Beach #8 was the one that the Plugshare app claimed had free EV charging. We pulled in to the parking area and realized a few things:
This area had private bathrooms, as well. And a water bottle refill station.
The EV chargers and adjacent handicapped space had the only paved parking in the lot.
The beach itself was just a few yards to the west.
“Um, Chris…” Ben finally spoke. “This place has everything. Free car charging. Bathrooms. Trash. The beach…”
“The beach!” I said, excitedly.
“Chris… why would we go anywhere else?”
I explained that we were on a road trip. We had to hit the road again. We’d come to see this place, and we’d seen it. Maybe we could charge the car a bit and go for a swim… maybe we could even spend the night somewhere and explore a bit more in the morning. But we had to continue… we couldn’t allow ourselves to be lulled into a long-term stay in the first beautiful spot we found.
“But… it’s really beautiful,” Ben interrupted. “And, I mean… free charging…”
We plugged in the car and decided to head over to the beach. I was impressed by the speeds were were getting - nearly 40mph! Blazing fast. Ben’s suggestion was starting to sound better. But we had three more days of this road trip - we had to keep going!
We finally agreed on a compromise… we’d find a place to sleep, wake up early, have breakfast, and come right back to the beach. Maybe we’d catch the sunrise. At the very least, we’d stay for a swim, charge up again, and then continue on.
Ben agreed, albeit a little reluctantly.
“If this place would let us Tesla Camp right here in this parking lot it would have everything,” he said wistfully.
I couldn’t disagree…
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READ ALL ABOUT THE ‘DRY RUN’ ROAD TRIP!
[Dry Run Road Trip] [Outfitting The Tesla] [Day 1: Niagara Falls] [Day 2: Route 5] [Day 2: Presque Isle] [Day 3: A Screeching Halt in Erie, PA] [Day 3: Just Another Day in Paradise!] [Day 4: Time to Go…] [NYC & Post-Trip Wrap-Up]
