Sunday, August 24, 2014

Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve

We had a wonderful time at our friends' wedding celebration last night. We woke up this morning wanting to explore a little bit of Cleveland. Actually we decided that a swim in Lake Erie might be the best way for us to explore the city a bit. We headed over to the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve thinking it might allow us the opportunity to go for a swim. While it did not offer swimming access we  had an interesting visit nonetheless.

After getting ready to go by a huge beech tree near the parking area,
we passed through a turnstile and hit the trail.
We proposed to hike a portion of the Perimeter Trail to what was marked on the map that Sierra carried
as an overlook. As we started we saw lots of wildflowers in bloom along the trail.
We came to an open area with a view out onto the lake and saw some interesting birds as well.
There were cormorants, gulls, green herons,
and belted kingfishers amongst other avian visitors. We passed through a restored prairie area
and soon after found ourselves at the overlook looking out on Lake Erie and the Cleveland skyline.

We returned to the car by using the Monarch Trail. We enjoyed the preserve but could tell that Sierra was a bit upset at not being able to dip her piggies in the water. We decided to head over to Edgewater Beach where we enjoyed feeling the sand between our toes and dipping our feet in the water.
After relaxing on the beach for a bit, it was time to hit the road and start to make our way south back to Tennessee. I have to admit, we had a very good time exploring the Buckeye State.

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