Early in the morning of the second day, I decided to try my hand at some astrophotography, in order to capture the beautifully clear stars.
As the morning light began to light up the surroundings, I walked to the shore to take some pictures of the early morning lake.
I returned to my tent to get a bit more rest before sunrise, but not before taking some pictures of my tent setup.
After awhile, I gave up on sleep, and headed back to the shore with a chair, to sit and capture the sunrise.
After returning to the tent for another round of snoozing, the others managed to rise from their tent and we had a breakfast of bananas, sunflower seeds, and juice.
We also began working out a plan for the day. We would start by hiking around the local area, including the campground, the glacial grooves, and the nearby wildlife area, and then take a boat over to Put-In-Bay in the afternoon to visit the crystal caverns.
While looking around the campground, we saw a sign for a fish dismantling hut, and decided to check it out to see if it would be useful for our potential fishing plans. The hut looked very hygienic (sarcasm), but there was also a very nice shore area we walked along for a bit.
After checking out the campgrounds, we set out for the glacial grooves. On the way encountered some old ruins, which consisted of some underground storage areas, and an old oven.
The glacial grooves were right across the street.
The grooves felt really artificial, as the area around them had been completely cut away by quarrying activity, leaving the grooves in a box of stone, but they were still pretty cool to see.
There were some girls pulling weeds from the middle of the grooves that we assumed were park employees that Jackson talked with for a bit.
Afterward, we went on a small hike towards a shore / wildlife area. On the way, we found the remains of some kind of industrial structure.
There was a part of the ruins with trees growing inside the building. We also ran across the girls we had previously met at the grooves, and Jackson struck up a conversation with them. It turns out they were not park employees, but geologists that were just doing a bit of vigilante gardening.
After hanging out in the ruins for awhile, we made our way into the woods to try and find some cool shore areas. After awhile we came across a cool mossy shore area. While there, we met the girls again, who continued along the shore, which was a bit too much adventure for us.
A short walk later, we arrived at a sort of hidden beach, which required repelling down a steep slope to get to. We were a bit hesitant at first, but eventually decided it was exactly the right amount of adventure.
After returning to our camp to rest for a bit, we headed into town to get lunch, consisting of perch sandwiches.
Afterward we headed to the pier to investigate our options for getting to Put-In-Bay.
We learned that the last ferry to South Bass Island was in an hour, so we returned to the campsite for a bit to wait. On the way back, we stopped to buy some firewood from a home that was selling bundles of firewood for $10. They didn't have any cut logs left, but instead they just gave us a bunch of leftover cut lumber from a construction project for free.
Once back in town, we couldn't find any street parking, so we had to go for the paid parking. Other than that, we board the boat without issue and were on our way.
after arriving at Put-In-Bay, we rented a gold cart and made our way to the cave location.
The crystal cave is one of the largest known geodes. It was discovered by a winery when they were digging a well, and during prohibition they started offering tours, which kept the winery going.
After finishing the cave tour, we were able to use the token they gave us for one free wine or grape juice, so we sat and chatted for a bit under the watchful eye of the life size Nicholas Cage butler statue.
Afterward we headed across the street to the Perry cave and butterfly house.
After exploring the store for a bit, we entered the main butterfly area.
The butterfly house was so nice that we decided to skip the cave and hang out with the butterflies until it was time to for the return ferry back to Kelley's island.
The boat ride back was a lot more crowded, and we ended up having to sit in the splash zone.
after returning to the campsite, Jackson and I went on a short walk to check out the nearby beach.
After returning, we started on dinner, consisting of hot dogs. It turns out adding a ton of Cajun seasoning before cooking gives the hotdog a a crunchy flavorful exterior that massively elevates the eating experience.
After eating, the girls we met before brought stuff for smores. We talked about horror stories, game development, and ancient aliens.
