Let's Go Places: Middle Bass Island

 

It's time for the next stop on The Great Island Bender of 2023.  We're going to hit island #2 of 4, and it's one of my personal favorites - I mean all of these islands are my favorites but today I'm going to make the case for Middle Bass.

Photo continuity note: my photos are from July 2022, September 2022, April 2023, and June 2023 so that's why there is a mix of gray skies (September), no leaves on the trees (April), and full on sunny summer (either July 2022 or June 2023).

Let's review the map and put Middle Bass into context.  What exactly is it the middle of?

When you start researching the Erie Islands, you'll hear about North Bass Island and South Bass Island, but the map shows Middle Bass between two islands called Isle St. George and Put in Bay so what's up with that?  That's the trick - all of the Bass islands have two names.  Isle St. George = North Bass Island, Isle de Fleurs = Middle Bass Island, and Put in Bay = South Bass Island.  In my experience as someone who's had boots on the ground the "everyday" names are North Bass, Middle Bass, and Put in Bay.

Let's zoom in on Middle Bass.  The ferry dock is at the south near the State Park.  The main road is about three miles long, so we're on much smaller turf than Pelee Island.  Google is all over the place with the population, ranging from 25-95 permanent residents and a ton of summer/weekend visitors.  Just saying from having been there I feel like it has to be more than 25 but maybe less than 95?  There are a few restaurants (I haven't eaten at any of them but I've heard good things) and one general store.  I could be wrong, but I don't think there is any agriculture on Middle Bass.  I think it's all residential with good portions of the island set aside for nature preserves.

Let's Go to Middle Bass

There are two ferries to Middle Bass.  The most common is the ferry from the mainland, and during the summer there is a smaller ferry that runs between Put in Bay and Middle Bass.

 

It's a 40 minute ride and you will get a eyeful of the sights of Put in Bay, which we'll check out in our next post.  After the eye candy you pull into Middle Bass, and at first glance it looks like a happening place.  Winery you say?  Don't mind if we do!

Hold your horses.  There is a long history of wineries on this site, and the building that is there today was built in the 1940's.  The winery closed but the building was still used for events until 2000, when a terrace collapsed, injuring 75 people and killing one.  After that the state took over and later restored the building into an event venue/museum.  Special events are held on the site but for your everyday roaming purposes, it's just the building and no winery.

You walk in the front door and you're free to roam about through several rooms of wine memorabilia.

Sage advice - "drink no longer water, take a little bit of wine for thy stomach's sake".

The exit - can I just tell you how disappointed I was that there were no spiders after the big build up?

After the winery our next stop is Middle Bass Island State Park.

There is a Big Deal Glacial Groove park on Kelleys Island that we'll talk about when we get there, but Middle Bass gives you smaller, less crowded grooves.

While you are wandering around the park, you will also see This Old House, which is slated for a big restoration in the coming years.  I'll be back to report on it once it's done, but here is what it looks like right now.

My favorite part of the park is this structure that you see as the ferry pulls into the island.

This is what's left of a Big Deal Grand Hotel that was on Middle Bass in the early 1900s.  The story ends the same way that a lot of the stories about the Grandiose Island Buildings of the 19th and early 20th centuries end...that it is all fun and games on an island until a fire comes along.

The view from inside.

What once was

So far everything that we've seen is right at the ferry dock.  Let's go downtown!  Walk one mile north on the main road and you are there.

On my first visit to Middle Bass last September, this was as far as I got.  The reason is that I was on foot, and although I'm pretty active, the idea of a six mile round trip walk of the island was a bit more than I wanted to take on.  The one place that rents golf carts had just closed for the season.  They have bikes for rent at the state park but (1) I wasn't sure if it was open and (2) at the time I hadn't ridden a bike in many years, and it didn't feel like the time to find out whether or not I still could.

Nine months later I'm a bike owner so I sailed right through downtown and up north.  Lucky for me because even in the height of the summer the golf cart rental place still doesn't open until noon.

I saw places like this:

At the marsh on the way back the Swans of Middle Bass were out and about.

I went down every road that I could and put nine miles on the bike - I definitely could not have done that on foot.

Two special things happened along the way:

• I nailed my fastest biking mile to date: 5:05.  Like Pelee, the terrain is very flat.
• I saw a bald eagle!  I've been hearing that they're becoming more common but I hadn't seen one  in person.  I was pedaling along the road minding my own business when a large brown bird with a white head flew by...it took me just a second to realize what it was.
  

Middle Bass is the smallest island of our trip, and after two hours it was time to move on.  I hopped on the ferry to Put in Bay.  Here's a preview of where the story is going next.

Stuff to Know About Middle Bass

• As with Pelee Island, people either love or hate Middle Bass for the same reason "there's nothing to do there".  Yes that is definitely more true for Middle Bass than it was for Pelee.
  
• The ferry runs much less frequently to Middle Bass than it does to Put in Bay or Kelleys, and the ferry between Middle Bass and Put in Bay only runs in the summer.  It's kind of a thing to stay on Middle Bass for the quiet and go over to Put in Bay for the restaurants and bars.
• This is not a 24/7 kind of a place.  The golf cart rental place didn't open until noon.
• If you want to stay overnight on Middle Bass, you're going to be doing that sometime between April and October - most of the rental properties are in the same area and the water is shut off in the off season.
• I would really like to spend a weekend here sometime, but summertime prices were too rich for me and the reviews on rentals are mixed.  If I ever came here I'd target late April/early May or September after labor day.
  

Before We Go - Let's Talk About North Bass Island

Let's talk about North Bass right quick.  I haven't been there but it doesn't feel right to leave it out of our island recap.  There is no ferry, so the only way to get there is by private boat or plane.  Back in the old days North Bass had a decent size population to support the island's vineyards, but from what I understand grape growing is pretty much hands off in today's day and age so the population dried up in the early 2000's.  Google isn't very helpful on the current population, but I've heard that it's somewhere around one (1) person.

Today most of the island is owned by the state.  There is one house that's available for rent and the rest is camping.  The word is that two other houses are being restored.  I can see going to North Bass sometime when/if more development gets underway or if I ever talk my family into a non-Boy Scout Camping trip.

If you're interested here's a three minute video on the last day of school on the island in 2006.

 

Until next time...we're going to the party island!!!  Topics of discussion will include why I don't think it's fair to single Put in Bay out as the party island.