On Vacation - Ashtabula County

We spent four days and three nights in Ashtabula County, staying in Austinburg's Holiday Inn Express.

Coming from the west-central part of the state we entered the county in the northeast corner from the south. 

There are only a handful of bridges on the west side of the county, so we made our way through Windsor, Riverdale, Mechanicsville, Harpersfield, and West Liberty.

It was still early when we finished the bridges, so we drove to Geneva-on-the-Lake for lunch at an outdoor stand since it was a beautiful day. From there we drove through the city of Ashtabula.

The Ashtabula Draw Bridge. 10/7/25 dwm

 The Ashtabula River creates Ashtabula's port. A floating pontoon bridge was installed in 1850, but it was cumbersome and difficult to handle.

 In 1925, Wendell Brown designed Ashtabula's Bascule Lift Bridge. It was restored in 1986 and this year celebrates its 100th year.

 On the first day's drive through the city, we saw the bridge in the upright, jackknife position with it's west end high above the harbor district.

 We returned two days later and walked around and across the bridge in a light rain. I saw a sign indicating the bridge was raised and lowered at the top and bottom of each hour, but unfortunately that was only during the summer. October doesn't qualify.

Approaching the bridge. 10/5/25 dwm

This bridge is the only one of its kind carrying car traffic in Ohio. While we were downtown I hoped to get a look at the city's lighthouse, but we missed a turn and only saw it from several miles away.

Driving along the shore of Lake Erie, we headed to Conneaut, pronounced Connie-ut where we drove to the marina for a look at their light. 

Before the trip, I learned a small section of Pennsylvania between Ohio and New York state was home to three lighthouses of its own on Lake Erie. Better than that, Erie, PA was less than an hour east of Ashtabula.

The counter-weight lifts the bridge. 10/7/25 dwm

 The three lights were close to each other as the crow flies, but driving around Erie in a car meant staying on streets and following the spit of land that created a safe harbor. 

 After capturing the last light, we drove to our temporary home in Austinburg. 

 A warm and sunny day was predicted for Monday, so we started at the Ashtabula lighthouse which I could access from a lakeside trek on their breakwater, then set out to see the rest of the county's 19 bridges.

It rained Tuesday, which was good for that part of the country which hadn't seen rain in weeks. We spent a few hours relaxing before heading out to an orchard.

Rain on an apple at Brant's Orchard. 10/7/25 dwm

It was too wet to walk around the grounds, so I ventured to the edge of a line of just off the parking lot. The ground was so wet it squished under every step.

Inside the orchard's barn were pecks of apples; a bakery with sweets; and fresh apple cider. 

Ashtabula county is home to dozens of vineyards, and we drove past several of them. However, vineyards aren't a big deal to us, so spent time searching for quaint shops.

 

An out-of-work oil well. 10/7/25 dwm

 One thing we noticed while driving across Ohio and Ashtabula county were frozen-in-time pump-jack wells in the middle of farm fields and pastures. 

 Grand Lake, where we saw our first three Ohio lighthouses was the first body of water to have a well pumping oil. Either the oil is gone or it's not profitable to get them pumping again.

 We had a good stay in Ashtabula and enjoyed our stops at Bob Evans (it started in Ohio) and Red Lobster. 

 Those might sound like odd choices but Bob Evans was a favorite when we lived in Indianapolis and they don't have any Wisconsin locations; Red Lobster is usually off the radar for us, the last time I recall eating at one was when we lived near Eau Claire so it brought back some memories.

The Harbor District of Ashtabula. 10/7/2025 dwm