Northern Exposure

Walleye capital Perhaps Port Clinton’s defining characteristic is that it charts its own course. Other towns, for example, put up monuments to presidents, patriots and pioneers, but Port Clinton pays tribute to a fellow who invented a fishing lure. His name was Dan Galbincea, and in the 1950s, he created the Erie Dearie, a weight-forward spinner designed to attract walleye. Not only did the Erie Dearie became the nation’s best-selling walleye lure, but Captain Dan also secured Port Clinton’s reputation as the “Walleye Capital of the World” by launching the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association. The town’s memorial to Captain Dan is Erie Dearie Park, a pocket of green space beside Waterworks Park. In true Port Clinton style, Erie Dearie Park has no statue of Captain Dan, but instead features the wood transom from his Lyman fishing boat.

Because it’s shallow, warm and nutrient-rich, Lake Erie possesses more fish and more varieties of fish — primarily walleye, yellow perch, bass and channel catfish — than the other Great Lakes combined. The Western Basin, in particular, is so productive that it has spawned a thriving recreational fishing industry exemplified by Wylie Walleye, a 20-foot-long, LED-illuminated fiberglass fish that rings in the New Year in Port Clinton by falling from the sky at midnight. A retired version of the faux fish — locally known as Wylie, Sr. — often appears in parades but usually can be found outside the Lake Erie Shores & Islands Welcome Center-West (on State Route 53, southeast of Port Clinton), where he frequently hooks visitors looking for a photo op.

Besides the quirky New Year’s Eve Walleye Drop, Port Clinton holds a Memorial Day Weekend Walleye Festival in Waterworks Park, and every Labor Day weekend the town’s Knights of Columbus council hosts its Perch, Peach, Pierogi, & Polka Festival — a unique and toe-tapping event that celebrates the bounty of the lake and the land, as well as the eastern European ethnicity of many locals.

Invading Port Clinton

The earliest people on Lake Erie’s south shore were Native Americans, such as the Ottawa, who fished, hunted and trapped in what is now the Port Clinton area and participated in the French fur trade during the early 1700s. The tribe’s name, which translates to “trader,” was adopted for Ottawa County. Although the Indians were rapidly displaced by white settlers after the War of 1812, legend has it that the spirit of the Ottawa brave Nabagon still watches over Catawba Island.

Upscale condos and developments likewise supplanted Catawba Island’s once-prolific vineyards and peach orchards, yet two exceptional establishments deliver singular experiences that reflect its agricultural heritage. The vintage Gideon Owen Wine Company (formerly Mon Ami Restaurant and Historic Winery) dates to the 1800s, while the recently opened Twin Oast Brewing is a multifaceted farm, gathering place and entertainment venue complete with peach and apricot orchards, craft beers, a locavore menu and stunning architecture.

Port Clinton, curiously enough, was named for New York governor DeWitt Clinton, who brought economic prosperity to his state by masterminding the Erie Canal. In the late 1820s, Ohio was building its own canal system, and land speculators platted a village at the mouth of the Portage River that they ambitiously christened Port Clinton in hopes of capturing a canal terminal. The canal, alas, never came, and Port Clinton never boomed into a Buffalo or Cleveland. But French, Danish, German and Slavic immigrants did come. They took advantage of the region’s abundant resources (limestone; gypsum; flat, fertile soil; a Great Lake; and a long, lake-induced growing season) and built the deep-seated local industries that are now illustrated in four murals that grace the rotunda of Port Clinton’s courthouse: “Quarrying,” “Farming,” “Fruit Growing” and “Fishing.” Also inside the 1901 courthouse is the “Perry’s Victory on Lake Erie” mural that salutes a War of 1812 battle near South Bass Island. America’s Oliver Hazard Perry famously defied the odds, trounced a British fleet, and preempted enemy invasions of Ohio and neighboring states.

Nowadays, of course, boaters and vacationers invade Port Clinton, but many of them may perceive the town as merely an access point for the lake or islands. That’s a mistake, according to Brian Shifflet, who grew up in Port Clinton and handles visitor services at Lake Erie Shores & Islands Welcome Center-West.

“If you have that mentality, you’re missing out on lots of good things,” he says. “There’s more happening on the mainland than people realize, and you should definitely take time to explore it.”

Although it hums with tourists on holiday weekends, Port Clinton is generally quieter and slower-paced than Put-in-Bay, and while national fast food and retail chains — including a Walmart that sells live bait and posts a daily wind, wave, weather and walleye report — certainly exist, the town looks and feels as laid-back and unassuming as a summer afternoon.

“Downtown Port Clinton is very historic and has a retro quality with lots of nice shops that are mostly mom and pop places,” says home-towner and Safe Harbor General Manager Lee Meinke. “It’s still small-town America.”

Indeed, Port Clinton is so walkable that just blocks from the Jet Express dock, you can enjoy freshly made quiche, scones, soups and sandwiches at the cottage-like Coffee Express (tip: Check the chalkboard for daily specials), and then head next door to Lilly & Gert’s, a chock-full-of-surprises shop where old-school Lake Erie postcards and antique milk glass share shelves with owner Dina Rodgers’ handcrafted jewelry. On Madison Street, the Lake Erie Candle Company’s seasonal store carries nautical candles (think musky Lake Erie Sunset or refreshing Boater’s Paradise) made by the Buczkowski family. The Great Lakes Popcorn Co. produces snacks in 30-plus flavors, including sweet Vanilla Butternut and spicy Wild Walleye. And tiny Ala Carte Café serves tremendous steak and eggs, biscuits and gravy, and home fries. If nothing else, order the homemade cinnamon coffee cake; moist and flavorful, it’ll top anything your grandma used to make.

Though The Island House Hotel has anchored Perry Street since 1886 and accommodated the likes of President Taft, General McArthur, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe, OurGuest Inn & Suites currently brings nationally known performers, such as soft rock singer Jon Pousette-Dart and country songwriter Will Hoge to The Listening Room, an intimate, in-house venue that’s Port Clinton’s answer to Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe.

Both September’s Rock the Light Music Festival and August’s Port Clinton Lighthouse & Maritime Festival take place on the town’s remarkably undeveloped and uncommercialized lakefront. The area hugs the shoreline for nearly a mile and features a trio of contiguous natural attractions — Waterworks Park, the Lakefront Preserve wetlands and birding hotspot, and a popular municipal swimming beach — that form an esplanade laced with walkways and accented by the restored Port Clinton Lighthouse. From 1896 to 1952, that lighthouse stood sentinel at the juncture of river and lake, and if you climb its winding wooden stairs and step onto its lofty deck, you’ll be rewarded with splendidly scenic views and a fine perspective on Port Clinton’s enduring, inimitable and unforgettable connection to Lake Erie.