Cheers Trail — HAYLIESTORY | FINDING FESTIVALS

The Cheers Trail is a new 2019 experience by Shores and Islands Ohio. A compilation of 18 wineries and breweries within the Lake Erie Shores and Islands region. In this episode we feature 8 of the 18 locations on the trail:

Put In Bay Winery Dollar Estate - Put In Bay, Ohio

Driving around in a golf cart you may have seen a large yellow mansion. This historical home is where the Put In Bay Winery resides for tastings. You start your experience with a complimentary chocolate covered strawberry and end sipping a glass of wine on the front lawn with a gorgeous lake view. Plus, get your purchased wines delivered to the dock of your ferry home. My personal favorite wine was the Valentine’s Chocolate.

Put In Bay Brewery & Distillery - Put In Bay, OH
This is the only local brewery and distillery on the island. With flights in the shape of the island your taste buds will explode with all the incredible craft beers made in house. I fell in love with the Watermelon Wheat; it is fresh and light in flavor, just like a watermelon. Perfect for a sunset drink with friends.

Bait House Brewery - Sandusky, OH

Sandusky’s first craft beer brewery has 10 brews on tap. They have a nice screened-in porch and great front lawn seating area for you and your squad to enjoy an evening together. Their food was amazing! You can order off of their Bavarian Food Truck; go for the brat!

Heineman’s Winery - Put In Bay, OH

Celebrating 131 years in 2019, Heineman’s Winery is the oldest family owned and operated winery in Ohio. They have many onsite experiences including tours of their wine and grape juice making, a tasting room where you can sample award winning wine and you can even visit the world’s largest celestite geode, Crystal Cave. Because of the cave Heineman’s Winery survived prohibition; thank goodness for natural preservation. Oh and the bat I found is fake; his name is Sanchez.

Rocky Point Winery - Marblehead, OH

Located downtown Marblehead, Ohio Rock Point Winery is your place for a weekend escape. From live music, to s’more making and of course wine tasting, this winery is a great place to wind down after a full day of local activities. They had the cutest gifts available at their shop although one of their wine glasses were just too small for me personally (ha,ha).

Kelley’s Island Wine Co. - Kelleys Island, OH

We had the pleasure of taking a tour of this amazing location with the owner. She is very passionate about giving you a unique, rounded experience unlike any you have had before. You could easily spend 3 days there. In addition to making and serving their house made wines Kelley’s Island Wine Co also is a full service restaurant, has a petting zoo, outdoor lawn games, playground, arcade, home grown garden (which is used in the kitchen of their restaurant), live music, special events, dry goods market and oh yeah, a full service cantina! What I loved most about this location is their picnic box. You can get your food and wine to go along with a blanket and picnic box so you can go have a nice meal near the beach (or any location of your choice).

Twin Oast Brewery - Port Clinton, OH

You can enjoy your local craft brew in the middle of a 60-acre farm estate. Passionate about maintaining the agriculture of Catawba Island, Twin Oast infuses their craft beer creations with flavors from the land. The grounds are wide, well landscaped and has beautiful curvature within the land to make you feel like you are in a completely different destination. I tried their Cherry IPA and it was so delicious I had a “creative discussion” (argument) with a friend who knew it was an IPA and I was convinced it was not because it was so tasty; turns out (with my pride shattered) I was….gulp…wrong.

We had an amazing experience visiting all these wonderful locations. We made it to 8 of the 18 wineries and breweries available on the trail. Visit Lake Erie Shores and Islands to start planning your trip along the Cheers Trail. We will see you on the next City Surge!

***Disclaimer: This episode was sponsored by Shores and Islands Ohio. Opinions are Hayliestory’s and were not affected by sponsorship. City Surge is produced by HayRobin Media Productions LLC (Hayliestory) and filmed by ZakFilms LLC. Filming for this episode was completed over a course of 3 different day trips and we do not advise doing this many locations in one day. Please drink responsibly and do not drink and drive.***