Ogontz Thoughts

Many of you who grew up with Cedar Point in the 60’s and 70’s probably have some fond memories of the old Western Cruise ride. While Paddlewheel Excursions is a charming ride, there is nothing like the Western Cruise. It was a time when CP was relatively undeveloped, and the cruise was really like going into the wilderness. I recently had the pleasure of viewing the Ogontz from the original Western Cruise. This boat is now located in Port Clinton and offers river tours. The Ogontz is beautifully restored, at no other time has she looked better. It’s obvious that a lot of care was taken to make her as nice as new. The captain had a familiar red vest, white shirt and black pants on, it looks to be one of the Western Cruise uniforms, or a good copy of one. This is a very family friendly attraction, the captain played some games with the kids before the start of the cruise. Although I didn’t take the cruise, I think it would be a very enjoyable trip. I would recommend that anyone who has an interest in CP’s past, and would like to see the Ogontz in action, should go to Port Clinton.

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Florida may have Disneyworld and Key West,
but Ohio has Cedar Point and Put-In-Bay.
It's great to live in Ohio!

To follow up on Pete's post, here is some information:

The Port Clinton Excursion & Packet Company is located at 4 Jefferson St. in Port Clinton, next to the Island Rocket. Phone number is (419) 855-3245.

Also, Ed Ellis will give a presentation entitled “Cedar Point Lagoon Boats And Other Cedar Point Boats” at the Sandusky Maritime Museum on October 19 at 1pm. (419) 624-0274 for more information.

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Virtual Midway
http://www.virtualmidway.com

*** This post was edited by Gemini 8/26/2002 12:08:40 PM ***

Thanks for the infor Pete and Gemini. As an old timer, I appreciate things like this. Where does the cruise take you?

Makes me also yearn for the old Boblo Boats.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

[sigh] I miss the BobLo boats. But, the Nightmare made it's way to Houston's SF park as the Mayan Mindbender... so that brought back some memories when I rode it again after so many years.

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gravity: down to earth, without the sugar coating.

www.geocities.com/gravityjmb

Hehehe I barely remember Boblo. I grew up near the Gibraltar docks and I never did get to go before they closed down. Does anyone know where I can find pictures of Boblo. I want to see the park that used to be my family's version of Cedar Point.

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Annie

CP & LE RR Crew '01
Swings and Swans/CP & LE RR '02
*** This post was edited by Anniebelle 8/31/2002 7:23:54 PM ***

What ever happened to the Boblo boats?

Christopher Sautter

Tucson, Arizona

I am pretty sure I remember something about one of the boblo boats being restored (not running, just interior) and will be docked along Detroits new boardwalk on the river. It is supposed to be a restaurant or something.

My friend found an old BOBLO flyer/map in a box when he was moving the other day. I am trying to get it from him.

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I fool so feelish...

I will tell you exactly where two of the old Boblo boats are. I grew up and still live very close to the Gibralter docks. I loved Boblo Island very much as a kid and I was quite sad when they closed it. Last year, I went on a boat tour with my g/f called Diamond Jacks River Tours. You can ride it during the spring and summer at Bishop Park in Wyandotte. The boat takes you all over the Detroit river and you see parts of Canada and Grosse Ile that you usually don't see. But, while we were on the boat tour, we were near some factories in River Rouge and we went down quite a narrow channel between two buildings and we parked right next to the original Boblo boats. Even the captain said they were Boblo boats and told us some history about them. I was so amazed to see the old boats again because that was one of my favorite parts about going to Boblo Island. They were not very well taken care of however. The paint is chipping and fading and there are cobwebs and spiderwebs everywhere. But, I still loved seeing them. If you have memories of the Boblo boats it really helps bring them back and if you ever want to see one of the old boats again, take the boat tour. It's well worth it. You can see that I'm not making this up by going to www.diamondjack.com/wyandotte.html Scroll down on that page and read about what the tour sights include and you will see that the tour includes seeing two old Boblo Steamers

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Be wary of falling shoes while waiting in line for Raptor