Things to do in Sandusky offseason?

Our season pass certificates arrived in the mail last week. My wife, bless her heart, is willing to make a special trip up to get the IDs before the season starts, but wants to make an overnight trip out of it, and expects there to be something for the family to do. We have two kids, ages 2 and 4. If you were in Sandusky with two small kids in April, with CP closed, what would you do?

Unfortunately, we'll be regular Spring pre-season visitors for the next several years. Junior passholders have to renew their IDs in person rather than by mail, so they can be remeasured. So, the more ideas, the better---the little one is just cresting 36" now...
*** This post was edited by Brian Noble 10/21/2002 5:51:32 PM ***

Stay at a nice hotel with an indoor pool and enjoy each other once the kiddies are asleep...:)

MrScott

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"If we go any faster, she'll blow apart for sure!"

You could always stay at Great Bear Lodge... that in itself is enough for something to do.

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"Meh."
Wicked twists: 10
Danger: Hgih Voltage!

enjoy each other once the kiddies are asleep...

On that subject...we are also looking for recommendations for hotels that are full suites, but off point. There are several on-point (sandcastle being one that we enjoy), but they are expensive. Fine once or twice a year, but not for everyday visits. We absolutely require a hotel "room" with two spaces, with the ability to separate the two.

Edit: just to clarify, "separate" means "solid wall plus closable door between spaces" not "half wall that sort of divides one big room into two logical spaces."

*** This post was edited by Brian Noble 10/22/2002 9:55:31 AM ***

Quality Inn and Suites is one place you might try. We stayed there, but prefer something closer. Another is the South Shore Inn.

Someone also suggested Plantation Inn which now has another name (on Rt. 6 in Huron heading east about 1 mile from CP). Good luck!

hibernate and wait for May!

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http://www.msu.edu/~armbrus9/cp.html
I Met Brittney! Shes SOOOOOO Cool!

Here is a place I've always wanted to see, but my parents never took me.

http://www.lakeerievacations.com/gateway/africansafari.htm

Ooops...should have read further down before I posted...only open from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

But if you go back a step or two to here:

http://www.lakeerievacations.com/directory/html/gp1.htm

There is a listing of things to do.

There is also the Carousel Museum in Sandusky.

And my vote would be for Great Bear Lodge. I've never stayed there, but I would think that would be a perfect place for families with kids. I'm sure they have suites available.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
*** This post was edited by OldCPer 10/22/2002 12:47:21 PM ***
*** This post was edited by OldCPer 10/22/2002 12:48:58 PM ***

Your best bet is to stay away. And I'm speaking from 26 years of experience.

I think staying away is not an option, since I can't imagine waiting in line with a four year old and a two year old upwards of hours to get passes on opening day.

Edit: or at least, not *my* 4 and 2 year olds.
*** This post was edited by Brian Noble 10/23/2002 10:03:30 AM ***

And from my 30+ years of experience, sometimes just staying overnight in another place is enough to recharge the batteries.

Sandusky might not be a huge, cultural metropolis, but it's not exactly hicksville either. If anything, they have a couple of malls, an outlet mall on south 250, and a nice cinema.

I guess spending weekends from early April to late October at a cottage in the middle of nowhere (where the closest grocery store was a 30 minute drive) as a teen kinda changes your view about what "boring" really is.

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

OldCPer said:.

Sandusky might not be a huge, cultural metropolis, but it's not exactly hicksville either. If anything, they have a couple of malls, an outlet mall on south 250, and a nice cinema.

Living in Sandusky, I'd go with closer to hicksville.

Brian Noble said:
I think staying away is not an option, since I can't imagine waiting in line with a four year old and a two year old upwards of hours to get passes on opening day.
Edit: or at least, not *my* 4 and 2 year olds.
*** This post was edited by Brian Noble 10/23/2002 10:03:30 AM ***

Who said opening day is the only other time to get your season passes other than the weeks before? Your best bet would be to wait until a couple of weeks after the park opens. That way the main rush will be gone and waits will be much, much shorter.
*** This post was edited by tambo 10/23/2002 10:45:27 AM ***

Yes, I thought about that. Of course, then I'd be missing opening day. ;)

I have lived in Huron my entire life. Sandusky is what Sandusky is - a lakefront community of about 30,000. I'd say Sandusky compares very favorably to other cities similar in size. What do you want? A pro football team? A skyscraper?

Why do people want to make this great small town into something it's not? It should come as no surprise that Sandusky ranked sixth as the best small city in America in a comparison of 193 U.S. cities with populations between 15,000 and 50,000. Every city in this country has residents who think their town sucks and can't wait to get out.

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Virtual Midway
http://www.virtualmidway.com

OldCPer said:

If anything, they have a couple of malls, an outlet mall on south 250, and a nice cinema.
That outlet mall currently has about 3 stores. Not worth the trip, even driving from Perkins if you ask me.
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- John
"Guest 234: Watching construction of S:TR" - RCT2 (God, I love that game)

Wow...when I was there last, that outlet mall had probably 10-15 stores. Admittedly, that was 4 or 5 years ago. Unless we aren't talking about the same one. The outlet mall I went to was well south of the turnpike.

And Tambo, I guess it's all relative. Like I said, I spent a lot of weekends in a REAL hicksville. Sandusky doesn't even come close to being that dead and boring.
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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

Theres also a theater downtown Sandusky I believe. They might be showing a play, or movies on Friday. Its been too long to remember. But there is some nice restaurants downtown. Or you could visit the Toledo Zoo!(even though its not in Sandusky.):) ------------------
~~~"I'm gonna be your lover, gonna be your friend, I'm gonna be there to the end"-Blessid union of souls
*** This post was edited by newt 10/23/2002 12:25:02 PM ***
*** This post was edited by newt 10/23/2002 12:26:13 PM ***

We are members at the Toledo Zoo and go five or six times a year. If you have smallish kids and live anywhere near it, I recommend it. It is small enough that kids can circumnavigate it easily, but has some top-notch exhibits. Plus, you can eat lunch in the old primate cages from the pre-natural-habitat days. Too cool.

While we are on Toledo, COSI is also great. We prefer it to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, but the latter is only five minutes away, so we tend to end up there more often.

If you have a membership at most other zoos (with the notable exception of Detroit) you get in to Toledo free. Likewise with science museums/COSI.

Actually Brian those are the carnivore cages, Only one gorilla if memory serves me right was actually in there. Anyways the Zoo is open year round and not that far from Ann Arbor. You could stop there on your way home? (but I bet you alreaday knew the latter half!) unfortunately the Children Zoo isn't open yet in April. There are some nice parks for sight seeing all around Sandusky! though.
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~~~"I'm gonna be your lover, gonna be your friend, I'm gonna be there to the end"-Blessid union of souls

Don't get me wrong people. I love living in Sandusky, it's just the winters that suck. Sure there are stores to go to, but if you're a man, the only reason to shop is if your underwear has holes :-), or you have to make points with the the little lady so you can drag her to amusement parks in the summer. Luckily, I'm stupid enough to play golf as long as there isn't any snow on the ground. So that keeps me occupied until the April Myrtle Beach trip, followed by the opening of the coaster season up north.

So it just comes down to your personal preference of what is entertaining to you.

*** This post was edited by tambo 10/23/2002 4:45:58 PM ***
*** This post was edited by tambo 10/23/2002 4:46:25 PM ***