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| Back in Time by Rick Brown I have a long history with the Marblehead Peninsula here in Ohio. The area has many, many memories for me. Nearby is Cedar Point, East Harbor, Catawba Island, Kelley’s Island, Put-in-Bay and since I grew up just west of Cleveland these places were frequented by my family and friends through the years. When I was a boy there was a public campground on Marblehead. My family vacationed there a couple times. Camping is how poor people get the opportunity to travel…at least that was my experience.
So it’s no surprise to me that I talked my father into taking us to Mystery Hill. The area had (still has) a plethora of tourist traps. Besides the historic Cedar Point amusement park there was the now closed Blue Hole (Don’t MISS IT!). Legend had it the Blue Hole was a bottomless pool of water discovered by a farmer plowing his fields one afternoon. They sent divers down. And it was so deep…bottomless it was said…that they could not possibly make it to the bottom. As kids, my brothers and I bought this hook, line and sinker. Then there was Cheese Haven…which is still there. Apparently this haven of fromage has more varieties than anywhere in the universe. Yet Mystery Hill is cheesier than even Cheese Haven.
It’s a “house” built on the side of a hill that leans in direct proportion to the hill itself. As we entered that mysterious abode so many years ago our guide told us we would feel “a strange force pulling us towards the wall”. And even at the tender age of 12, I knew this was pure bullshit…and I loved it. Right next door…in the same complex…was Prehistoric Forest. I never visited there…until this past July.
Oh to make a pilgrimage to Mystery Hill. It’s not the kind of thing a person takes lightly. And one has to have appropriate company. Who did I know with enough spirit of adventure to take a 2-hour drive in a topless Miata to be pulled mysteriously towards a cabin wall? College friend and past partner in crime Diane gladly accepted my invitation.
And what a day we inherited! The drive up in spectacular weather…a picnic by the Marblehead Lighthouse…and then off to the excitement of Mystery Hill and Prehistoric Forest!! Surely our lives will never be the same. Of course that “mysterious force” still pulls you towards the wall. (See the photos for proof!) WOW!! And water flowing…tennis balls rolling…uphill!! Such mystery!! (http://www.prehistoricforest.com/) Following this amazement was a stroll through a forest admiring all the awesome fiberglass dinosaurs!!
Of
course this is all a spectacular sham. But both Prehistoric Forest
and Mystery Hill have a legacy along Ohio’s Lake Erie shore.
And as Diane and I embraced this delightfully dumb experience,
we both again felt that long forgotten childhood thrill of being
somewhere…anywhere…other than home or school
or work or church. Take your Polaroid at the right angle and MAN…you
really are being pulled by a strange force towards the
wall!! Honest!!
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