The Occasion
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| Members of the Smith-Maxwell Clan |
Recently our family expanded as our son, Traber, became engaged to be
married to Stephanie. We spent a delightful weekend
with the Maxwell’s, our in-laws to-be, at their home in Euclid, Ohio on the
shores of Lake Erie.
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| Traber and Stephanie |
The Place
Euclid,
Ohio is a town that is part of the urban sprawl
around Cleveland. Even though it is just 15
minutes from downtown, it has managed to keep its own identity. This is the first time we have encountered “Beach
Clubs” as they are understood here. Residents of a specific set of blocks of
streets have the opportunity to join a “Beach Club” contiguous to those blocks. Our family’s “Beach Club” is aptly named
Utopia Beach Club. The Club, in fact the
neighborhood, used to be part of the Utopia vineyard. The club house building is an historic
building that was part of the vineyard complex.
The club has a shady grove of trees with picnic tables, pools and a
beach on Lake Erie. All less than a
block’s walk away from home.
The Adventure
What make the Utopia Beach Club so special is how tightly
knit and welcoming the members were. In
the course of the weekend we attended a July 4 BBQ, and a chili hot dog
feast. We felt adopted into the club by
everyone that we met. We played cards
and yard games, ate, laughed, talked and drank.
It is a very welcoming place. The
July 4 celebrations included a spectacular sunset, and fireworks over the lake. As should be expected by now, Russ, Traber and Tiki managed to go for a swim.
The Lake
If you are naming the Great Lakes from left to right, Lake Erie is the next to last one on the eastern end. It is the smallest by volume and the shallowest of the Great Lakes. It supports the major metropolitan areas of Erie PA, and Cleveland and Toledo OH. For a while Lake Erie was very polluted with industrial, urban and agricultural runoff. In recent years, Lake Erie has been cleaned up quite a bit.
Statistics from - http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/basicinfo.html
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