Life moves at a different pace on Kelleys Island. Set in the middle of Lake Erie, the 4-mile by 2-mile island attracts visitors looking for relaxation.

Getting to Kelleys Island is possible by ferry, private boat or private airplane. The Kelleys Island Ferry Boat Line, with a port in Marblehead, is the only ferry that carries vehicles. The Jet Express also shuttles visitors to the island and has ports in Sandusky and Port Clinton.

Vehicles are allowed on Kelleys Island, but pedestrians can ride the ferry and rent bicycles or golf carts on the island. Most of the road traffic is made up of golf carts, with occasional cars and bicycles.

Once on the island, visitors can enjoy beautiful lake views, hunt for fossils, play miniature golf or go to quaint shops and restaurants.

In the downtown area, shops like Anneliese’s Treasure Chest, Vi’s Island Treasures, The General Store and The Village Peddler sell collectibles and island keepsakes. The Original Island Fudge Shop is stocked with a wide variety of candy and fudge, and The Island Market sells groceries. The Caddy Shack Square in downtown has various shops, restaurants and a miniature golf course.

Restaurants located in the heart of downtown include The Village Pump, Bag the Moon, The Island House and The Casino. Since Kelleys Island is walleye capital of the world, most serve Lake Erie walleye and perch and are casual establishments. The Island House does offer fine dining.

Situated in the middle of the island, the Kelley’s Island Wine Co. serves food, but also has a wine tasting room stocked with the winery’s six varieties.

The Island Café and Brew Pub is located on the shores of Lake Erie, and diners can choose to sit inside the restaurant, outside in the lawn or outside at the bar. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with six kinds of handcrafted beers.

A few natural attractions beckon to visitors, like Glacial Grooves, the world’s largest example of glacial scouring. Measuring in at 430 feet long, the limestone grooves show many unusual markings created by glacial activity.

One section of Kelleys Island State Park includes the North Shore Loop Trail. While the wooded trail shows typical Ohio sights, one remote section along the shoreline is spectacular. Called the Alvar, this area is a rare biological environment. Barren because of a limestone base, Kelleys Island’s Alvar was caused by glacial activity. In the summer, the limestone is covered with plants, like lichen and mosses.

Close to the North Shore Loop Trail and Glacial Grooves is the state park’s Sandy Beach, a popular area for beach bathing beauties. The small sandy beach is filled with sun lovers in the summer, while the lake close to the beach has many boats. The state park’s campgrounds are nearby, with 82 electric sites and 32 non-electric sites.

Along the southern part of the island’s shores, Inscription Rock is a large limestone rock where Native Americans used to carve messages. The pictographs have mostly eroded, but a few still can be seen.

Inland, the East Quarry has trails for hiking and searching for fossils that surround the large Horseshoe Lake. The North Pond Nature Preserve also is inland with a trail. The island’s Scheele Preserve is owned and managed by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and has the island’s only rock elm trees, a threatened species.

While all of the sights at Kelleys Island can easily been seen in an afternoon, visitors may want to stay a while to relax. Aside from the campsites available at Kelleys Island State Park, the island also has many cabins and cottages that can be rented, along with rooms at bed and breakfasts and inns.

Some of the island’s bed and breakfasts are historic homes. For example, The Inn is a private home built in 1876 along the shores of Lake Erie. The current innkeeper is the grand niece of one of the original homeowners. Decorated with antiques, The Inn still maintains old fashioned charms, along with old fashioned inconveniences like a shared bathroom for guests.

Other inns in historic homes are the Morning Glory Inn, a house built in 1864 with meadowlands and a private beach. Marge’s Lakefront was built in the 1800s and includes views of Lake Erie. The Cameron House Bed and Breakfast was built in 1860 in the middle of the island.

Kelleys Island is believed to have been settled first with two Native American villages. A white man named Cunningham lived on the island in the early 1800s, and then in 1833, the Kelley brothers, Datus and Irad, purchased the parcels of the island through the Connecticut Land Company.

Bernstein may be reached at 330-721-4057 or accent@ohio.net.