A Slice of Americana - Geneva On The Lake and Eddie's Grill

Marilyn and I decided to take a quickie, spur-of-the-moment get-away last week, and we chose the lake resort town of Geneva On The Lake, Ohio, a mere two hour drive away.

We stayed at the Geneva Lodge and Conference Center, a beautiful hotel right on the shore of Lake Erie.  It was opened in 2004, and that edifice is about the only place in GOTL that can be said to have any connection to the 21st century.  And I mean that in a good way.  This year marks the 150th anniversary of the town as a lakefront resort, and much of the charm of the place lies in the fact that little, if anything, has changed over the years.  The place is dotted with old style motels and cottages, and the commercial district, about a six block stretch, consists entirely of local and independently owned stores, restaurants, bars, and souvenir shops.  And a fabulous donut shop called Madsens, which pumps out delicious sinkers from morning 'til night.  There is not a chain store, fast food joint, or convenience store to be found, and no place embodies the zeitgeist of Geneva on the Lake more than this place:

Eddie's Grill opened in 1938 by a guy named, you guessed it, Eddie, and it remains a family owned establishment to this day.  There is a limited menu - hot dogs, burgers, french fries are pretty much the entire bill of fare.  There are juke boxes on the tables, and the place plays pretty much nothing but rock & roll from the fifties and sixties.  They could have filmed "Happy Days" there.  

It was great!!

And the place is always packed, so arrive early unless you want to wait in line for a table to open up.

We only stayed in GOTL for two nights, but we got to see a spectacular sunset over Lake Erie....

Took a short drive over to the charming little town of Ashtabula, where we had some of the best barbecue we ever tasted....

And we had dinner at a great little winery.  Wineries are everywhere in Lake County, Ohio.  We chose this one and were not disappointed.  I had a seafood pizza there that was not to be believed it was so good.

We lucked out on the weather.  It was beautiful for the two days that we were there, and it was great little getaway.