Linwood Park in Vermilion, Ohio

I’m so crazy about this community where Rob’s grandfather bought a cottage on the shore of Lake Erie seventy years ago. The neighborhood of summer cottages has been going for 125 years! I assure you they have strained to keep it EXACTLY the way it was then. It is fenced, guarded at the gate and surreal to enter. There’s an immediate calm that pervades my every nerve within ten minutes on arrival. It truly is a step back in time as every detail is authentic and preserved. It’s filled with families enjoying a perfect beach where the Great Lake Erie rolls in gently like the waters in the gulf of Mexico but with enough oomph to lull me to sleep at night. There is a picnic pavillion, ball field, playgrounds, a church, a museum (think: one cottage with antiques), tennis courts, and the favorite of the kids: The Candy Store! It’s an ice cream shop with penny candy at eye level for the kids. In Linwood Park  it’s fine to let the children just run amok and go where they like.  It’s a true old fashioned neighborhood. Upon arrival our kids barely unloaded the car before sprinting to the candy store. It’s been five years since they were there and they were so relieved it was still serving candy for next to nothing. I love how kids ride their bikes in the middle of the narrow streets, which were designed big enough for horses and probably not cars, and how everywhere I look it seems there’s a grandparent holding the hand of a small child walking to or from the beach. One morning I walked Lucy, while our house snored and shook, and from the screened porches I saw kids pouring syrup on their pancakes, grandmas making puzzles with little faces fierce in concentration, delighted children as they beat their father in  an old fashioned board game, and the quiet time of some with their bibles spread in their laps and coffee at their lips. I cannot remember a place or time that has unwound my inner core of grownup concerns and let them lay out in the sun, soak up the breeze and have a little nap in  safety from the modern world.

This couple sits on this bench every night to watch the sunset together. I am feeling a little jealous.

There’s a train that goes through Vermillion almost on the hour. I remember hearing trains in my childhood, but it’s been a long time since I’ve lived near one. Some complain about the noise but for me, it is the extra detail that pins the authentic label on the whole experience. It’s a simple life with a timelessness that works like medicine for our modern condition of chronic over working.

During the day the kids dug a bonfire pit in the sand and circled  it with rocks anticipating the promise from the grownups to enjoy smores and silly talk after dark.

My favorite part was when the little ones got sleepy and chilled and climbed into the mama’s laps while the big kids shared stories about  the day, memories and dreams. It’s good for the soul to unwind this completely.