Geneva-On-The-Lake, Ohio and the former Erieview Park

On our trip to Knoebels this spring, we took the time to check out something many folks have recommended, the park's Fascination game parlor. Naturally, Brit was hooked, and I enjoyed it as well. So on the way back from Cedar Point, you can see my report here, and Brit's report here, we opted to check out a place in which one of the dozen remaining sets of these games remains, Geneva-On-The-Lake, Ohio. I had always heard wonderful things about this town, but never took the time to go visit it. Our style of travel is random. We always end up checking out random and different things, and Geneva-On-The-Lake is an AWESOME place. We get there and the main strip is located on a Lake Erie beach for starters, making it absolutely beautiful. The town feels like a giant boardwalk, rivaling those of the Jersey Shore. It feels like Seaside did a long time ago. It is filled with food stands, arcades, amusement rides, and more. Similar to what they do at Seaside, there are different food stands that rival each other, claiming that they are better. The specialty in this town is the donuts, with multiple stands claiming that they are "the original" or "the best in town." We had a blast spending the afternoon in this lakeside resort town.

The lakeside setting is beautiful

 There is a relatively new lodge that is lakeside and looks nice.

 A mini-golf course is the staple to many resort towns like this. No shortage of activities here.

 One of the many donut stands. We only stopped at one. We will have to more times to check out the rest!

 The entrance to the waterpark and patio area for the one restaurant. Below you can see the way it looked before when it was the main entrance to the old Erieview Amusement Park (Photo from the Grassy Knoll Blog) The watersides still remain, along with the original Eli Bridge Ferris Wheel. Everything else was auctioned off in 2006. The park originally opened in 1945.

So below you can see the building for the old Fright Zone dark ride. This ride was designed by the legendary Bill Tracy and featured the only known remaining, Herschell designed, dark ride system. It was once located at the legendary West View Park, near Pittsburgh, but once that park closed they took it on at Erieview. A collector purchased the ride at auction back in 2006 and then it is said that he proceeded to donate it to Conneaut Lake Park. Unfortunately Conneaut closed in 2007, but it reopened in 2009, where it is on the rebound and a fun place to go. Unfortunately, I cannot find any information on the whereabouts of this ride. DAFE has a wonderful write up on what the ride was like at this link. 

 Here you can see the pad for one of the rides. I am hoping that heavy equipment is up to some good.

 The former Dodgems Building. 

 The waterpark still remains, and it had riders, even on this rainy day. 

 The view of the lake from the site. The park's footprint was very small. It would be cool to see a couple rides get added again. 

 The classic Eli Bridge Ferris Wheel still remains and it was running.

 The park is still alive a little bit. They had a crafts festival running on some of the property.

 Now for what we came for, FASCINATION!

 I am not one to take selfies, but this one was too cool to resist.

 Brit was wiping up! She kept winning! Just looking at this photo makes me want to head back there!

 We ate at Time Square and it was delicious! There is nothing like a good sausage sandwich!

Now back for some more rounds!

I highly recommend checking out Geneva-On-The-Lake. The town is very much like a boardwalk town and it really feels awesome. I hope to see more amusement rides get added back to the town, but there is plenty to do as is, with countless games, arcades, food stands, and more. Take a trip to this cool little town. You will be very surprised by it!