92 County Tour: Steuben County

It had been a couple of months since we'd had time to squeeze in a county tour date, so I was really excited when I found out this past Saturday was a totally free day - and we could go to any county we wanted to. I decided to pick one a little farther away from home, since we didn't have any other commitments that would make us need to stay closer to home.

So...it was destination: Steuben County! It is the far northeastern county in the state, bordering Michigan and Ohio. It was named after Baron von Steuben, a military officer during the American Revolutionary War. The county has 105 lakes and a state park, so I bet you can guess what we spent most of our time doing!!

We arrived just before lunch time, so we decided to start with lunch. There were many tempting places to eat, but when Ryan heard the words "The Waterfront Bistro," we had a winner. You know how we are...we'll eat on the water any old chance we get!

This darling little restaurant is right on the channel between Jimmerson Lake and Lake James. Although it had been a cold morning, the sun FINALLY made an appearance and we were able to sit out on the deck and watch boats cross between the lakes and swans swim through lily pads. It was just lovely.

And the food? Fabulous. Ryan had a sandwich, and I had BBQ chicken and the creamiest mac n cheese made with a white cheddar...superb.

After we ate lunch, we decided we needed some beach time, so we headed to Pokagon State Park, just around the lake from where we had lunch.

This park is actually known for its toboggan run in the winter months...but you know my fear of anything crazy...so I preferred to see it in the warm, summer months. {Wanna know a secret? I liked it so much, I'd go back in the winter.} It has beautiful beaches and although we didn't hit them this time - it has hiking trails that looked interesting to us. There's also a really pretty inn there...

 At that point...we just wanted some beach time, so we slathered on our sunscreen, donned our suits, and laid our towels out in the sand...and well...we took naps.

We were out there an hour or two, just resting, watching boats speed by in the water, and watching families have fun playing in the sand. It might make for boring blogging, but it was MUCH needed rest for us.

We checked out two beaches, and Ryan really wanted to go kayaking, but they didn't have kayaks in the park. So we made the decision to skip out on hiking for this round and head back into town to rent a kayak.

I should interject here that I have only kayaked one other time in my life, and it was 2 1/2 years ago on our honeymoon. That was in a quiet little bay, with only other kayakers. This time, not only had I forgotten every single skill about doing it, but we were also launching out into a sport lake with jet skis and speed boats.

MAMA!!!

It was a rough start. I won't lie. We launched from a little rental shop right beside the restaurant where we'd eaten lunch, so we had a full audience of people on the deck watching the athletic guy and the clearly NOT girl hop into a kayak and scoot into the channel. If you saw something ridiculous on your social media feed, it was probably me. It was quite a while before I felt comfortable-ish again, but I got there eventually.

 I thought it was good marketing that these swans posed in front of this house for sale. I later looked UP the house online and found it to be over 200,000 above our budget, so thankfully I have this memory.

When we got back to the little shop, it was almost dinner time, so we changed back into our regular clothes and headed into the town of Angola for dinner. {We opted for KFC, so no pictures. You know about that.}

The town had tons of cool shops, but alas, it was a Saturday evening, and they were all closed. But if you ever go visit and you like to shop, I'm just letting you know they exist.

REALLY cool downtown circle {vs. a square...} and a DARLING courthouse.

And of course, we couldn't leave the county without a visit to a coffee shop! We checked out Great Lakes Coffee Company, where we were just about the only customers. {They said they had no idea where everyone was. Our guess? On pontoons on the lake!!} {Also - I do know this is a chain, and normally we like to try out a local coffee shop, but the local one we found was closed by the time we got into town.}

Our coffee was DELICIOUS. Ryan got fresh brew, and I got an English toffee something or other latte...which was like a candy bar in a cup. And the store was darling. Couches and chairs and paintings by local artists for sale. Really a comfortable place to hang out!

So that was our day in Steuben County! I really enjoyed our date, and while it may not have been as comprehensive a tour as some counties, it was perfect in every way for us and a MUCH needed date!