I had to report on our trip! Kelleys Island was a lot of fun. Started out terrible tho, our B&B was so horrid we had to find other accomodations. We had booked a room at the Carriage House and when we got there, it was a dump! This woman really has made no effort to create a nice place. I have stayed in B&B's all over the country and have rarely been disappointed, but this was awful. No locks on the rooms, NO BREAKFAST! The dark damp room was furnished with old, yucky, dirty furniture and the floors and rugs looked like she just stopped the dogs from chewing them. When my mom sat in the one chair provided, the throw shifted, revealing all the yucky foam stuffing! There wasn't any upholstery on the chair!! Couldn't open the dresser drawers, and then we checked out the shared bathroom! OMG! The towels smelled like mildew! There was a dingy plastic laundry basket for throwing the used towels into, next to a stack of towels that looked very worn! Shower was unacceptable! She offered a refrigerator to keep our bottle of wine in, and the fridge was dirty and warm! All of this at ONLY $100.00 a night! Talk about taking advantage of your location! Oh, and the "beachside fire ring" does NOT exist! You couldn't get down to the water at all!
What was very disappointing was that we booked this room from the island's chamber of commerce website. That they would allow this place to represent their lovely island is a disgrace to them!

Now, the good news, we took a walk and found a lovely B&B down the way! the House on Huntington
http://www.houseonhuntington.com/ was just a delight. The great owner loaned us her golf cart so we could go back to pick up our luggage at the other place. We lost our $50.00 deposit, but boy was it worth it! Patty at the House on Huntington was a real doll and knows how to make one feel right at home. Beautiful rooms, cleanest bathrooms ever! & coffeecake to die for! Couldn't have been nicer! i did send a letter to the Kelleys Island Chamber of Commerce and never received a reply! It is a shame that someone else may be as unfortunate as we were and book a room at the Carriage Inn. Worse yet, to form an opinion on the Island based on that place! We were 10 minutes from getting back on the ferry when we found the nicer place!
We had been told by the Jennifer smith of the Carriage House, that we wouldn't need our car. A mistake I think, but, renting a golf cart did end up to be a lot of fun! Glacial grooves are good for 5 minutes, but cruising around the island and stopping at the beach, shops, etc. was a lot of fun.
Had dinner at the Village Pump, great sweet potato fries, great fish,(but not enough on my plate for the $) and my mother's mussels, even tho they are frozen and from Florida, were still tasty! Had a haogie for lunch at the Caddy Shak and it was very very good, however, it took 20 minutes to make and this was with nobody in line!!
All in all, Kelleys Island was great for my mom (65) and men (45) to take a break from the daily routine. We love road trips and try to go once a summer for a few days. Although, we didn't know til we got on the ferry that Kelleys Island is known for a certain water snake that they help protect. My mother almost got back off! We never saw one snake, thank God!

Sure glad you were able to make lemonade out lemons on this trip. Don't you wonder how places like that can stay in business?

I haven't been to Kelley's Island since childhood, but it was always such a neat place to go -- along with Put-in-Bay. We always used bicycles -- so now it's golfcarts? Thanks for the memories.

I reread my report. Oops! Toward the end I made it sound like my mom and 45 men went on the trip! It was supposed to read "mom and ME", not men! I hope my mom is laughing as much as I am! (She might not have minded the snakes withy 45 men around!)

Glad you had a good time...Kelley's is one of my favorite places (actually spent part of my Honeymoon there). It has been a few years since I've been up there...has there been much recent development, or is it still being 'controlled' ? We always take the car. I did it 'sans car' one time & learned my lesson.

It is still very much "small town" and charming. I was actually surprised at how much uninhabited land there was!

Just returned from a weekend trip to Kelley's Island. I will recommend the Cameron House B&B, situated pretty much at the center of the island. Owners Ed and Caroline Jorski are very friendly and helpful. Chatting with them is a pleasure.

We didn't have a car and didn't rent a golf cart nor bicycle; trust me, that's a LOT of walking!

What I liked about the island was that it still isn't overrun with "junk," that is, all the touristy stuff one sees at so many beach resorts, e.g., go-carts, lots of junky souvenir stands and the like.

I meant to add that my sister and her family (two girls under age 12) love the place and plan to camp at the state park on their next trip, so it's not just for adults.