Day Date at Old Firehouse Winery
Summer time is the absolute best time to visit Geneva-on-the-Lake. We could easily spend an entire weekend exploring the wineries and other businesses in this area. One of our favorite wineries here is Old Firehouse Winery. We usually only get to stop there for a drink or two because we’re normally tied down to a group for a tour, but for this trip we dedicated a day to the winery.
***Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Ohio. Find It Here & Old Firehouse Winery. As always, all opinions are 100% our own***
Old Firehouse Winery is located right at the edge of the downtown strip in Geneva-on-the-Lake. The name comes from the fact it was the first firehouse in the town. They house a wide-range of fire paraphernalia on the walls and it gives the place a real nostalgic, cozy feeling. What’s really great about this place is the wine selection. They have sweet, dry and everything in between. We promise there is a wine for you. In addition to a large selection of wines, they have full bar service (they make a mean Bloody Mary), beer and non-alcoholic drinks. They also have food! Everything from snacks like buffalo chicken dip to a full meal like a burger or ocean perch dinner.
In the summer, their large Sunset Patio is the place to be. You can have a meal out there while enjoying beautiful views of the lake. They also have live music throughout the summer. Of course, the coolest part is #5 Big Eli, the large ferris wheel! How many wineries have you been to that have a ferris wheel on the property? We bet the answer is zero!
For this trip, we arrived at Old Firehouse at noon for lunch and there was already a line of people around the building waiting to be seated on the patio. Place was hopping! For lunch, Julia ordered a big salad with chicken strips and Ben ordered a perch sandwich with fries. Both meals were incredibly fresh and hit the spot on the warm, sunny day. We also shared a sweet wine sampler and a dry wine sampler. This is the best way to figure out what wines you really like. Our favorites were the Firehouse Red, Pinot Gris and #5 Big Eli.
After lunch we took a ride on #5 Big Eli. To be honest, Julia is afraid of heights. But she overcame those fears to ride the ferris wheel because she did not want to miss the views from the top. You really get a whole new perspective of the area when you’re that high up and the lake looks amazing!
We wanted to explore the area a little bit more than we usually do when visiting, so we did a little tour of the Strip. “The Strip” is what locals call the mile-long stretch of Lake Road which features restaurants, bars, shops and entertainment for all ages. We really had no idea so many different businesses were located here until this trip.
We rented a golf cart from Adventure Zone where you can also go zip lining, go-karting and so much more. We drove by The Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake (where we’ve stayed before and highly recommend) and made our way back towards the strip. There were already so many people out eating, drinking and exploring. We then stopped in at Game On to play some arcade games, skee-ball and pop-a-shot. Ben won skee-ball, Jules handily won pop-a-shot. After returning the golf kart we headed home, but not without a stop at Whip N’ Dip for soft serve cones.
We had the best summer day date at Old Firehouse Winery and Geneva-on-the-Lake and we can’t wait to go back and check out the live music at night. The lake views, the good wine and exploring this little pocket of Ohio really made this trip memorable. Click here for more information on Old Firehouse and here for more fun ways to explore Ohio!