A Post Clam Bake Morning On Lake Erie

Morning After The Clambake, on Lake Erie, 7:30

Vintage photo from Florida, 1980's

I am sitting in my sister's living room, in Euclid, Ohio, listening to the waves break on the shore, the lake a gray/green, heavy slate gray clouds filling the sky. I was up at 7:00, the only one up now at 7:30. When I got up, the moon was still out, lighting the lake, like a spotlight from the sky.  Cool. We will head back to the lake later in the day.  Right now, as I am finishing up the blog, the sky over the lake is pink and gray, the lake blue, as the sun has come out.  I  can even see white caps off in the distance.

Yesterday was a full day and though the weather did not cooperate, we both had a great day.  We left the lake at 11:00 and visited my 90+ years old Aunt Peggy and Uncle Tom.  We had not seen them in at least a year, so we dropped by their apartment on our way into Euclid.  They have a lovely place, part of the Breckenridge Retirement Complex in Willoughby, Ohio.  We sat and talked with them for an hour and a half, both still with it despite their age.  Tom reminisced quite a bit about his days on a ship during WW II, an amazing story, of two years at sea in the Pacific, as he was at Iwo Jima, unloading tanks from his LSD, eventually, when the war ended, sailing up a river in China to Tiensin.  He has a log of all the ports they stopped in during that period.  A neat couple and fun stop.

The Old Boys of the Bake

Huddling Around The Bake In The Rain

Kevin and Kirstin Gale

Pat and Courtney Holzheimer

We arrived at my sisters about 3:00, just as my brother in law, Rich was putting the clambake on the fire in their backyard.  As the weather gods would have it, it was windy, raining, and cool but fortunately, they had a couple of covers over the bake and outdoor tables, so we could at least stand out side and brave the weather.  Rich had built a three foot high oven of bricks, set the huge boiler on top, and let it boil for a couple of hours, taking the chicken out after an hour to grill, then the sweet potatoes and corn when they were done.  People stood around the bake, keeping warm from the steam, teased by the smell of the cooking clams.  All of the Holzheimer children were there, along with all but one of their 13 grandchildren, along with friends, so we had quite a group of people.  Unfortunately, it rained the entire afternoon as I mentioned and the wind even picked up, causing havoc for the tarps.  And we had to eat inside, so tables were set up not only in the dining room, but living room, family room, garage and basement because there were around 30 hungry people.  As usual, it all worked out well in the end, first the boiling hot clam broth, then clam chowder, before sitting down to plenty of clams, in fact, there were a few dozen left at the end of the evening.  Nothing like a bake on a fall afternoon, clams in butter, barbecued chicken, corn, sweet potatoes, and cole slaw.

My family have been putting on clambakes since as early as I can remember, probably starting in the 1940's after the war.  What a great tradition.  I read somewhere that there are more clambakes in the Cleveland area than anywhere else in the States, making you wonder why this tradition began on a lake without clams.  We stayed up till about 11:30 when the last grandchild went home, Connor, who stopped over around 10:30, after a long day as goalie for the soccer team in the afternoon,  and kicker for the football team in the evening,  both games played in pouring rain.  He was exhausted but wanted to stop by to say hi to us (Evie), and his grandparents, a great kid like all the grandchildren.  We have not seen them in awhile so it's always a shock to see how grown up they all have become, no longer little kids, hanging on your lap.  Both my sister Linda and her husband, Rich,  are great hosts, have had lots of practice over the past 49 years and most weekends, they have either their kids or grandchildren over, enjoying the beach in the summer, the warm, welcoming house in the winter. Unlike us, they are fortunate in having most of their kids live within a mile of their house.

My Sister Linda and Grandaughter, Emily

Rich Holzheimer Jr. and Sally

The Grandkids, Shea, Emily, and Owen

With Courtney Holzheimer, My Nephew' Pat's daughter

My Nephew and Niece, Pat  Holzheimer and Kathryn Purcell

My Brother in Law Rich, and Son Richie

The Girls After The Bake

We will head back to the lake sometime late morning I assume, stop at Trader Joe's to pick up a couple of cases of Two Buck Chuck, to hold us over for a few months, then we will meet our good friend Vi Buck for lunch, then head back.