Rainbow Inn

It's not too often that I go out to shoot a 'then and now' photo and ultimately come back empty-handed.

While out in Vacationland a few days ago, I was really hoping that the restaurant shown on the vintage postcard – Rainbow Inn – would still be there. But it was not to be.

After driving back and forth on W. Lakeshore Drive just west of Port Clinton for a while, I had to give up the hunt. Although the undated postcard said that the Inn was one mile west of Port Clinton on what was then Route 2, there was nothing there but condos and a Moose Lodge in 2011.

A phone call to the Ida Rupp Public Library confirmed my suspicion: that Rainbow Inn was gone. The friendly and helpful reference desk employee told me that she remembered Rainbow Inn very well, and that it was located right around where the Moose Lodge is now (see below).

Photo courtesy of MapQuest

She also stated that the building had housed a Chinese restaurant after the Rainbow Inn years.

I don't get out to Port Clinton very often, but sooner or later I'll visit their library and see if I can rustle up some old ads or at least some kind of timeline for this place.