Sy Sans Beach Motel

What does “Sy Sans” mean? Read on and find out.

I’ve mentioned many times how I enjoy living out in Vermilion. It’s part of Ohio’s Vacationland, and if often feels as though you really are perpetually on vacation, with the lakefront atmosphere and little motels and cottages nearby.

I often drive over to Huron just to enjoy that timeless vacation ambiance along the way, and I never get tired of seeing all of the various mom-and-pop businesses that have survived for decades.

Several of the cottages have been featured on this blog over the years, including Walk-In-The-Water Cottages, Lakeland Lodges Motel and the granddaddy of them all, Mari-Dor Beach.

Courtesy Cottages at the Water’s Edge

Well, here’s another one: Cottages at the Water’s Edge, located 4 miles west of Vermilion on U. S. Route 6 (out there known as West Lake Road).

Like its Lake Road cottage counterparts, the business now known as Cottages at the Water’s Edge has also been around a long time. According to a nice comprehensive history on its website, the business dates back to when it was just a store at Stop 141 on the old Lake Shore Electric streetcar line.

Eventually, tourists were camping at the site and cottages followed, beginning in the 1930s. Over the years, various owners ran the place, including Lloyd Moats (who also owned Peck’s Cottages).

In 1953, the grandparents of the current owner bought it, and it became known as Miller’s Sandy Beach Cottages. Then, in 1963 the property was purchased by the current owner’s aunt and uncle, Frank and Helen Simon, who renamed it Sy Sans Beach Motel.

(Why Sy Sans? According to the website, the “Sy” was for Frank, who his wife called Simon, and the “Sans” was for the sandy beach.)

Vintage Postcard (note that it is the same sign
as the one on the garage today)

The current owners bought the place in 1985. They have continued to improve and expand the property, and are busy grooming the next generation to take over someday.

Same view as the vintage photo above

Happily, they are committed to maintaining the resort's old time feeling. As the welcome message on the resort’s website notes, “Step back in time to a family vacation tradition on the shores of beautiful Lake Erie.”

Click here to visit the website.