This Little-Known Ohio Town With A Laidback Florida Feel Is Called The North's Key West

Sunshine State vibes in the Buckeye State? While Key West may be the ancestral home of the Parrothead mindset, as inspired by Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, you don't have to go far to get a little taste of that conch lifestyle if you're from Cleveland, Toledo, or Detroit. Just pop on over to Put-in-Bay, a lazy little tourist town on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. You'll likely hear the sound of Jimmy Buffett's "Cheeseburger in Paradise" wafting out of bars as you wander the streets in the spring and summer high season.

A boat-in destination for sailors and powerboaters, the best way to get here as a landlubber is by ferry. Once there, you can walk to everything or rent a golf cart to zip around in. Just don't drive one if you're going to indulge in the town's notable beach party scene, as you'll get the same DUI in a golf cart as you'd get driving a car. If you're opting to tie the knot at this underrated beach wedding destination in neighboring Port Clinton, Ohio, Put-in-Bay is a legendary bachelor/bachelorette party destination.

The first thing everyone wants to know is, how did the town get that funny name? It's possible that it comes from sailors "putting in" to the protected harbor, but it's also sometimes referred to in old documents as "Pudding Bay." So pick whichever origin story charms you the most. The second thing everyone wants to know is: How did the town get the nickname of the Key West of the North? The beach towns hold so many similarities that it's come full circle, as Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West has hosted "Put-in-Bay Days" in recognition of its sister city.

Put-in-Bay has been a resort town since 1888, when the new Hotel Victory was the largest resort in the U.S. and the foundation for a thriving summer tourist town. Today, the Victory is long gone, but you can traipse down the main drag in flip flops, a Hawaiian shirt, and a straw hat — yep, the unofficial Put-in-Bay uniform is straight out of the Parrothead playbook — or indulge in an array of beach town activities. There is a 1917 carousel, a chocolate museum and cafe, a butterfly house with species from around the world, an epic, 18-hole miniature golf course, paddleboarding, sport fishing, jet skiing, and just about any other kind of outdoorsy fun you can imagine.

Key West is famous for its afternoon "tea dances," or pool parties, on Duval Street, and they have pool parties in Put-in-Bay, too. The swim-up bar was invented by Sandals, but it may have been perfected here. You can party hard at the Blue Marlin Bar, a swim-up bar where the pool is often as crowded as a dance floor in a nightclub.  The Commodore Resort's MIST Pool Bar has a swim-up tiki bar and a waterfall. The Sand Bar has the same atmosphere, with the addition of volleyball and cornhole. When it comes to live music, performers who winter in Key West sometimes follow their snowbird fans to Put-in-Bay for the summer, like Ray Fogg, a singer-songwriter you could call the Northern Jimmy Buffet, with beach-themed, PG-13 comedy songs and cheeky titles like "Kiss My Bass."

If you fancy a margarita, Margarita's On the Rock, a colorful outdoor bar under a thatched roof has 30 flavors, ranging from coconut key lime to lavender. At Mojito Bay, you sit on a swing instead of a bar stool, toes in the sand. And if that has you craving a fish taco, head for The Keys — a restaurant featuring Caribbean-style cuisine that one Tripadvisor reviewer called "a diamond in the rough ... laid back like the real Keys!" Whatever your summer vacay style, it's safe to say the one thing you won't be doing here is wasting away in Margaritaville looking for a lost shaker of salt.