There are a lot of lighthouse buffs all over the world.  They love to tour lighthouses.  People in Erie can really make them jealous.  Folks in our area get to tour a magnificent piece of history once a month for free.

It’s the Land Lighthouse in the City of Erie.  The Land Lighthouse is one of three lighthouses extending from the city shoreline to the Erie Channel to the North Shores of Presque Isle.

"There are so few lighthouses in the State of Pennsylvania and yet we have three of them in Erie County which is really cool,” says Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort.  

Averie is the executive director of Lake Erie Lights of PA. The organization manages all three area lighthouses. Lake Erie Lights allows visitors to climb to the top the Land Lighthouse at no cost during first Tuesday of the month from April to October,

"This one has only been open for tours for a couple of years,” says Averie.. “We're still seeing people that don't know that this is here and don't know that it is available to tour as well.  We want people to know is that it is here.  It is your lighthouse.  We want you to enjoy it."

You don't have to be from Erie to take advantage of the free admission. The lighthouse gets visitors every year from 40 countries and all 50 states. If they show up on a first Tuesday, they also get in for free.

Lake Erie Lights of PA. adds some extra fun to the first Tuesday of the month. Last week, the organization sponsored an Egg Drop Challenge at the Land Lighthouse.  Visitors used various materials to wrap a plastic egg for protection.  They then took their egg to the top of the lighthouse and dropped it over the railing, hoping it would not break when it landed. It's a challenge that was hard to resist.  I wrapped some thick pipe cleaners around my egg.  Then came the most important material of all…bubble wrap. I placed the egg inside a cage I built with some wooden sticks put together with Elmer's Glue and tape.  I added a paper parachute to let the contraption come down slowly.  Then, it was time for my climb.

The view was beautiful.  Also, my egg remained intact after the fall from the top of the lighthouse.  It was a nice day on Lighthouse Street.

The Land Lighthouse was built in 1867 and has 69 steps leading to the top.  It was built on the same site as two other lighthouses before it.  The initial one, built in 1818, was the first lighthouse on the Great Lakes.  

Free Admission Tuesdays is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month.  Admission on other days is six dollars.