Dayton

Dayton was a bit disappointing - the town is really run down. We had hoped to visit a couple of the parks by the river but we didn't want to leave the truck in the areas we could park - it was that questionable. Then we planned to visit the cute downtown area but that was also a bit rough looking. We drove by the Troll Pub but didn't go in although that looked cute.

We did manage to get some genuine Ohio buckeye candy! :)

The Air Force Musuem was very interesting - huge. I can't imagine going up in the air in some of those planes - much less to fight in them. THe 1909 plane was paper thin - clearly not built to protect the men flying it. Whew - scary. We did see a replica of the famous Red Baron - didn't realize he was a real person not just in Snoopy's dream. ;) Also the use of carrier pigeons in WW1 was interesting to read about to transfer messages and commands. The one in the photo is a "stuffed" replica of one that flew hundreds of missions and was injured during the last one. Despite losing it's leg - it delivered the message attached to the remaining stump. After that, she was retired and lived a good life for many more years.

We drove out to Springfield, OH as well. Pretty much the same story- everything looked rundown - lots of boarded up windows. It is sad to see.

We drove by the Hartman Rock Gardens which were much smaller than we expected but still fun. This is truly a work of love by a man with a rock quarry nearby and too much time on his hands! Now that he is gone there is a local group that takes care of it. He put in a lot of effort with Noah's Ark, Hoover Dam, the White House, Lincoln's cabin and tomb and many other details.

Finally a stop in Fairborn for a town that seems to want to take after Anoka, MN to be the Halloween Capital of Ohio. A few fun things to drive by and a Halloween store called Foy's were the highlights.

Now we are off to Cleveland - hoping that is not quite so run down.

September 2022