Dayton, Ohio

 This Labor Day weekend I visited Dayton, Ohio. It is about a two and a half hour drive away from my current home of Greencastle, Indiana. I drove my new 2018 Chevrolet Equinox by myself. The kids were at their mom's house and Geoff had work. 

I got some ideas for my roadtrip from roadsideamerica.com I stopped in New Castle, Indiana to take a picture with a giant "shoe" which was outside the Steve Alford hotel. (this is apparently a famous basketball person) This town is also home to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. I didn't stop there this time. The Quality Inn next door to the Alford hotel advertised rooms for $54/night. 

Next, I stopped in Richmond, Indiana to see a restaurant with a double decker bus inside! It's a Pizza King and apparently you used to be able to eat in the bus but that stopped after the pandemic. I just stopped in for a quick pic, but I read that you can still go in the bus. 

I crossed over into Ohio and saw this welcoming sign.  I know Ohio gets a lot of flack, but I was excited to be on a road trip and seeing a different state. I've only been to Ohio once before and that was for a day trip with a group on meetup.com Also, that was several years ago. 

While driving in Ohio, I came across a Big Boy restaurant. I was really excited to possibly take a picture with a Big Boy statue, but alas, there was no statue to be found. Bummer. 

By the time I arrived, the museums I wanted to visit were going to be closing soon, so I decided to go shopping. I went to one of the few thrift shops open on a Sunday, and started my hunt for treasures. American Thrift Stores did not disappoint. They take debit/credit cards but have a $5 minimum and at first I was worried I wouldn't find $5 worth of stuff. Ha! I got a cartful for $30. I was especially impressed with the way they wrote the waist and length sizes of the men's pants on the tag. So easy to find what I was looking for. I stocked up for Geoff and Luke. By the time I got out of there, it was too late to make it to another thrift store, so I headed to my next bargain hunting favorite place - Walmart. I found all kinds of clearance there, but I'll spare those details for now. By the time I got done at Walmart, it was nearly 9:00 pm and all the restaurants I could find were closing soon. I finally settled on Dublin Pub. 

Dublin Pub is ranked as one of the top ten Irish pubs in the USA. I know this because they have a sign hanging above their stage. There was no music when I was there. I was happy to see fries on the menu done Irish style, but once they removed the bacon, it was just cheese, which was kind of a bummer. And they were ten bucks! The pop was fair at $2.25 and free refills. Across the street from the pub is a boarded up building and there were unhoused people walking down the street with their belongings. You would never realize it from inside the pub, though. 

I decided to try my hand at another Walmart after leaving the pub, but when I arrived, it seemed very desolate and it was late. Being a woman traveling alone, I tried to be mindful of such things. I decided not to go in and headed to my place to sleep for the night. The cheese fries didn't fill me up, so I did stop at Taco Bell on my way to my lodging. 

Lodging - I stayed at an Air BnB. I had to sift through dozens to find one without an outrageous cleaning fee added to the total. I found one in West Carollton, Ohio, just outside of Dayton. It was $25 plus a couple bucks for the service fee. You can see it here. There were two pugs; one fawn, one black - just like Sherman and Licorice! They were very affectionate and licking me all over the place. It was a small room inside a home with an elevated air mattress. I was happy with my choice. There was even a mini fridge to put the rest of the Taco Bell I didn't eat. Unfortunately, I forgot it there. D'oh. The host didn't seem upset when I messaged her about it. I had packed bottles of water and other snacks in my suitcase as well. As you can see in the picture, there was a fan in the room, so I didn't need to bring in the small one I brought with me just in case the room was too hot. Once the pugs got bored of me and left the room, I was able to get changed and go to sleep. The air mattress was elevated off of the floor and had a pillow top thing on it, but it was still a bit low for me. I'm not as limber as I once was! It was okay, though. 

I am not an early riser, and I thought check out was at 11 am so I set my alarms. I was out of there by 11 only to find out it was at noon! Oh well, better to get an earlier start. I had two goals of what I wanted to see today: Carillon Historical Park and the US Air Force museum. I did visit both of them and even got in one more thrift store. 

Carillon Historical Park - apparently, the structure in the picture above is a Carillon. This rich lady, Mrs. Deeds, saw them in Belgium and thought Dayton needed one, so she had it built. It plays music. It didn't play any music while I was there. So this has like a main building and then you go outside and there's this replica village and you can go into all the little buildings. I went to the Wright Brothers Museum where you can see items from their bicycle shop and then walk through a few buildings and see the original 1905 "plane" they made. I never knew that they started out with bicycles and the link between bicycles and planes. 

Here, I also learned that Dayton, Ohio is where cash registers were invented. There is a room filled with cash registers in the main building. You can push a button on a screen and it will tell you all about that specific cash registers. I never thought about it, but cash registers were the precursor to the computer. This marker explains how the cash register designers worked with the military to figure out how to crack secret codes.

National Museum of the US Air Force could be a post, or several posts, all by itself. But I found a few interesting things that I'd like to share. Admission and parking is free. There are some "simulators" that cost extra, about ten dollars each, to see what it is like to fly. 

The first thing I saw that was interesting was Military Ballooning. I never knew that was thing. Apparently they used balloons in the Civil War and then the Spanish American War. 

I also saw a dog with a parachute. 

A pigeon used to deliver messages. 

And a few mentions of the role of women in the Air Force/Space/War. 

You really could go to this museum several times and see something new each time. My favorite picture from this museum, though, is me on the "chopper" used in recruitment for the Air Force. I think I look pretty tough. Too bad my feet couldn't reach the pedals! 

After the museum, I hit one more thrift store, which just so happened to be having a Labor Day Sale where everything was 50% off. I only did eight dollars worth of damage there, but I was happy with my finds. This one was Valley Thrift Store in Kettering, Ohio. 

And then I headed home. It was a great trip and I am so glad I went on this little adventure.

New Orleans

Last weekend I drove from my temporary home in Montgomery, Alabama to New Orleans, Louisiana. It took about 4.5 hours. I rented a car because I wanted to keep the miles off my car (which has many). I got the car from Thrifty via hotwire.com I usually rent from Enterprise via Costco Travel, but I left it too late and there was nothing available from Enterprise. I had to pick up my car at Montgomery airport. Luckily, my former roommate gave me a ride. He also watched Chewy for me.

First stop - Mississippi
I stopped at a rest area in Mississippi and found this notice about the color of the toilet water:

Well, that's good to know. That's about all I experienced in Mississippi.

Parking - I parked at Canal Place across the street from the casino, Harrah's New Orleans.

It seemed to be a fair price and in an easy to locate place. It was about thirty dollars for the day and right when you exit the parking garage, there is a tour bus stop selling tickets. There are also lots of crowds, so I asked for directions to Bourbon Street.


Next up Bourbon Street - I walked about eight crowded, side street, blocks until I came upon Bourbon Street. There were police standing at road signs that blocked off the street. I had no idea

where to start, so I just turned to the right and moseyed on down the way. It was just as I had seen in pictures, with so many lights, bar after bar, and people walking down the street with drinks. There were people standing on balconies at bars looking at the people below. Music emanated from the bars to the streets. At first it seemed exciting, then it started to take a turn. I had a person in drag come up to me to take a picture with me and ask me for money for a "sex change operation." I quickly realized since I was a woman alone, I was definitely seen as an easy target. I went into a shop to buy my obligatory souvenir magnet and the surly shop owner saw my measly purchase and insisted that I had to pay cash. No problem, I said. Thank goodness, for once in my life I had cash on me. This shop owner just seemed like he hated every one that walked into his shop. Then I decided to stop in a bar and actually sit down and listen to some authentic Zydeco music, which was recommended to me by someone in the chiropractor's office. I had never heard of it before, so when I saw a sign for it, I stopped in. The bouncer let me know in no uncertain terms that there was a one drink minimum and I needed to buy a drink to have a seat. No problem, I said. I went to the bar to order a drink and just ordered what seemed to be their signature drink. The bartenders were wearing ear plugs and did not

look happy to be there. I felt like I was in the episode of Seinfeld with the "Soup Nazi" where I had to quickly and confidently place my order and pay immediately. Once I got my drink, I found a seat in the front row of a quite small room with a band playing in the front. There were a couple of drunk people dancing in front of the band, but everyone else was seated (there wasn't room to do much else). I tried to focus on the music and noticed the looks on the band member's faces. They also didn't seem happy to be there. In fact, it looked like at least one of them hated their life. I know that seems like a strong statement, but that's the impression I got. I was disappointed no one was playing a washboard or something like that. Shortly thereafter, I saw a panhandler playing a plastic washboard with a sticker on it that said, "Music is not a crime."

Pedi cab -
I was growing tired of Bourbon Street, and I saw a bicycle with a seat attached.

I asked if he could give me a ride and he said yeah. It was hard for me to get on the bike b/c the step was a bit high for me, but I crawled on in. (After that, I always got on and off at a curb.) I originally asked for House of Blues because I wanted somewhere I could eat while listening to live music. He suggested Frenchman Street. On the way there, it was a little nippy, but he had a blanket available. He gave me a proper tour telling me all out the galleries vs. balconies (one covers the sidewalk, the other doesn't), Romeo spikes (to prevent people from climbing fences) and how New Orleans has the only confirmed vampire existence. He showed me where Anne Rice used to live. It makes sense now why she would write such stories. This was such a cool experience and worth every penny. It was $1 a block. He gave me his card so that I could call when I needed a ride back to my car.

Frenchman Street - As we rode by, I could hear a band playing at a Mexican restaurant on the corner.


I decided to stop there and ate on the patio while listening to the music. After finishing, I headed down Frenchman Street and came upon some "New Orleans" style music on the sidewalk. The crowd was so large, it was blocking the street!






AirBnB - I stayed at an AirBnB outside of New Orleans. It ended up being farther out than I anticipated, but it was only like $25 a night, so you really can't beat that. There was this sign on one of the bedroom doors. Needless to say, I did not open that door. It was just a place to sleep and served its function, though if I go again, I will probably pay a little more to be closer to New Orleans.

Bus Tour

St. Louis Cemetery #1

73 Distillery

73 Distilling - 301 N. Claiborne Avenue. - We stopped here for a short bathroom break and to sample their fine spirits. I asked which would be appropriate for someone who is a wuss about alcohol and she told me all of the samples were at least 80 proof, so I passed on that. I did, however, purchase a drink at the bar that was recommended for a lightweight such as myself. It was fine, not something I'd get again. Oh, and I paid $2 for a small bag of chips because by this point I was starving. Could've done with a restaurant stop as part of the tour.

Gumbo Festival - Read about it here.
The 2018 Tremé Creole Gumbo Festival took place Saturday, Nov. 17, and Sunday, Nov., 18, from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. both days in Louis Armstrong Park. Admission is free.

I told my tour bus driver that I was going to get dinner and he told me about the Gumbo Festival going on. He even dropped me off there. I was so excited to see that there was not only vegetarian gumbo offered, but also gluten free.