Dayton, OH

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(Details about our whole trip home will be posted on Monday)

6/8/16:

After the Airstream tour we drove an hour south to Dayton and checked in our hotel which was right across from the Dayton Mall. For dinner we went to Chic-fil-a and then walked around the mall for some exercise.

6/9/16:

We started off at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park. When we got there, the ranger gave us a form that explained the Wilbear Wright program. We had to visit 7 of the 14 sites and have the form stamped. When we bring the form back, we get a teddy bear – Wilbear Wright. We like treasure hunts so we couldn’t wait to start. Here are the seven places we visited by 1pm:

1.     Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and The Wright Cycle Company

2.     Historic Woodland Cemetery & Arboretum

3.     The Wright B Flyer

4.     Wright University Paul Laurence Dunbar Library

5.     Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center

6.     National Museum of the United States Air Force

7.     National Aviation Hall of Fame

Then we returned to the Visitor Center and we each received our teddy bears: Wilbear Wright and Amelia Bearhart.

After that we went to Panera for lunch on Brown Ave. near the University of Dayton.

After that we spent four hours at the Antiques Village. When I got bored, I was able to sit and knit.

For dinner we went to Graeter’s Ice Cream parlor and had banana splits.

6/10/16:

We headed to the National Museum of the US Air Force (free admission) in the pouring rain. Don let me out at the curb so I wouldn’t get so wet while he parked the car. It opened at 9am and we had to go through a strict security check to get in. We started in the new 4^th building where the Presidential planes were located. This museum is really well done and we enjoyed going through all the hangars. We didn’t go to the Control Tower this time because it was raining so hard. We also missed the Behind the Scenes tour at noon because we had to register early. We stopped in the Valkyrie Café for a snack (pizza for 2 and 2 drinks were $9). So we spent the day looking at all the planes from all the different wars. There was also a Holocaust exhibit and a Berlin Wall exhibit. We left there around 3pm and went to Chick-fil-A for lunch before heading back to the Antique Mall. After the Antique Mall we went back to Graeter’s Ice Cream parlor for banana splits again.

Things I Learned:

1.     Wilbur Wright was only 45 when he died from typhoid.

2.     Katharine Wright left her teaching job to take care of Orville Wright when he was seriously injured in a plane wreck.

3.     Thomas Selfridge was the first person to die in an airplane crash.

4.     Erma Bombeck was buried at Woodland Cemetery.

5.     For $100, you can ride on the Wright B Flyer.

6.     The Paul Laurence Dunbar library has over 4000 photographs about the invention of the airplane.

7.     The USAF museum just opened the 4^th hangar the day before we arrived.

8.     At the USAF museum, there were Air Force One planes from Kennedy, Eisenhower, Truman, and FDR.

9.     Wear comfortable shoes at the USAF museum because the concrete floors are hard on a person’s back and knees.