Did Dayton today, boy did I do Dayton!

Today was Dayton.  Had no idea Dayton was a big as it is.. Pretty city, old city, interesting city. 

Main goals for today were the Dayton Aviation National Historical Site, which actually is several sites, the Dayton Dragons Baseball team, the US Air Force Museum, and as a bonus, the National Packard Museum!

Went first to Dayton Dragons, of course it was closed... Not open to 12.  Fine.

Then went over to the National Packard Museum.  Not open to 12  .  Fine. 

No worries, went to the first unit of the Dayton Aviation Heritage NHP, the Wright Cycle Shop in town.  Wonder site.  The cycle shop was actually undergoing renovations, as in a new cedar shake roof (what budget problems?) but I was able to go through it anyway.  The main Visitors Center had a wonderful, but tad long film, and 2 floors of exhibits and artifacts. 

The main VC



The cycle shop, where the Wright brothers got their start, after a print shop.

From there, I went to the Paul Lawrence Dunbar unit of the park, about 4 blocks away.  Paul Lewis Dunbar was associated with the Wright Brothers.  The actual house was actually a little run down-  Got a stamp at the VC and headed back downtown to get the two locations I missed.





From there, I swung back to the Packard Museum, and was glad that I did.  It is in two buildings in an older part of town, and has about 50 old Packards, from very early to the last model year, 1956, plus tons of Packard Artifacts.. really enjoyed it.  Bill, I'll be sending you a long email with photos...

From there, I swung back over to 5th 3rd field, home of the Dayton Dragons.  They were out of town, and are actually in the playoffs.  The team store was closed, supposed to open at noon, then they opened it for me specially, and I got a ball and pin, (they only had pink baseballs) 

Interesting factoid, as you can see, the stadium is right down town, and they have a world record in that they have sold out like the last 877 games, every game since the stadium originally opened.  Wow!!

Then, on over to another unit of Dayton Aviation, which was located in something called the Carrilon Park. Not sure why there was a stamp there, but there was.  This is actually a part of the Dayton History Collection, and as such there were many interesting displays, including lots of NCR old timey cash registers- so Bev, this is for you!  They had a room full of em!

Next was a side trip to the Wright Patterson Air Base, for a quick scan of the National Air Force Museum- this one is the mother of plane museums.  several hangars worth, plus exhibits outside.  You can spend a half a day here alone, but I just zipped through, since I was on my way to Huffman Prairie.  Best deal is that it is free! 

This is the B-29 "Bock's Car" that dropped the 2nd Atomic bomb on Japan

Last stop of the day was the visitors center for the Huffman Prairie Field- that is where the Wright brothers perfected their flying machine after the original flying done at Kitty Hawk.  Got three stamps there. 

This is a memorial at the site, to the Wright Brothers.

I had a chore finding the place, I-75 was under construction, ramps were closed, exit numbers were changed, and it was a mess as the GPS kept trying to get me to circle around... Finally after losing several minutes, I outfoxed it and got to the site.

Whew!  What a day.  8 stamps, 5 pins, a baseball, and 2 movies, but I have been wanting to get to Dayton for a long time, and glad I did.  If I ever get the chance, need to take the grandsons here. 

Tomorrow is over to Chillicothe Ohio for a visit to Hopewell Culture NP. 

Off to Wal Mart up the road for provisions....