A Very Good Day

On Saturday, Kevin, Gilmore and I headed up to Yellow Springs, Ohio, near Dayton, around lunchtime. We didn't really have an agenda, but Kevin wanted to take a little day trip, and I've always wanted to visit Yellow Springs. It's a village, centered around Antioch College, with that hard-to-find combination of small-town vibe and big-town culture. The downtown is just a few blocks of little restaurants and shops. We started our adventure at a dog/cat boutique, where Gilmore got some biodegradable "oops I pooped" bags and some treats. All the other customers told us how friendly, sweet and well-behaved he was. That was really the only store Gil could go into, so we decided to eat lunch at The Corner Cone, an ice cream stand with a grill and a big patio. It was a perfect choice that served up bowls of water for dogs and amazing veggie burgers for me. After lunch, we popped into a few of the other shops while Gil waited outside, then we headed to a farmer's market about a mile away and got some homegrown veggies and jam. Located right behind the market was a plant nursery that also served as an animal sanctuary. Our clerk at the market told us that the nursery owner leases the land for only $1 a year, and in return he cares for unwanted/abandoned exotic pets. We decided to check it out, thinking that it would mostly be cats and dogs. So we were surprised to find roosters (lots of roosters!), emus, goats, pot belly pigs, horses, donkeys and, of course, a few cats, which every good nursery should employ. After that we headed back into town to get soft serve ice cream cones at The Corner Cone. When we approached the window to order, the server told us that dog cones are free, so Gilmore got his own vanilla cone, which he quickly devoured. Of course, being the odd dog that he is, he actually ate the cone like a human would, biting off little pieces and working his way to the bottom. Next we took a long walk around the town and through Glen Helen, a wooded nature preserve. It was a hot day, but overcast, so it was actually very pleasant.

To wrap up our day, we decided to check out a free concert the local public radio station was sponsoring. The had food vendors there so you could get dinner, and the bands were pretty good. We threw down a blanket, got a shrimp basket, some nachos and some sweet tea, and listened to 2 of the 3 bands. We headed home around 9, very relaxed and pleased that we had found so many fun things to do on our spontaneous adventure with our little dog.

I've posted a few of my favorites photos from when we were fooling around waiting for the show to start.