Day 1, Home to Dayton Ohio

 We finally decided to complete a trip around the United States by visiting the last four states that we have not spent the night nor have had a drink in. Those states are Montana, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota. Sylvia has not been to Hawaii, but that's another issue, and that issue is not in my favor. We have not exactly planned this trip in the utmost detail, in fact we never got much beyond going to Dayton and maybe figuring out the next day or two once we got there. Well, we got there and it was a relatively nice 8 hour drive through Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio.

We checked into a regular blah chain hotel and immediately headed downtown to checkout the real Dayton. We were not expecting much since it was a late Sunday afternoon and everything was pretty quiet. The drive down town evolved into a lively discussion between Sylvia and I, but we did get there and I was mostly wrong (of course). First of all, Dayton streets are not exactly horizonal and vertical streets and avenues. There is no way anyone new to Dayton could navigate around the city by the seat of their pants, at least I couldn't. Anyway, we eventually found our way to 5th street in the older part of Dayton called the Oregon District.. It was permanently blocked off for walking, shopping, and drinking, and of course my reaction was "What a great place", so many varied pubs, coffee shops, restaurants, knick-knack shops, etc. We walked around for awhile and finally decided to eat, or maybe it was to drink?  Not being up for a major meal we settled on Lucky's Taproom and Eatery. It didn't look much different than any other joint on 5th, and it probably wasn't, but what a score! There's nothing more comfortable than a little local pub like this with young people, old people, families, and a bunch of regulars just enjoying a beautiful and sunny day in a dark and dingy pub. Hah! how great is that! Even though the food was more than good, the atmosphere and the people there added so much more.

So, tomorrow it's off towards the last of the unvisited states. We're thinking of landing in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. At least Sylvia just made a reservation there, so that's the goal - for the time being.