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Old 05-13-2012, 12:41 PM
 
202 posts, read 366,636 times
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Afternoon!

My girlfriend and I are considering a road trip to Dayton, an Ohio city we've never spent much time in. Are there any events coming up that would make sense to visit Dayton on a summer weekend? What are some "must-sees" in Dayton? We're relative urban-snobs who enjoy an escape to nature, but want nothing to do with suburbs (for the most part). We like beer, history, nature, music, neighborhoods, etc.

Any thoughts would be great!

Cheers,
Joe
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Old 05-13-2012, 06:21 PM
 
16,358 posts, read 30,066,770 times
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Everyone will mention the usuals:

Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB
National Museum of the USAF - Home

Dayton Art Institute
Dayton Art Institute |

Patterson Homestead
Dayton History | Patterson Homestead


Here is an "off the beaten path recommendation:

America's Packard Museum
America's Packard Museum - The Citizens Motorcar Company
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Old 05-13-2012, 08:40 PM
 
202 posts, read 366,636 times
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Thanks! Patterson Homestead looks interesting.

Any weekends coming up with cool events? We saw there's an air show coming up.

Any neighborhoods to check out besides Oregon for night life?
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Old 05-13-2012, 08:45 PM
 
Location: NKY's Campbell Co.
2,107 posts, read 5,055,529 times
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There are some cool establishments in South Park (Tanks, Pizza Factory, etc).

Another cool event:

Downtown Dayton Revival

The Dayton downtown revival music festival (Sept 8 & 9), will be a two-day event. Train and John Legend will be performing among a number of other acts. Tickets begin at $55 and only come in two-day passes. There will be three stages I believe.
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Old 05-13-2012, 08:49 PM
 
Location: Cincinnati
4,471 posts, read 6,179,359 times
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You can stop in the South Park Tavern for Pizza Factory pizza, since PF is carryout only. Tanks is a must stop as well. Best greasy bar food in Dayton, I am not exaggerating either. Nor do I like greasy bar food all that much. But Tanks kept me coming back for more.
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Old 05-13-2012, 08:57 PM
 
202 posts, read 366,636 times
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Pizza sounds good.

Just read about the Downtown Dayton Revival show. That sounds fun. Worth the $55 bucks?
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Old 05-14-2012, 01:28 AM
 
Location: Miami Twp.
164 posts, read 379,451 times
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AleFest is usually late summer - website hasn't been updated yet for this year, though:

Welcome to AleFest Dayton



Cityfolk Festival is quite popular, June 29th - July 1st:

Cityfolk Festival
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Old 05-14-2012, 08:13 AM
 
Location: "Daytonnati"
4,244 posts, read 7,138,529 times
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Good summer events in the city:

On Dave Hall Plaza (a park in the heart of downtown)(stay in the Crown Plaza hotel, right on the plaza)
1. Blues Festival
2. Reggae Festival (and the afterpartys at participating bars)(this is one of my favorite downtown events)

These Dave Hall Plaza festivals usually have one or two stages, people sit on blankets and lawn chairs..in the sun or under the trees, and get up and dance in front of the stages. Very laid back and pleasant! There is a beer truck, food & drink vendors and people selling stuff, (like canes, I bought a walking stick one year at the Reggae Festival)

You see Dayton at it's funkiest & freindliest at these festivals.

Also, At Riverscape (a park and festival stage on the river right downtown)
1. Cityfolk Festival
2. Celtic Festival (this is usually a real blast, very well attended)

Or..1st Friday of any month...things are programmed around this day.

Book a room at the Crown Plaza as its a good location...you can walk two or three blocks east on 5th Street to the Oregon with is a good live music/restaurant nightlifte district.

Also during the day, Saturday mornings starting at 8 AM, check out 2nd Street Market, which is an old railroad freight house converted into a market. During the day you can walk over to Riverscape and rent bikes and take bike rides along the rivers...these go pretty far out....nice rides...take the route to Wegerzyn Gardens...very pretty spot....or follow the one up Mad River into Eastwood Park. Sort of neat starting out downtown and ending up in woodland.

For a neat old-school downtown bar, which is now specializing in high quality bourbon, go to the Century, which is just about 2 blocks north of the Crowne Plaza. They have a good late night crowd on Fridays and Saturday but no live music.

Best Live Music Venues (im a big fan of this as Dayton has a great scene for bands, singer/songwriters, etc):

Downtown proper:

1.Canal Street Tavern (alternative/indy/americana)(one of the best venues in the city for music)
2.Gillys (more Jazz, blues, R&B)
3.J-Alans (mix of stuff)

Oregon & Nearby:

1. Blind Bobs
2. Trolly Stop
3. Oregon Express
4. South Park Tavern
5. Ladder 11 (maybe)


Coffee Houses downtown & nearby:
1. Press (recently tapped by Zagat as one of the "10 coolest" in the US)...beside that it does have the best lattes & cappucinos in the city (also an art gallery of sorts)
2. Ghostlight (which sometimes has live music)
3. Boston Stoker

Beer
Best beer place..hmm...Luckys seems to have a good tap section, as does South Park Tavern. A microbrewrey is slated to open this summer in the Oregon.

Dancing
1. Masque. The upstairs is the best dance floor in the city. Great place to dance.
2. Also the upstairs at Aquarius hosts a pop-up dance event. Enquire at Clash Consignments (a store and gallery on E 3rd Street...google them) to find out the schedule. This has very good sort of industrial/goth/new wavy stuff...really danceable and good DJs...Ive had some good times here.

Of the above live music establishments the ones that say "Dayton" for me, the ones that sort of channel the genus locii, are Canal Street Tavern, and maybe the Trolley Stop. For bars its probably the Century.

And a word on Garden Station. This is an old railroad yard in a somewhat abandoned industrial area that has reverted to nature and is now an art space and garden area. They have power and a stage and put on shows, but also have events like a Sunday Market. This is very limited but sort of interesting. Its within walking distance of Press, Trolly Stop, and the other places in the Oregon District noted above.

History

The Carillon Park has a good history exhibit. Probably a must see if you are into history. Focus is on the industrial and transportation history of Dayton.

Dayton has a wealth of older housing and neat in-town neighborhoods, which is not too well recognized by the locals.

For a rare survivor of the urban renewal era visit the Oregon. The neighborhood was going to be cleared, but was saved and is now a real treasure. Walk the side streets of the Oregon, especially the short Tecumseh Street, which has the oldest housing stock in the city (in general most of the Oregon is pre-Civil War, but this street is the oldest in the neighborhood).

Further out, just south of the US 35 expressway, South Park is nice to wander around in. Also there is Mcpherson Town, (more later 1800s) directly across the river from downtown..you can follow the walk along the levee on north side of the river to reach it.

So, have a good time in Dayton!

Last edited by Dayton Sux; 05-14-2012 at 08:26 AM..
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Old 05-15-2012, 04:25 AM
 
Location: Springfield, Ohio
14,636 posts, read 14,507,796 times
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Those are all great suggestions. My favorite places in Dayton are South Park Tavern (the best pizza with a solid selection of rotating craft brews), Club Aquarius (the drag nights are fun to watch), the Dayton Art Institute (always free, with a broad collection for a small museum) and the West Third Street Historic District, which includes a preserved Wright Brothers bicycle shop.
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Old 05-15-2012, 06:02 AM
 
Location: Covington, KY
1,898 posts, read 2,735,707 times
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My goodness! All these wonderful suggestions and, really, not even a hint about one of the biggest (and long time) events in Dayton. Three days running. Thousands and thousands of people. Cheap to get in. Plenty to eat, drink, watch and maybe try for the first time.

May 18-20 -- this coming weekend -- you can spend all thee days there and not begin to see all of it:

The Dayton International Festival, A World A'Fair:

A World A'Fair 2012

Click on "Organizations" and you'll find many of the groups have websites up and activities beyond the International Festival.

Even if you can't make it this year, keep the link, look the stuff over at your leisure and plan for another year.

And, I hope you have a nice time in Dayton.
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