Welcome to Dayton! :-) (Columbus, Cincinnati: hotel, school, live)

[prfcttimeofday]

Enjoy D8N!


YouTube - Dayton

[malachai23]

Gorgeous video - thanks for posting!

[Beavercreek33]

Dayton, Ohio.... one of America's most UNDERRATED mid-sized.

Thanks for posting the video!

[Mellimel]

Awesome! We are still trying to find most of these places... :-(
Our daughter is 14 and is bored to death! What fun things are to do for teenagers until school starts?? We know about Kings Island and the things down in Cinci. But what about over here???
Thanks.
Mel

[Daytonnatian]

Mel:

Well, for a 14 year old girl, probably the traditional staple would work well: the mall. Dayton Mall and Fairfield Commons are some of the state's best, and the Greene would work, as well.

Also try lazer tag,

Miniature golf,

Bowling,

The Art Institute,

The Air Force Museum,

Hawthorne Hill/Carrilon Park (not really sure how to get a tour, contact Carrilon Park),

Sunwatch/The Wright Brothers National Heritage Park attractions,

Yellow Springs/Clifton,

Yellow Springs/Fairborn (primarily Foy's but there are some good Asian restraunts and Giovanni's)/Young's dairy,

The Wescott House/ Springfield Art Museum/ Cedar Bog (this is a cool, quirky day),

The Audubon center at Englewood metropark,

Biking on one of city's the many bike trails (Riverscape is a great place to start),

Cox Arboretum (not a whole day, but heck, Dayton Mall is right down the street...),

Werzegyn Gardens (sp?)

Waynesville (antiquies and crafts, along with next couple of cities I list),

Lebanon,

Troy/Tipp City/Piqua (all can be easily seen in a day, and all are really great places to
visit),

Richmond, Indiana if you REALLY love antiques

Metamora, Indiana (taking the train from Connersville is kinda cool)

Hueston Woods/Oxford, especially if you want her to go to Miami in a few years

Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park/ Wake Nation (actually, she would really probably love Wake nation...)

.......And if that's not enough, you can always go to Columbus, Cincinnati, or Indianapolis!!!!!

[dayton_ohio]

Good ideas Daytonnatian. A few more:

Go to a Dragons game and sit on the lawn.

Walk around downtown art galleries on a first Friday. Introduce her to art.

Eat Graeter's ice cream in downtown Oakwood.

Walk around UD's campus.

Find a concert at Fraze Pavilion that you both like. Either go or stand outside the concert and listen for free.

Go to happy hour (Coke or Pepsi for her) at McCormick and Schmicks or Brio and then walk around the Greene.

Try El Meson for dinner one night.

Attend local church or community festivals (there is something every weekend).

Drive to the Jeffersonville outlet mall an hour to the east or the new Monroe outlet mall near Cincinnati.

Sign her up for a class at your community's arts or rec center.

Volunteer.

[Crew Chief]

Great tips! That oughta keep ANYONE busy for a few YEARS!

[Billy from Dayton]

Originally Posted by Mellimel

Awesome! We are still trying to find most of these places... :-(
Our daughter is 14 and is bored to death! What fun things are to do for teenagers until school starts?? We know about Kings Island and the things down in Cinci. But what about over here???
Thanks.
Mel

In addition to the great suggestions already made, here is another - if your daughter is interested in unique and different then I'd recommend she check out Garden Station on Wayne Avenue between The Cannery and the Oregon District. This is a former junk field that some VERY dedicated folks cleaned up and have turned into an urban garden/hang out space. They're also very organized and have already been awarded thousands of dollars in grant money to continue improving this new urban park. They do things like live music shows, outdoor movie showings (Ferris Bueller this past weekend in memory of John Hughes) and all kinds of gardening activities.

Anyway, this probably isn't the thing for a typical teenager who is more into going to the mall and things like that, but it is a good option for anybody looking to get involved in something different yet very positive and organized by a great group of people. For more info, check out the on-going DMM Forum post at Garden Station - State of the Garden Address! where you can find news stories, other links, etc.

[Mellimel]

Wow that sounds great! We have not had the chance to be out much since we got here. We are in a hotel and we have 3 dogs, so we don't really want to leave them alone too long. But once we get into our house, we will definitely check most of these out.
Also, we are into motorcycle riding..anything on that? We just go for the ride and the comraderie, but we are not into the rough guys gangs... lol...
Thanks again for all the suggestions!!!

[OhioLover]

there's the Packard museum just outside of downtow, i've heard that's interesting