How about a little stroll down memory lane...

Not too long ago, maybe a month, Pam and I took our WWII friend, Warren, to the Carillon Park down in Dayton for the afternoon.  It had been a long time since we had been there and Warren said that it had been many years since he had seen any of it.  After the War, Warren went to work in a coal mine, helping move coal out of the mines and out on the rail tracks to whatever market it had been sold. He said he worked quite a bit on the trains themselves, and since the park has some trains and train cars on display, I thought it would be a good afternoon out of the house for him and us.

First of all, the trip is now pretty easy since about 90% of I-75 construction is completed through Dayton.  However, that last 10% deals with the off-ramp area around Edwin C. Moses Blvd. which is where one has to exit in order to get to the park.  Either the BIG orange sign showing the correct way to exit the interstate was confusing, or I wasn't paying enough attention.  In any event, we had a slight detour -- about a 5 min. add-on to the drive.  But we got there, and that is all that matters.

Overall, the park is very nice.  Broad sidewalks lead to very well-done and interesting displays.  There is plenty of shade from the huge trees and several benches scattered around for people to use.  That is important for people of Warren's age.  Also, everything was Dayton-related -- the old school house (one room, log school house), the row of "store front shops" related to the Wright Brothers bicycle business, the excellent display building recounting the horrors of the 1913 flood, etc.  One of the most cool things in that display was the TV sets that were inside showing "weather broadcasts" done in today's technology by TV Newsman Brian Davis (TV2).  He was in period costume and it was really cool.  (FYI -- Brian was a student at Troy High School while I taught there.  Also I knew his dad as he was a fellow Ham Radio guy).

 The park also featured a reproduction of sorts of an old restaurant from downtown Dayton,  It seems it was quite famous "in the day."  We ate lunch there...they had a nice outdoor eating area.

As the afternoon progressed, we went into one building that highlighted Dayton's considerable contributions to the WWI and WWII effort, as well as earlier conflicts. As we worked our way through these displays, Warren was in his element.  He could rattle off the distinguishing facts about certain kinds of guns and vehicles on display, and he could tell me about some of the different kinds of situations portrayed in a lot of the pictures around the walls.  

 

At one point, we couldn't help but notice these two rather dashing soldiers who happened to be guarding the hallway and the entrance to the men's room.

It seems Dayton was a pioneer in the early production of automobiles.  Warren couldn't recall ever owning or driving any this nice, but he sure liked them.

All in all, it was a pretty good afternoon.  We only spent about 4 hours there, because Warren (and I) were getting tired.  But it was a pretty good day trip.  I have another one I plan to take him to -- the "library/museum" at the Dayton VA that I just happened to discover one day when I was taking down some boxes of books (old military related things) to donate.  I think he will like this one too.  Stay tuned. 

Never judge someone by the way he looks or a book by the way it's covered; for inside those tattered pages, there's a lot to be discovered.    (Stephen Cosgrove) 

Hooah