Exploration Dayton

Oh, hey, Monday! Nice of you to stop by and interrupt a perfectly good weekend. That's okay. I want to tell you about all the new, fun things we did this this weekend anyway. You will be so jealous that you're not as cool as Saturday and Sunday.

I'm on a new quest to explore the city and surrounding areas. I have lived in Dayton for more than 7 years now (can that be true?!) and yet John and I continually frequent the same restaurants, shops, etc. Time to branch out. Time to explore. Time to discover something that could become a new favorite. I had lots of new discoveries planned for this weekend so let's start at the very beginning. (A very good place to start)

For YEARS, we have been waiting for a good frozen yogurt shop to come to Dayton. I know. Life is tough. We have a couple froyo places but they do not live up to the caliber of shops that we used to go to when visiting family in Austin. The places we have offer limited flavors, mostly fruit, and are not self serve. Where is the fun in that? A new place opened up nearby and I thought, "Sigh. OK we'll try it. But, it won't be as good as we're hoping."

I. Was. Wrong. This is Soyo Yogurt. Not only is it self-serve, but they have AMAZING flavors. How amazing? Well, what about peanut butter, or cake batter? Does that do anything for you? Because that's what I had. John had Angel Food Cake and something else I can't remember. 45 cents an ounce so be careful. Those giant cups fill up fast! For you locals, it's in Centerville by the giant, new Kroger.

Peanut buttery goodness

 That was Friday night. I may have also coerced John into going to the Gap because it was 30% off everything. I may or may not have purchased yet another maxi dress. I was a good girl and passed up the tote bag I've been eyeing though. If I can find the right fabric, I can make it cheaper than buying it. We also bought a power tool (not at the Gap) but that's a story for another day......

Moving on - Saturday, Sadie needed a hair cut and thankfully, she was with a good groomer she's had before so it turned out cute, even though we prefer her hair long. We ran a few errands and made a sizable purchase at Lowe's (another story for another nother day) had good runs outside and were all cleaned up by noon. Productivity is the name of the game. Oh, rewind. Because we had to get Sadie to the groomer by 9:00, we treated ourselves to breakfast at Saxby's. I had the oatmeal. It was creamy and filling. John's breakfast sammie was tasty too. OK, now moving on.

This left time for lounging and a little house project. See above paragraph re: power tool. Then we cleaned up again and got ready for new adventure numero dos.

A friend that I've known since 6th (or 5th?) grade lives in Cincinnati and we've yet to meet up in all these years. We both laughed about how we see each other every Christmas in our hometown and say "we should meet up sometime" and then we never do. Time to right that wrong! Her husband is a musician and was playing at a local coffee shop in Dayton that we had never been to so we thought this was the perfect opportunity to get together, check out a new place and hear him play.


This is the counter of Ghostlight Coffee (on Wayne Ave. for the locals). Funnily enough, if I still lived in the very first apartment I had in Dayton, I would pass this on my way to work each morning. It definitely wasn't there in 2005 though.

They are known for their artisan sodas and pour over coffee. I'm still not sure what this is because I didn't order it (the coffee, I mean). To start, I had an orange hibiscus soda. I really wanted to try the Tangerine Lavender Honey soda but they were out. Guess I'll have to go back! John got a cream soda. Mine was really refreshing but his was out of this world! If you're thinking bottled cream soda, this is not that. This was super creamy and sweet. Actually, you can add cream to all of their sodas for a richer taste. We got our drinks while we were waiting for our dinner from this:

 

This is the Fressa Food Truck. I believe one of Dayton's ONLY food trucks. Just like we're slow on the froyo, we're also slow on the food truck front. Normally, Ghostlight Coffee closes at 7:00 pm but on Saturday nights in the summer, Fressa parks it until 10:00 pm and the coffee is brewed until then while customers can enjoy some live music. I ordered the Fressa Burger (juicy!) and John had the Fressa Dog with bacon jam. We split the Fressa chips and a fruit salad. For $17 we had quite a feast. Although they did lose our original order. But when remedied, we had a delightful dinner.

Then, it was time for the show!

Here is Matt. Also known onstage as WolfCryer. He plays the banjo and harmonica and it was awesome! All original music and he has a great voice too. The tunes filled the rather intimate space nicely. He performs with his friend Eric, who plays guitar. They played for 2 hours. During this time I enjoyed a chai latte and split a Honey Lavender Whoopie Pie with John. I didn't want to share it but it was the last one for sale. Heavenly!

We had a great time catching up with friends, listening to music and enjoying local cuisine and coffee.

A successful exploratory weekend, wouldn't you say? 3 for 3 on new destinations! 4 for 4 when you count the music as we'd never heard them play before. Winner winner food truck dinner!