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City in Ohio, United States
Photo: Tysto, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Dayton is the birthplace of aviation: the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, lived here and perfected their design for the first practical aircraft. It is also home to one of the few multi-site National Parks in the U.S., the Dayton Aviation Heritage Park. There are several things to do and see in the city and its suburbs.
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Bicycle and Shared Use Paths
Ohio's Miami Valley area offers an outstanding system of trails and bikeways for residents and visitors. Over 300 mi of trails stretch across ten counties surrounding the Dayton and Springfield region. The Little Miami Scenic Trail is the most popular, but only the beginning of the fun.
Wright Patt is a significant part of the local economy with some 23,000 employees and a reason behind most tourism, boasting the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force and the Huffman Prairie Flying Field where the Wright Brothers perfected their flying skills in 1904-05.
The world's largest military aviation museum with over 300 aircraft on display from the earliest days of aviation to modern prototypes. It is well maintained and interesting even for non aviation buffs. Highlights include the B-2 (stealth) bomber, one of the bombers that dropped the atomic bombs in Japan in WWII, several former Air Force One Presidential aircraft, and Mercury and Apollo space capsules.
Huffman Prairie is part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park which also includes the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center, the Wright Cycle Company building, the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center, the Paul Laurence Dunbar State Memorial and Carillon Historical Park, which houses the original 1905 Wright Flyer III.
The Wright Cycle Company complex consists of two adjoining buildings: the Hoover Block, also known as the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and Aviation Trail Visitor Center and Museum, along with the Wright Cycle Company building. The Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center is the main visitor center for the park, and occupies the restored Hoover Block building. In 1892, the Wrights opened a bicycle repair shop in addition to their printing business. From 1895 until 1897, both businesses were located at 22 S Williams St, “known as the Wright Cycle Company,” the fourth of five locations for their bicycle business.
A children's museum of science with numerous exhibits.
Carillon Park is an outside historical museum containing original historic homes that have been moved there. It is sort of like Greenfield Village in Michigan, but smaller. It contains artifacts from NCR, the Wright Brothers, and more.
A museum devoted to the continuous efforts of achieving world peace. It also honours the peace accords in 1995 that ended the three-year war in Bosnia.
An interpretive Indian village and archeological park.
Historic church completed in 1895.
Grand church completed in 1909.
Tickets sales are managed by Ticket Center Stage.
The Ballet performs at two locations so be sure to call and find out where the performance will be held. Tickets sales are managed by Ticket Center Stage.
Saturate your senses in the sights, sounds, and tastes of Celtic heritage. Discover the magic that keeps people returning to Dayton’s Celtic Festival year after year. Come and experience the rich traditions that local Celtic folk hold dear to their hearts.
The Minor League Baseball Dayton Dragons are a Cincinnati Reds farm team that plays in a beautiful stadium downtown and abuts the new Riverfront development. Catch the laser light show during the summer months. The team's home park is Day Air Ballpark in Dayton, formerly known as Fifth Third Field.
Sports teams of the University of Dayton, competing in NCAA Division I in seven men's and 10 women's sports. Most teams play in the Atlantic 10 Conference, while the football team plays in the Pioneer Football League, a football-only conference in the second-level Division I FCS that does not allow its members to award scholarships (all of that league's members award scholarships in other sports). The most notable team is in men's basketball, a frequent NCAA tournament participant. Most athletic facilities are on campus, most notably UD Arena (basketball), which hosts the "First Four" round of the immensely popular NCAA men's basketball tournament. The football team plays off-campus at Welcome Stadium, owned by the local (K–12) school district.
Sports teams of Wright State University, in nearby Fairborn (though with a Dayton mailing address), competing in NCAA Division I in seven men's and nine women's sports in the Horizon League. Unlike UD, Wright State does not have a football team; without that sport, the hot-button sport on campus is typically men's basketball. Like UD, most of WSU's athletic facilities are on campus, with the most notable being the Nutter Center (basketball).
Steakhouse
Excellent and most authentic Thai restaurant in the Fairborn - Xenia - Beavercreek area. Traditional Pad Thai, curry dishes and lot of Thai specialties. Sushi is also available.
This unique and delicious style of pizza, intensely popular with the locals, has been a part of Dayton traditions for over 40 years, and is a must try for anyone visiting the area. The Dayton tradition for pizza is to cut it into a multitude of small square pieces. Décor is not much more than a typical fast food restaurant and you have to line up twice, once for food and once for drinks.
A popular restaurant on Brown Street immediately to the West of the UD campus featuring pizza and baked subs. Mixed crowd during the day, becomes a college bar after 9. Also frequented by more affluent suburban families and professionals. Newly renovated interior features sleek, "modern" design while still being fairly warm in atmosphere.
An excellent steakhouse located just off of the campus of the University of Dayton, this is one of the area's most renowned restaurants. The menu is famously almost unchanged since its founding in 1947, with a list of large steaks plus a few dishes that were common in the mid-1900s but are unusual now, like sardines on rye, and liver and onions, but with no chicken or vegetarian dishes. This old-school restaurant only accepts cash and personal checks. It does not take reservations – even George H. W. Bush, when he was Vice President of the United States, was refused a reservation.
A trendy Thai restaurant on the West end of the Oregon District featuring traditional Thai specialties and sushi. Free parking.
Urban hole-in-the-wall with authentic Mexican food and good guacamole.
Tasty, inexpensive Vietnamese food with a huge menu, especially in terms of vegetarian options with a variety of meat alternatives.
Caribbean food like fish and oxtail.
Coco's sets the high standard for Dayton area restaurants. It's a great place for a business lunch, drinks at the friendly (but small) bar, or for a nice dinner with a date or friends.
They serve organic and free range food.
Interesting place with drinks and reuben sandwiches and arcade games that are free to play.
Serves traditional Irish food with some flair and claims to be the #1 seller of Irish whiskey in Ohio.
A classic college bar popular with University of Dayton. Specialty is the Fishbowl, a large concoction of assorted liquors in many flavors for sharing. Collectible pint glass refill specials on Thursday nights feature catchy slogans.
A UD bar with a more mature atmosphere frequented by students, alumni, and locals. Well known for their St. Patrick's Day party.
SPT
A friendly neighborhood bar & pizza place (serving Pizza Factory pizzas & calzones). The staff of SPT have been expanding their service over the past year to include a large bar featuring 18 taps, many craft beers & micro-brews, a great outdoor patio space, and live music. A popular location for Historic South Park neighbors to gather on the weekends.
Also on the far eastern end of the Oregon District. A relaxed bar featuring live local music most days of the week, with a comfortable patio outdoors and a party house available for rental.
This classic but casual downtown after-dinner nightspot features 60+ bourbon whiskeys (think Kentucky), complemented by a variety of American and Canadian whiskeys. The expert bar staff will educate even the most timid palate and enlighten connoisseurs. Draft and bottle beers round out the choices to make you feel at home with the 1862 back bar.
Heated indoor pool and continental breakfast included.
Clean, quiet, comfortable new beds and a free continental breakfast.
Outdoor pool, breakfast buffet type of thing.
Ohio's oldest operating hotel.
Fairfield Commons Mall
An up-scale dining and shopping facility. The outdoor lifestyle center has stores and restaurants ranging from Sephora and Coldwater Creek, to the Cheesecake Factory and Bd's Mongolian Grill.
Features bars, clubs, restaurants, and specialty shops.
Public market open year round, with live entertainment and an outdoor farmers' market on weekends (seasonal, in the summer) and frequent public programs and events.
By car
By bus
Greyhound operates a few long-distance buses to Dayton. The bus station is far out in the suburbs with limited local bus connections.
Travel in the region is easy by car and you can move from the urban city to the rural county in minutes.
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