After manny years of self-employment that did not include this travail, the company that co-opted my soul over a year ago is now demanding that I actually use my vacation time. Well, I don’t wanna do Club Med or Cancun, so I’m thinking about dashing on up to Dayton, Ohio to spend a couple of days at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson (yeah, I know - gearhead).
The last vacation I took was in 1992 and I spent four days at The Smithsonian’s NASM. I think I can fill two days in Dayton with the museum there. My week that I’ll travel is that of August 11th through the 18th. I’ve got quite a bit of personal junk to deal with during this time, but I am going to give myself two days to get on up there and see the place.
So I recognize that I’ve already blown the two weeks in advance groovy fares window, and I need to go ahead and get my plans in shape as of Monday. What I’m soliciting here is notice from any Ohio-area Dopers who might be able to get together for a foreign (Texas) inspired DopeFest in that time slot. I’d thought that the best possible time might involve me trying to make my two-day, three-night stay overlap a Friday or Saturday night.
I’ve got to pull the trigger on Monday, so let’s hear what y’all might have to proffer.
I am nearby, and normally not averse to something which might include beer, but you picked the window where I will be in the Tampa Bay area and then Toronto. Have fun, I hope you timed this to see the air show?
I think I’m going to be in the area for a wedding next weekend, but even if I have my dates wrong, I could use the excuse to go up and visit my parents (all of 3 miles from WPAFB.)
I’m not sure, but there was some talk of a early Ohio Dopefest next week, so depending on your arrival, you might be in luck!
It appears I won’t be finalizing plans today, but what I’m thinking of is flying in Wed., the 15th, PM and leave Sat., the 18th. I can try to make that the 16th - 19th if it makes it any easier for anyone. My machine here is going off the air due to a viral bite, so I’ll have to wait until this evening to send email.
I work at the University of Dayton, and spend about half my time working in a lab at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (Area B). It is right next to the museum, yet I haven’t been there in years. I should be severely beaten.
Let me know when you’re in town. We can go to the museum, then hit the Oregon District and throw back a few brews.
If you’re going to the Oregon District, make sure you go to the Dublin Pub. Ohio’s largest Guiness account, great food, good bands and always, always a good crowd.
Beatle, I just wanted to pop in to say that I was there last Thanksgiving. Had a great time. We got a late start and kind of rushed through. We didn’t have a lot of time, but managed to run down the weaker ones (my mom’s 77). We could have easily spent the whole day or more, especially if it were just my son and grandson with me.
Enjoy your trip. Now if you want to go back up this Thanksgiving, I’d be glad to go again.
I take my preschoolers there every single year. So to me it is nothing special. My grandfather has stuff on display there so I feel a certain amount of pride in the WWII section.
I suggest the Oregon District for sure. Just don’t look anyone in the eye out on the street. That is where we keep our freaks, you know.
I just can’t get over anyone spending two days at Wright Patt…
Sorry, I will be a resident of Downingtown PA by then or ya’ll coulda come to my house.
I don’t know if I’d waste a vacation on Dayton but each to his own. You’d get along real well with my hubby;he loves WPAFB and has been there many times. Once was enough for me.
I work in Dayton at Miami Valley Hospital. Here’s hoping I dont see you there, but the Oregon district is real nice. Do drop in for a beer.
I’m glad you’re not letting these chumps talk you out of a trip to the USAF Museum. It absolutely rocks. And make sure you hit the Annex - there’s an SR-71 which I think is really a YF-12A. You can go right up to it - stick your head in the wheel wells, trace the hydraulic lines. Hell, the drawings for that thing are probably still classified.
Let’s not forget that they have a B-52 and a F-117 inside the annex (among many, many other planes.) The primary building has stuff ranging from the Wright Brothers, whose bicycle shop was in Dayton (where they built the Wright-Flyer) to an Apollo capsule and just about everything in between. There is also the IMax theater, which is always cool and who could forget the ICBM’s and cruise missles they have lined up out front! Oh, and many don’t know it, but there is (or was a few years ago) another annex back across the tarmac, but you have to knwo where you’re going. That might just have been in the days they were building the current annex, but it’s worth a looksy.
Even better, the B-52 is up on blocks so they can stuff a bunch of smaller aircraft underneath it. And the SR-71 is snuggled under the port wing of that awesome behemoth, the XB-70 Valkyrie. Wright-Patterson seems to have made an extensive site upgrade since I was last there. It’s pretty impressive.
Glad you brought that up, UB, the XB-70 “VALKYRIE” is one of the most amazing aircraft(s?) I’ve ever seen. The write-up on it is pretty impressive, too, especially the details of the No. 2 craft that crashed following a collision with a F-104 Starfighter that got sucked up in it’s vortices and wiped out the giant planes stabilizers (IIRC)…well, anyway.
Seeing the B-52 is pretty neat, too, because although it really is huge, it doesn’t seem so much so at times as you walk around under it, looking at the other aircraft. 'Course, then you look up and, yup, it’s still there. Big sucker.
Gonna try to hit the AF Museum on Thurs of this week. Am here in Dayton until Fri. I know it is too big to get on a single day, but that is all I really have alas.
