All-American Memorial Day weekend.

It was a bright, hot, sunny day when we decided to head to the Carillon park for a picnic. As we arrived we noticed police barricaded areas, the fire department and some kids dressed as pioneer women. Silly us, it is Memorial Day weekend and we stumbled upon the Dayton Historical Festival.

I previously blogged about Carillon Park so I am not going to give background on that again. This Sunday the park was anything but demure. It was like one big kermis / kerk bazaar. Firstly, you received 2 little American flags on entering - it was Memorial Weekend after all. Then there were food stalls selling traditional American food, such as hot dogs, cajun chicken, noodles and pitas (don't know why that is traditional American) and funnel cakes (more on that later). I am still upset that they did not have cotton candy though.

It felt like we were in a 50s movie. The had a band called the Classic Jazz Stompers, tuba and all, playing classic jazzy stuff and the sound filled the entire park. I felt like skipping. We walked around looking at people and popping in and out of the historical buildings. As we came out of the "car repair shop" we were greeted by a barber shop quartet, the Day Tones! Such fun.

Classic Jazz Stompers

This lady was explaining how people used to live in these little stone farmhouses that only had two tiny rooms and the kitchen area.

Oh this was precious. The National Cash Registry was Dayton's pride and joy. They had a big design and advertising department and produced loads of advertising through the years. I love these rules from bygone years. If only they were practiced today.

Some ads from the 1960s

Trains! So pretty with all the wood and decorative glass windows.

Luxury train with velvet seats!

This was a cool invention that made it possible for women to ride bicycles. It is a net that goes over the wheel and keeps your dress from getting in the spokes. 

The Day Tones. So cute. And on pitch!

I don't think we've had this much fun in Dayton before. We stuffed ourselves with Sundaes, hot dogs and funnel cakes. Let me tell you about the funnel cakes which I never got a picture of. They take some batter, put it in a jug with a funnel spout, and drizzle it into a can of super hot oil. Just like with doughnuts and vetkoek, it is ready when it rises to the top. They then take this "cake" and dust it with icing sugar. It looks a bit like a big rice cake, except that people who eat rice cakes, would not touch a funnel cake. It was rather yummy, although I regretted it the next day.

The Kettle Corn Queue

Sundaes, and a weird teenager. Oh, and check out the moonbag on that lady by the counter.

The pre-grand finale of the day was the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. By that time the lawn was filled with people in camping chairs, ready for the patriotic program. The Orchestra was really good by the way, enhancing the movie set feel of the entire day. Near the end of the program they performed the 1812 overture, cannons the works. Very cool, even though the conductor had to explain to the audience why this Russian/French piece was suitable music for the occasion.

This massive flag on the left was hoisted by the fire engine. It was apparently a 9/11 flag. The Carillon on the right. The launched some fireworks off the top.

And then, the real grand finale, the fireworks. I realised that we don't often see fireworks in SA because of all the legalities and the obvious danger to animals. None of that here though, You can even buy fireworks at the Walmart (big surprise). This display though, was bigger than anything I've ever seen though. It just kept exploding, bigger, more. So bright. So close, it felt like it was going to fall on us. I could not stop smiling. It was mesmerizing. I wish my camera's battery did not decide to fade just then. Oh well, I'll be ready for 4th if July.

Hippie town. Take two.

About four months ago we went to Yellow Springs and I showed you some urban knitting, hand made broaches and various interesting folks.

This weekend we went back with some of Jaco's colleagues for some brunch. It was a lovely day outside and everything looked so nice and green, as opposed to frozen, like the last time we were there. We sat on the patio at Sunrise Cafe, and I had decadent chocolate french toast. Yummy!

I mentioned last time that this place is very similar to Clarence in the Freestate. It really is. Now with the weather being nice the main street was crawling with people. Many in tie-dye shirts. Seriously, so much of tie-dye and beards. Oh, and it was obvious that this is also a popular spot for Harley breakfast runs.

There was this music group happening. They even had a tambourine. The kids on the left did not look like they were planning on joining in. And I think he got his pants from the county jail.

Jaco's colleague took us on a mini tour around the neighbourhood. It really is a lovely place to stay. And so many strange things to see:

Hippie dog.

Vest, old jeans and a cigarette. Classic.

Imagine your neighbour collected hearses. The one had a license plate reading "U NEXT".

Rock garden.

This van's whole dashboard was filled with little skulls, rocks, grasses and things. So weird.

We walked to the now deserted Antioch College campus. This liberal arts campus closed its doors in 2008. Aparently all the rich kids came to party and get stoned, instead of getting grades. I saw some "save antioch" posters around. It seems to have worked because alumni raised enough funds ($17million) to reopen in October 2011. It was really strange being on this small campus with covered in lush lawns and little paths through the trees. This must be an awesome place to study. Party central! Oops, I guess that was the problem.

Emily's garden. Clearly someone didn't care for two of the figures' heads.

Back in town I had to skip down an alley to the juice bar. Here you can get freshly squeezed juice, or all the supplies you would need to brew your own beer. Perfect combo right.




I have to mention that, as we walked down the alley, two hippies on a balcony above were combing their long, organic locks. They were very generous, as Jaco discovered when he found a clump of hippie hair had landed in his!

All in all a fun day out in the sun. When we go to the car Jaco found this on the ground. Wonder what happened to the original owner:

Birthday and the Beach

Our last day in San Diego, and my birthday. So we need to make it special, right? We wanted to see the ocean, just needed to decide if we would take the train 45 minutes up the coast to the famous, high income La Jolla, or stay local. La Jolla (pronounced La Hoy-a) is one of the many surf spots mentioned in the Beach Boys' Surfing USA. It is also the site of the Torrey Pines Golf Course (which sounds famous to even I non-golf lover like me), and the de facto nude beach Black's Beach.

But no, we decided to take the blue collar bus, crossing San Diego bay via the Coronado bridge, to Coronado Island. Aparently Coronado is one of the most expensive places to reside in the USA. I have to say, I could live in this resort like neighborhood (for a month or so). It was really like something out of a movie. It is also home to the famous Hotel de Coronado, which opened in 1888, and is one of the oldest hotels in the US.

The San Diego-Coronado Bridge

Picture perfect gardens for a picture perfect town.

Cute, perfect houses. And everyone has roses.

Fighter Jet! Coronado is home to the Naval Amphibious Base and is the West Coast focal point for special and expeditionary warfare training and operations. These jets come whooshing by a couple of times, making a big noise, and making us hope this was just a formation exercise.

View from a drive way. Nice hey. Reminded me of Glentana or someplace near Knysna.

Coral tree. These made me feel like I was back in SA again.

Bright flowers at the Hotel del Coronado. Again, the flowers reminded me of home.

Hotel del Coronado marigolds, aka afrikanertjies.

Hotel del Coronado - beach view.

We made it onto the island safely. It was touch and go because the bus driver lady really hated her job, and possibly people in general. Of course we headed straight for the beach. Once again, right out of a TV show/movie. You know those random cut aways that just show people on the beach, and others rollerblading next down the boardwalk while they play cheesy sax music? Exactly like that! There were tall palm trees, blue skies, and a beach. Have a look:

Boardwalk between the beach and the resorts.

Now, let me just mention that, even though Jaco and I are born and bred South Africans, we have terribly useless European skins. And after a long, cold, wet Ohio winter, it was just tempting nature to go lay on the beach. But I had a new 50's style, polka-dot bathing suit, and we wanted to stick our toes in the water. It was really cold. So I stayed behind a rock, and exposed my whiteness to the sun. We weren't there for more than an hour, surely, but, with SPF30 I still turned red as my dress. And because I was hatless, and you don't really use sunscreen as styling cream, my scalp turned the same colour as a lobster (a favorite dish of the American population).

Jaco going to test the water.

One more thing about the beach, it was made of gold! Seriously, someone told us it looks like the sprinkled glitter on the beach. It must have been all the left-over glitter from a Lady Gaga show. Jaco, being all clever, found out it is in fact mica flakes, rarely found in beach sand.




When it was going home time, we decided to take the ferry instead of the bus. It is so weird, you sit on the grass, watching the city not so far in the distance. At some point we all huddled on the pier, and watched some fisherman doing what fisherman do. And then you board the ferry. The captain was very stern and told everyone to hurry up. He had two good looking crew members, who might be strippers in their free time (teehee).

My birthday shoes. So comfy.

Stereotypes exist for a reason. Why do latino ladies love the leopard print?

It was a good day.