The first of these was a three-day two-night trip that added three new stadiums to my ballpark roll call.
The plan was to visit Day Air Ballpark, the home of the Class A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, and then drive to our hotel for both days, located in Florence, Kentucky.
Leaving early in the morning to arrive in Dayton for the game, we stopped in Zanesville, Ohio for lunch at Roosters!
I've written about my love for the chicken chain based mostly in Ohio and Kentucky with one location each in Indiana and West Virginia.
Another great chicken sandwich at arguably my favorite chain in Ohio!
Day Air Ballpark was opened in 2000 and the hometown Dayton Dragons hold the pro sports record for consecutive sellouts at 815 and at over 8,000 person capacity, DAB is closer to a AAA facility than a High A stadium.
They have nice sightlines and big crowds but there are a few issues.
First, parking wasn't easy as we circled the stadium a few times before finding a space, and even that required an illegal turn (please don't tell!) to grab a space.
For all of its beauty, the park is still nearing twenty-five years of age and as with any groundbreaking stadium, they have its flaws because they are among the first to be built.
In Dayton, it's the strong attendance that causes the problems as I thought the concourse was very snug (reminded me of Akron's Canal Park), and when the urban parks have these problems it's very difficult to do anything about the issue because they lack the space to make them wider.
Dayton is a beautiful park to watch a game but all things considered, I wonder if it is worth some of the hassles in going to a game there.
The game was a sellout and after watching a bit, we made the decision to hit a few antique malls in the area, this would allow us to be finished here and concentrate on the Cincinnati area the following day.
Our first stop was in Dayton, with a stop at Antique Village, which is another repurposed former department store in a strip mall.
I always like those stores because it's good for the area to keep a building occupied rather than an unused eyesore but I also like seeing those because it means an expansive area with lots of things to see!
When we entered the store. Antique Village was having a promotion with 25 percent off every item sold in the store, which made me more likely to buy some items I normally might not.
I wound up with some interesting items that included a Bert from Sesame Street hand puppet from 1971, a plastic Bob's Big Boy from the 1960s, a bobblehead of former Reds pitcher and radio commentator Joe Nuxhall, and Super Toe, who you can see on the I Tell Ya' Herbie posts.
As we checked out, the gentleman at the counter asked if I was a collector, and of course, I said yes and he gave me a bobblehead of the Reds T. J.Friedl at no charge!
I'm planning a December return and Antique Village is a definite return trip!
Springfield, Ohio is a town in the news lately but they also have two terrific antique malls.
I had visited Heart of Ohio in the past, and when we were leaving that time, we had been told of another local mall that was almost as expansive.
The Springfield Antique Center was open for another forty-five minutes and we moved through as quickly as possible before finding a huge treasure trove of sports memorabilia.
I had to skim quickly but I did pull a few programs for the collection, two Cincinnati Reds programs, an Ohio State-Illinois program, and a program from the now-defunct Garden State Bowl from 1981 between Houston and Navy.
There was so much to look through and so little time. I saw plenty that I might have been interested in purchasing with more time, mostly something I didn't know existed- the game BASKET has existed in various boxes and designs since the 1960s from the Cadaco game company. Still, I didn't know there was a version with the TV show The White Shadow on the box.
It was the name and some artwork of series star Ken Howard as the inside was the same as the other BASKET games but it was a little overpriced for its condition and I reluctantly passed.
Our hotel in Florence, Kentucky was an hour away, and after arriving and checking into the hotel, we drove to a nearby Skyline Chili for dinner before hitting the bed for the night.
Next time, day two with more collection additions and my first trip to the Cincinnati Reds.
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