Dutch Gorge Yellow Choctaw Barleys

We planned to leave the house for the Der Dutchman at 9am. To comfortably make that happen I was up by 645am. I quickly made coffee, exercised, and took Frankie outdoors. I left for a run by 740am, or just after waking Mindy with the pug and coffee. By the looks of it, it rained hard overnight. In fact, it was still raining lightly and plenty more still on the way, the heaviest it appeared was just south of I-70. I ran just three miles after taking into account all the hiking we’d be doing later. I was back home by 810am and in the shower a few minutes later. While I showered Mindy woke the kids. I was downstairs preparing our gear by 845am. Dad arrived a couple minutes later, although alone. He planned to drive out to Der Dutchman for breakfast but didn’t plan to hike. Said Glenn didn’t make it home overnight. A tad worried, I phoned Glenn’s cell. Turned out, he was on his way back from mom’s after getting back to her place late last night. He arrived at 915am and we left for the Der Dutchman minutes later. Glenn and Jacob rode with dad. It was a rainy drive westward on I-70W to route 142. But just as the radar indicated, the further north we trekked from I-70 the drier it got. We arrived at the Der Dutchman near 10am. Unless I’m mistaken, this was only my second visit ever. Mindy & the kids, on the other hand, have visited numerous times with Dad and Glenn. Everybody ordered the buffet. It was good but probably not worth the extra drive if we weren’t headed that way already anyhow. Dad sprung for the check citing it his turn for once. Thanks Dad! We did a little site seeing around the place before heading off to Clifton’s Gorge in Springfield. Dad headed back towards home. It rained heavily on and off along our way. At times the sky looked very scary. Any hopes of the weather clearing before our hike was quickly dashed. It was raining steadily and with no end in sight when we arrived at the park. We waited for a few minutes before agreeing to hike in the rain. No one was thrilled, but the three of us, me, Glenn and Mindy were determined to make the best of it. The kids weren’t too happy about it. Happily, the rain diminished to sprinkles almost immediately. And as a result, it was very warm and muggy. Not to be detoured, we hiked along the lower gorge trail. Clifton’s Gorge was everything we hoped it would be. And after the rain subsided the kids were in much better spirits. Jacob was fascinated with all the crayfish in the shallows of the Little Miami. As we hiked further westward the sky brightened a bit but still no sunshine. We were all very sweaty. Clifton’s Gorge is a state sanctioned nature preserve that abuts to John Bryan State Park. We continued on the upper trail through the park. By the time we met the trails end we had hiked a good two or three miles best guess. By then the kids were done, both wanted to stop. Problem was, the car was back another three miles. We did our best to lift their spirits even while they both complained of being hungry and having sore legs. About halfway back the sky cleared even more and we even got a little sunshine. Finally! Mindy, Glenn and I enjoyed the hike immensely. We learned a little bit and saw a part of Ohio none of us had seen before. We were quite pleased. Back at the Honda we all enjoyed a bottled water and removed our muddy shoes. Leaving the Gorge we had designs on seeing Yellow Springs, a little 'hippie' town said to be nearby. Leaving the map reading to Mindy, she had us heading south on route 72. That took us into Cedarville, Ohio, the home of Cedarville University, not Yellow Springs. We drove through the town and then by the campus. Nice! I asked to review the map. I saw where we went wrong. We headed the wrong way out of the Gorge park. Should have taken 343 west from the lot. The kids were bellyaching like crazy and really wanted to head home. Unfortunately for them, that was in stark contrast to what we wanted to do. We still wanted to visit Yellow Springs. Along our way back up 72N we drove through a tiny historic village called Cedar Mill. There we saw an old blacksmith shop built in 1802 along with some other old store fronts and homes. Too cool! After a quick drive back out route 343 we finally arrived in Yellow Springs, the small town I’ve wanted to visit for a handful of years now. Immediately one could sense something fresh and different about it. Lots of quaint shops sporting vivid colors and a unique design. The people were laid back too. Before parking we took a quick drive through the Antioch college grounds. We eventually found parking along the bustling street and strolled the main street taking in the culture. We immediately happened upon two young teenage boys playing a ukulele and singing for tips. I believe one was 14 and the other a bit younger. They were good. Bella gave them a couple of bucks. After perusing a few store fronts we made our way to Ye Olde Trail Tavern in hopes of getting some food and drink. We weren’t disappointed. First, the building itself was rich in history – built in 1827 parts of it had the feel of an old log home. We sat on the north patio where we ordered microbrews, pizza, and deep fried green beans. The kids had sodas. The food was good. I’m quite sure that everyone liked it. Because I was driving, I kept to one beer – a 22oz Brew Kettle IPA. It was good too. After dinner we visited several shops in and around the tavern. Among them was an art studio, a jewelry shop, and a tie-dye shop. Mindy bought her and I matching tie-dye tee shirts and some more silly bands for the kids. A quick rain shower blew through just as we prepared to depart. But looking west it looked the like the sky was clearing up, and maybe even for good. Bella wanted ice cream and had Mindy walking up and down the strip of shops looking for the ice cream shop. Never found it. I’m guessing that it was near 530pm. We slowly made our way to the car and back towards the freeway where we had one more stop planned – Lake Choctaw. Lake Choctaw is located in London, Ohio – east of Columbus by 10-15 miles. Mindy’s friend Tara just closed on a house there but hasn’t yet moved in. We stopped to take a peek at the property – a sprawling ranch. Nice. Before leaving, we drove over to the nearby private lake to get an idea what all the hype is about. Smallish lake but certainly doable. Saw a couple boats out water skiing. Time to head home. The kids were tired, and believe it or not, Bella was hungry again. We arrived home near 710pm. Glenn quickly headed off to dad’s after agreeing to be ready for Barley’s by 8pm. Meanwhile, Mindy headed for a shower after taking the pug out. Over the course of the next 40 minutes all four of us took showers and changed clothes. I had a missed call from Bob I. around 715pm. I called him back after my shower. Let him know we were leaving for Barley’s within the next 10 minutes. We left to fetch Glenn at 8pm and arrived at Barley’s by 815pm. Barley’s was fun. We sat at a bar side table. Bob I. was already there talking with Scott and Lynda P. Several other regulars were there too. Mindy ordered food. I did not. I was still full from our late Yellow Springs lunch. The kids ended up finding our now former neighbors, David and Becky dining in the back. They hung out with them for quite a while. We hung at Barley’s until 1015pm or so. We talked earlier about hanging with the neighbors once at home, but Mindy opted out once there. She did, however, agree that Bella and I could head down for 30 minutes. I took one beer and headed down. Turned out, Kenny wasn’t home. It was Chrissy and Wendy along with all their collective kids (6). Some very sad news… Wendy’s mother-in-law passed away suddenly the night before. She was only 50 years old. Died from sudden heart failure. Found 95% blockage. Thought she had indigestion. Not wanting to aggravate the wife, Bella and I headed home 25 minutes later. Everyone to bed.