Fort Ancient

 

I was awake, out of bed, and downstairs by 745am. I started a pot of coffee then took in some fresh air from the deck. Another gorgeous morning. I played around online until near 9am when I headed out for a 3 mile run. After my run I romped around in the back yard with my camera snapping photos of our gorgeous flowers. It won’t be too long before they’re kaput!

Mindy was up around 10am and we spent about an hour outside on the deck with the pug. It must’ve been around 11am when we decided to visit Battelle Darby Park. Other options we discussed were a return to Yellow Springs, boating, or kayaking. The weather was ideal for just about anything – sunny with a forecasted high of 82. Before heading out, we both opted for showers, and while Mindy took hers, I whipped up some breakfast – cheese omelet and grits. Good eatin!

Left the house around noon and opted to take the back roads to our destination – Fisher Rd to Ammity to West Broad St. Arrived at Darby Park near 1230p choosing to park in the new Nature Center parking lot. That way we could attempt to get a peek of the bison. At the outset, we could see a couple bison off in the distance but also nicely camouflaged by the tall goldenrod. I joked by asking if this was the place to order a bison burger. Nobody but me laughed. Meh!! I thought it was funny.

Onward. Beyond hiking along the creek, we didn’t really set out with a specific target in mind. Heck, it was almost a mile from the nature center to the old hiking trailheads. Half of that is out in the full sun, while the other under the spread of large oaks.

We stopped to pee before heading off into the woods. Mindy ran into a student of hers in the restroom. The girl was very happy to run into her teacher. Her family was there having a reunion. We set out along the familiar trail along the water and hiked all the way to the confluence of Little & Big Darby Creeks. Just south of there is where we typically turn around, which is essentially at the intersection of Gardner and Alkire Rds. Noted a sign indicating that there was a canoe put-in right there. We scoped it out to see if that might be a good place to kayak. Water looked plenty deep and still. Noted for the future. But this time of year, you never know what the weather will throw at us. Hopefully we get some weekend weather similar to the current stuff – sunny and 80.

We opted to keep going eventually deciding to hike to the mound along fort ancient trail. I could tell that Mindy was getting tired as her eagerness to continue on was waning. We made it to the mound, which is somewhat unassuming – about 5ft higher than the surrounding grounds. Interesting story, though. Until I asked Mindy, wasn’t sure what the lovely golden yellow brush was – goldenrod – the hay fever, autumn allergy trigger for many. Sure was pretty and almost as far as the eye could see. In the sun, it was really warm. After a break at the mound we turned and headed back.

Took a while. Both of us were tuckered by the time we arrived at the Pilot. We’d hiked for 3 hours. During the last leg of our hike, we discussed dinner options. Mindy suggested steak at CBC. I suggested we stop and buy steaks for grilling, that way we could watch all of the Buckeye game at home. Odd kick-off time – 6pm. By the time we got to the Pilot Mindy agreed to grilling at home as long as I did the grilling. I was good with that and planned to stop at the Galloway Kroger to get some big juicy steaks.

Mindy wanted nothing of going inside. She opted to wait in the car in the AC while I headed in Kroger. I was very disappointed with the cuts of steak. The only cuts that looked good were the filets which were $20 a pound. Uh, no! I turned and walked out empty handed. Back at the Pilot, I told Mindy we’d be going to CBC after all.

At home near 4pm, we agreed to leave for CBC by 5pm. That way, I figured, we could enjoy a couple beers, dinner and the first half of the Buckeye game before heading back home for the 2nd half. We both took our second showers of the day and left for CBC near 5pm just as we had discussed. Can’t remember if we walked the pug before we left.

As a treat to Mindy, we drove the BM’er. Can’t remember the last time she got to ride in it. I’ll be it’s been a few years. As we suspected, the lot was sparsely attended. Not only was it early, but with the Buckeye game going on just to our north, expected a slow night. We found our way to the favorite corner of the bar where we took up refuge for the next couple hours. Had I thought it out a bit better, I would’ve opted for seats across the bar with a better view of the 2 TVs for watching the game. As it was I’d simply have to turn my head. No biggie. We stayed put.

I opted for a Bodhi after perusing their guest menu chalked full of autumnal offerings. Mindy ended up drinking wine, her CBC favorite – 3-3-7. Vince & Beth were tending bar and brought us bread and then risotto balls. Ahead of the Buckeye game kick-off, we watched the tail end of the Michigan game. Somewhat surprisingly, Minnesota kicked their butts.

At some point we ordered dinner, and I think it was after the game was underway. Mindy ordered the steak and last second I decided to go with the fish and chips special. About the same time we met the couple sitting next to us, Robin and Karen. Robin, we learned is the superintendent of Teays Valley school district, and Karen is the director or curriculum for Hilliard schools. Interesting pair. We know a few people in common. A peer of mine happens to be the president of town council in commercial point which feeds Teays Valley schools. And a former CIO is on the Hilliard school board. Karen knows him well. Mindy and Karen know a few folks in common too. Enjoyed their company and conversation.

We didn’t complain about our food but neither of us were impressed with our meals, My fish and chips was a real let down. I didn’t realize it when I ordered it, but it was fish and potato chips. Not only that, but the two pieces of fish were small and dry. We didn’t complain because 9 times out of 10 we are more than satisfied with our food orders. Through halftime of the Buckeye game, I enjoyed 2 Bodhi’s, declining a third since I’d be driving. Pretty sure the score of the game was 30-7 when we left for home.

By the time we arrived home and tuned back into the game, it had tightened up significantly. All of the sudden it was 30-21. I poured a Jack &Coke then settled in to watch the rest of the game. The Buckeyes kicked two field goals to start the 2nd half, which in my mind was still a close game. Mindy mentioned Darwin sharing that he was having a fire and listening to his son, Jordan’s band practice. Mistakenly, I though she meant it was sent via text, which to me implied it was an invite to join them. It wasn’t until we were driving over, me with a small cooler packed with Jack & Coke, that Mindy clarified that it was a FB message and not an invite.

We trekked back to his fire pit and settled into two of their Adirondack chairs. Could hear the band rehearsing in the basement and could see Darwin, Connie and their kids inside watching the game. After pulling my drink from the cooler, I sent Darwin a text letting him know that we were having a fire. Mindy apparently sent one too, only hers was a bit more to the point. I used the flashlight app on my phone to signal that we were out back. Soon Darwin and kids came out to see who was in their backyard.

As expected, Darwin was happy that we showed up. I did my best to explain how I misunderstood Mindy when she shared the FB news about the fire. We ended up hanging out with Darwin and Connie for more than an hour. While we were there, the Buckeyes scored two more touchdowns to extend their lead to 50-28, which was also the final score. Headed for home near 1030pm.