Dayton Ohio Trip

Will you have winter cabin fever by the end of January?  It's time to get out and do something different with your fellow Club members.  We have a trip to Dayton covering things that you haven't done before.  We will leave on Friday morning January 24.  You can come later if you are still punching a clock at work.  Overall, it is about a 5-hour drive from home to Dayton, Ohio, right down I75. 

We will meet at 10:00 AM at the Pilot Travel Center on 1200 Nadeau Road, Monroe.  It is the first exit south after I75 and I275 merge.  This will allow the west siders and east siders to meet up.  Our first real stop will be the original Tony Paco's Hungarian Restaurant, (https://www.tonypacko.com/) which was made famous by MASH.  We will have lunch there and catch any possible stragglers.  After lunch, we will head South towards Dayton. 

Our next stop, in 2 1/2 hours, will be just North of Dayton at Butch's Cool Stuff, (http://butchscoolstuff.com/).  They produce and sell aftermarket automotive parts and accessories.  There is a madness to my method.  Both Chuck D. and I will be picking up kit replicas of antique gas pumps at 8' and 10' tall.  They are broken down and will fit inside the SUV.  There could be additional things planned for Friday evening.

Saturday, we will spend most of the day at the National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, (http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/).  That might seem like a lot of time.  The place is absolutely huge.  You can't possibly see everything in even a few days.  There are 1 1/4 hour tours to help you get through the high points:  10:00 - Building 1 (Early Years and WWII galleries), 11:30 - Building 2 (Korea and SE Asia War Galleries). 12:50 to 1:20 Lunch at the Refueling Cafe, 1:30 - Building 3 (Cold War and Missile Galleries), 3:00 - Building 4 (Space, R&D, Presidential and Global Reach Galleries).  There could be more activities later on Saturday if you wish.

Sunday we will visit the British Transportation Museum, (https://www.britishtransportationmuseum.org/).  They are normally only open on Mondays.  I have made arrangements to have a special opening for us on Sunday morning.  The local Dayton Jaguar Club might even join us.  They are not associated with JCNA.  Following that is a visit to the Citizen Motor Company, aka America's Packard Museum, (http://www.americaspackardmuseum.com/) which opens at 12 noon.  This is inside an old Packard dealership that has been preserved and restored to look as it did in its heyday.  It was fascinating when I went through it a while ago. 

There are a lot of other activities to do in the Dayton area.  Everyone will have their own car and can explore different things of your choosing.  I'll give you some options.

We will be returning to the Detroit area after lunch on Sunday.

I have set up a small block of rooms at the Crowne Plaza Dayton, (https://www.cpdayton.com/). It is an IHG Hotel so have your hotel account info handy.  It is dead center in downtown Dayton.  It is almost walking distance to our two Sunday visits, 7 miles to the AF Museum and about 17 miles to Butch's Cool Stuff.  The room rates are $139 for Friday night and $130 for Saturday night with either 1 King or 2 Queens.  Please call Sam (Samantha) at 937-229-9835 to book your own room from the Jaguar Car Club Block.  Please let me know when you have booked your room and have committed to going on the trip.  I will send out more information to those going.

Bob Matejek