The Winds, Yellow Springs OH

TRAVEL THERE: SHOOTING THE BREEZE AT THE WINDS

Since Deb was in her old home town, she made plans to have dinner with one of her friends from high school in someplace called Yellow Springs.  I debated about whether I should tag along or not, but Deb kept insisting that I was going to love both her old buddy and Yellow Springs.  She was right on both counts.

My New Friend

Donna was a blast.  She’s retired to a beautiful acreage outside Fairborn, has interesting kids and we’ve shared some similar experiences, even though we’d never met.  I also discovered that Deb was a lot of fun long before she got to know me.

Visiting Yellow Springs

Yellow Springs was another surprise.  Deb and I planned to visit Eureka Springs later on in the trip and the small Ohio town was a sample of what was to come.  The architecture harkens back to another time.  The streets are filled with galleries, shops, restaurants and bars.  One bar, Ye Olde Trail Tavern, was around with Deb and Donna were in college.  Actually, long before then, since it used to be a stagecoach stop.

The Winds Cafe

We passed up the tavern, though, and headed across the street to The Winds Cafe.  After making our way through a tiny vestibule we found ourselves at the bar, where the patrons in the bar eyed us as if we’d just invaded their private homes.  Who knows? Perhaps it is their home away from home.

A hostess rescued us and led us to a table. We were handed a wine list and a menu.  Someone showed up to tell us about the daily specials.  Other offerings were clipped to a sign on the table. In other words, deciding what to eat was a challenge.  Not only were there a variety of things to consider, but everything sounded delicious.

I decided on a seafood pasta, one of the clipped on offerings.  Deb and Donna both chose a lamb chop on the verbal specials menu.  The food was delicious.  There were so many shrimp and other goodies in my pasta that I picked out the treasures of the sea and garden, leaving the linguine behind.  Deb raved about the lamb and claimed it was the best asparagus she’d ever had.

Then came the dessert menu.  What we really wanted was one of everything, but we settled for a berry tartlet.  I’m not sure what we expected, but what we got was nirvana on a plate.  The berries were fresh, but the star of the show was the pastry.  Flaky, not to sweet, heavenly.

The Old Stomping Grounds

Yellow Springs was where Fairborn came to play, so Deb wanted to take a drive around the old stomping grounds.  Unfortunately, it was already dusk, so I couldn’t appreciate the charm of their memories, but someday, I want to go back and see everything.

We delivered Donna back to her rural address and she invited us to come in, but Deb was worried about driving on the now-unfamiliar roads after it was completely dark, so we went back to the Ramada.  We had a sad task in the morning.