Blind Bob's - Dayton

via Blind Bob's

Blind Bob's

Mo - Su 11:00am to 2:30am

Kitchen open till 11pm daily

Brunch available weekends till 3pm

 430 E. 5th St.

Dayton, OH 45459

Blind Bob's is a fairly new bar in the Oregon District that just had its 3 year anniversary on Friday. They serve good bar food which has a nice section of vegetarian options and at night they often have bands, do karaoke, do trivia or even have a speaker come in (see their calendar). The vibe is definitely laid back, full of mid-twenties to thirty year olds who often have lots of tattoos (not that tattoos tell the full story of anyone's personality but it's worthy noting because I noticed). On the weekends and whenever they have a show, they usually have a cover charge ranging from $3-$10. This place has a very local feel and fits nicely into the Oregon District despite being such a new bar. It is on the divey side as far as decor and cleanliness. I'm just going to say it...I'm a bit of a bathroom ninny and their bathroom leaves a lot to be desired like most bars. But if you are going out bar hopping you probably know not to expect much. Also, take note that you have to be sort of aggressive at the bar to get service. The bartenders tend to serve people they see first not people who have been standing there. Despite that, I really like this bar and I think it has a nice vibe, good food and good drinks. The next time I go I do plan on getting the party started with my sweet dance moves because people there don't tend to dance.

Price: $-$$
Location: Oregon District
Building: Dive with stage, pinball and outdoor patio 
Parking: Street parking
Food: Yes and very tasty!

Recreate - Dayton

Recreate

Mon: Closed

Tue-Sat: 12:00 pm - 10:00pm

Sun: 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm 

438 E 5th Street

Dayton, OH 45402

The photo you see above is the cutie cute Ukulele (can you guess what the design is of?) I bought for my adorable 7 year old niece. I bought it for her on her birthday and I'm hoping it will be the gift that inspires her to get into music. She also requested it because her favorite show plays it in its opening credits. I knew there was a musical instrument store nearby but I was surprised and delighted to see their selection of Ukuleles. They sold Stagg Ukuleles that had really neat designs on them and were a great deal. They only had two but they restocked frequently. I did have to explain to my niece that this was NOT a toy and that it is a real instrument to learn on. She took to it well and Kyle (he's a great guitar player!) taught her one chord from the show. Enough about us though, the store was great and sold a wide variety of instruments; drums, guitars, mandolins, you name it. The person in the store was very knowledgeable and helped us a lot. Giving your business to a local musical instrument store feels great and if you call Dayton your home (or are visiting) you should definitely buy from here.

Price: $$-$$$$
Location: Oregon District
Building: Small shop
Items: Music Gear. Art. Furniture. antiques. Buy. Sell. Trade. Consignment. Repair and customization on music gear and guitars.

 

The Designers Consigment - Dayton

 

The Designers Consingment

Mon-Sun 11am-4pm

2382 South Dixie Drive #1 

Dayton, OH 45409-1874

The Designers Consignment is a fairly new establishment. For me, it's always great to find places when they have recently just opened. For one, when you go the people are very friendly but more importantly they are very informative. I had the pleasure of speaking to the manager at The Designers Consignment and he explained a lot about the history of the store. The store is working on expanding to a second floor area and this is right after their expansion to a second room, so congrats to them! On my visit, I noticed a lot of traditional pieces but many had a flare that I feel would fit into the trends of today. The place was full of larger furniture sprinkled with very nice decor items. The prices weren't nearly as thrifty as I like but I did get a sense that they would work with you. I will definitely visit it again and if you need further convincing or information their website does a bang-up job explaining what their shop is all about. Here is some of what it says:

The Designers Consignment is a consignment furniture and accessories gallery launched last year offering a floor-to-ceiling selection of top-quality new and gently used treasures consigned from top designers and wealthy homeowners. The merchandise, which ranges from custom upholstered furniture, original art and oils to towering mirrors and full-sized dining tables-is exceptional, and the deals are out of this world; prices on top-of-the-line furnishings can be marked down as much as 70 percent from retail.

Price: $$-$$$$
Location: On the main road bordering a neighborhood
Building: Styled nicely with two spaces and in the future a possible 2nd floor space
Parking: is limited to a very small parking lot in the front. There may be parking in the back or  on the side street
Items: Mostly Traditional

Go To Event: Tri-State Antique Market - Indiana

Tri-State Antique Market

7:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m

6:00 am for early birds

Sunday: August 7th, September 4th, and October 7th

Lawrenceburg Fairgrounds, Lawrenceburg, Indiana 

US 50, One mile west of Exit 16, I-275 (Cincinnati Beltway)

Unfortunately, I'm in Cleveland this week; not unfortunate weather wise because it is wonderfully cool (by cool I mean almost zero humidity and below 90, it really makes a difference!) so I won't be able to attend The City Flea this week. Pretty big bummer but luckily they have one more event Sept 3rd. Cleveland or anything else  won't stand in my way! But For all you lucky people in or near Cincinnati, after a full day at The City Flea on Saturday remember to rest up and check out the Tri-State Antique Market on Sunday. I found out about the Tri-State Antique Market through Queen City Shows which I found while I was searching for info on Jimmy Modern (my Jimmy Modern research led me to all sorts of discoveries!). The website also features the Ohio Country Antique Show and the one I really can't wait to go to next year, 20th Century Cincinnati. Methinks the cosmos aligned these two events on purpose because it follows the Tri-State falls on the Sunday after The City Flea in September as well. So I might be able to fulfill my dream weekend of thrifting, antiquing and eating. Until then I look to those living the dream this weekend to comment about your Great American road trip.

Price: Adult admission : $3.00......under 18 years admitted free of charge
Location: In front of that cool mural you see above!
Building: Open skies

Parking: Plenty of free parking, paved walkways, rest areas, modern (wheelchair accessible) 

Food: restrooms and food/refreshment stands at all four midway corners. 

Fries Cafe - Cincinnati

via ICS Building Restoration

Fries Cafe

Mo - Su 4:00pm to 2:00am

Daily Happy Hour 4:00pm - 9:00pm

3247 Jefferson Ave

Cincinnati, OH 45220

  

I spent the first half of this weekend in Cincinnati seeing Gentlemen Hall at Bogart's. Phil, the drummer, is an old friend of Kyle's from high school and it was great to see him and his band play live.  Fun fact: they had a band together and that was Phil's first "band"...if you were ever in a "band" in high school you will know why I put quotes around it. Anyway, I'll post a review of Bogart's some time this week but I want to mention a great bar we ended up going to with a couple of other friends after the show. Fries Cafe is this great old two-story bar that has a fantastic outdoor top level patio. They had a large beer cooler with a limited selection on tap and there is a pool area down in the basement. The drinks were cheap and decent but the best part about this bar is definitely the atmosphere. Lots of twenty-somethings (you must be 21 and up to enter) with a sprinkling of various older ages. The vibe is a bit "cool-kid" but relatively down to earth. The patio area is massive so you can definitely find a private spot for your group if you want to talk amongst yourselves. I have a real soft spot for globe lights and the patio was lined with them. The patio also had a earthy quality because half of it was on dirt and there were trees galore growing around the area. Because it was a warm summer night, we spent most of time out there but from the little I saw inside, the bar had a historical feel with lots of wooden accents. This is a great summer time bar to hang out with a small or big group of friends.

Price: $
Location: In front of that cool mural you see above!
Building: Old historically restored two-story (used to be a grocery store!)

Parking: Street parking on a hill

Food: no

 

Modern Ohio Furniture Company Round-up

via Mainly Art

I was very excited to see this an article about modern Midwest furniture companies at Apartment Therapy but when I started combing through their list I was disappointed to see no Ohio Love. And since I'm all about Southern Ohio love I decided to make my own round-up. Fortunately, I had stumbled upon a great resource when gathering information for my Jimmy Modern post and I'm using 20th Century Cincinnati as my primary source. Below are all the Southern Ohio dealers listed on their site:

Atomic Style Home
Hamilton, OH
mid-20th century furnishings
www.atomicstylehome.com

Charles Bachmann Antiques
Thornville, OH
MCM and Industrial Arts furniture and decorative accessories

Dada Interiors and Design
Dayton, OH
MCM furnishings and lighting

Deter's Modern
Cincinnati, OH
MCM furniture, lighting, glass and pottery

Feathers
Dayton, OH
Vintage fashion & decorative accessories

Harper Art Studio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Charley Harper artwork: vintage silkscreens, limited edition prints, books and more
www.charleyharper.com

 

Mike Ilhardt
Cincinnati, Ohio
20th century furniture and decorative arts

Jimmy Modern
Dayton, OH
MCM furnishings, lighting and art

Mainly Art
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.mainlyart.com

Newcomb Macklin
Cincinnati, OH
20th century fine art & frames

O-H 10 Modern
West Alexandria, Ohio
Art Deco - MCM Furnishings and Decorative Arts

Bob Mousaian
Dayton, Ohio
Arts and Crafts – MCM furnishings and lightin

Red Lion Antiques
Springboro, Ohio jewelry, objects d'art

Louis Rub
Cincinnati, OH
Art Deco – MCM furniture & lighting 

The Gallery Kathlyn
Fairborn, Ohio
Art Deco jewelry, barware, lighting and home accessories

Vintage Poster Bank
Cincinnati, Ohio
original posters & mid-century accessories

...

Wowie! I've got some places to check out! The website does have more dealers from other parts in Ohio and some out of state places as well, so take a look on their dealers page. I also saw this:

CF3h
cincinnait|form|follows|function
non-profit modern design forum
www.cf3.org

Another good resource for modern design in Ohio! I hope this list was useful and as usual please share your finds.

Jimmy Modern - Dayton

via 5chw4r7z

JIMMY MODERN
605 E. Fifth St.
Dayton, OH 45402
937-520-3782
Wed-Sat 11 am - 5pm
or call for special appt.

Thanks so much to Bob at 5chw4r7z.blogspot.com for this photo. He was kind enough to let me use it despite me being a goof by missing his pic policy and emailing him anyway. Go check out his blog which is full of swoon-worthy photography and has lots of SoOh love with his posts on Cincinnati!

Jimmy Modern is a haven for mid-century modern design. He sells decor, furniture, paintings, lamps and other various artifacts of that era. These pieces are original and hence used but this is no thrifty place. I do think compared to other larger cities, his prices are a deal though. I've bought a smaller inexpensive vase but I believe that if you bought something sizable and expensive you may be able to negotiate with him. I don't want to steer anyone wrong so if you have more experience with this place, as always, please share. My only wish is that Jimmy Modern (not sure of his real name) was a bit more welcoming. I think he sizes people up as non buyers pretty quickly which can lead him to give you some pretty outrageous prices for an item he figures you aren't going to buy anyway. Other than that it's well worth a visit; if he were nicer it would be worth two visits. Also, it is a very small shop but it does have a downstairs area so don't forget to go down there.

Price: $$-$$$
Location: Oregon District
Building: Small shop with downstairs area
Items: Mid-century modern galore

...

As I was searching for more info on Jimmy Modern I found 20th Century Cincinnati. It is an "...annual retrospective of the forward looking design trends introduced between the First World War and the Computer Age." Yea I know...squeal!! They already had their event this year in February but I will definitely be checking the site again in 2012. At $7 for two days this will be one of my "go to events" for next year for sure!

2nd Street Market - Dayton

via Springfield News-Sun

2ND STREET MARKET
600 E 2nd Street
Dayton, Ohio 45402
Open Year-Round
Th-Fr 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
Saturday 8:00 am - 3:00 pm
Closed on Christmas and New Year

I have been to the 2nd Street Market several times now and I've love it! It's a great place to go and grab brunch or lunch. After having something to eat at one of the variety (Greek, Italian, Thai...the list goes on) of food vendors you can look around at the other booths which feature fresh meats, vegetables, breads, flowers and crafts of all sorts. Every time I've gone on the weekend it is pretty bustling with people. My only complaint are the mothers who bring their side-by-side-double-wide strollers. I don't want to give any mothers a hard time but this is a high traffic area and people need room to walk so please consider bringing the back-and-front stroller. Other than that it is great place for kids. Its a great place for all ages to look around and feast!

Price: $
Location: Downtown
Building: Open and Airy with lovely flowers outside
Food: So many places but so far I've loved the place with Gyros!

Here are some of the quick photos I snapped:


I read that is slower on the weekdays. On the weekends it is pretty full



We got Thai food the first time we went

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As always, please share you experience!

Fireworks: Cincinnati

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

So, I actually didn't see fireworks in Dayton but I did see them in Cincinnati. The best spot to see them? Driving (I was the passenger) on I-75 North to Dayton! It was lovely driving along seeing not only the fireworks from the city but also from neighboring towns. The fireworks too far for us to see the colorful explosions, looked like lightening and thunder in the distance. Though we couldn't here the loud booms of the fireworks it was still a spectacular show. Earlier in the day, we had the pleasure of seeing a Cincinnati Reds game. They beat our old city's team, the Cleveland Indians, 7 to 5 which was very thrilling. The Cincinnati stadium is lovely. It's what I'm told is a smaller stadium which makes it an intimate sport event but also gives those people in the nosebleeds (we were those people) a great view. It also sits across from the river and offers a great view of the boats riding pass. I highly recommend checking out a game. All in all, it was a wonderful all-American start to our awesome Fourth of July weekend.

Next: Our day out leading a parade...we really led it!

District Antiques in Dayton

Today I went to the opening of District Antiques located in the Oregon District at 122 Van Buren Street, Dayton, OH. I actually found some info on their grand opening at zvents.com. Here's the description:

District Antiques is having a Grand Opening Event on June 30, 2011 starting at 5:00p.m. Doors are open to everyone and there is no charge! Get a chance to see all of our unique antiques and meet Interior Designer, Martha Mellon. Bring a canned food item to register for our raffle. Our raffle will be a unique piece from the shop and all the food will go to the food pantry. We're located downtown in the Oregon District

I didn't stick around for the raffle and in fact I didn't stay for very long at all. This place is truly antique. The items were priced as if they were pieces that could go to auction. Most of the items were old-world, European style and it had a sprinkling of early American style as well. When I see prices ranging from $300-$2,500, I expect the store interior to be somewhat inviting. It felt a bit like a warehouse and not like a cool renovated loft warehouse. It felt like a warehouse that would offer bargains because they were obviously not spending a lot on overhead. It also didn't seem to have a lot of pieces and not all of them were priced. I have to admit I don't frequent many antique consignment shops so maybe this is typical. If you have any experience please share. I must say the people were friendly and they seemed to have a nice offering of wine and snacks for their opening. I didn't have any because I was on a mission to find a coffee table (that I didn't find) which could have affected my impression of the shop.

Overall
I think you need to be an avid fan of antiques that have that old European style and/or early American style. Also, I have a feeling the prices are made for those who are collectors or enthusiasts.

First Friday: Oregon District, Dayton

First Friday in Downtown Dayton is tomorrow (July 1st, 2011)! It will be our First First Friday so I'm very excited. There will be a ton so stuff to do and check out and you can learn more about it here. If you couldn't tell by now I'm a big fan of the Oregon District, so I'm excited to experience First Friday there. I actually missed a zombie walk in the beginning of June that was happening in the Oregon District! A video of it is below. I can tell you that I won't be missing anymore events down there, starting with First Friday!

Thrifting Trip: Cincinnati

Yesterday I had a girls' day in Cincinnati with my dear friends Rachael and Abby. Before we dove into thrifting, we spent over half our day at the West Chester IKEA maneuvering through the labyrinth they call a store. This was my first trip to IKEA and I'll talk about my thoughts in a later post (preview: I wasn't impressed). Luckily we were able to escape unscathed and we headed off to thrift...

Value Thrift Store
9988-10050 U.S. 42
Cincinnati, OH (513) 563-2949

This place seemed promising. The store had a variety of items in good condition. The atmosphere was bustling with a large crowd but I think it was because it was the after work rush. I would definitely check-out this place again.

St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store
9864 Reading Road
Cincinnati, OH 45241 (513) 563-2949 ‎

I found this place dark, claustrophobic and a bit dingy. Their items were not remarkable and not in the best of condition. The prices were reasonable and if you are the type to buy items that need some mending this is a good place to go.

Goodwill
10600 Springfield Pike
Cincinnati, OH 45215-1184 (513) 771-4800 ‎

By far the best place we went to on our trip. It was very spacious and bright in the building. They had a huge stock of nicely cleaned items. The prices were OK. They seemed a bit jacked up for my taste. I'm accustomed to the $5 and under deals of a smaller city but just because I'm an El-cheapo doesn't mean there aren't great deals at this store. Check out the Cincinanti Goodwill website for promotions. From what I can tell they have some really good deals.

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If you know of any more thrift places that are worth checking out in Cincinnati, let me know!

Fruits of My Labor

I've been pretty absent from posting these last few weeks because I had to buckle down and unpack everything. I'm happy to announce it is ALL done. No more labyrinth of boxes, no more eschewed furniture, no more working on unpacking! And besides receiving those fruits, we've decided to reward ourselves by going to Arcade Legacy. We are also celebrating Kyle's Birthday Weekend Bonanza!

By now, you are probably picking up on a theme here; we love videogames. Course my "love" pales in comparison to Kyle's but I like them well enough to enter into the Smash Brother Brawl and Melee Tournament they are holding TODAY! I'm also entering upon Kyle's request who I suspect will get a giggle out of me either disastrously losing or accidentally winning. My strategy is to mix mashing buttons with the cheap repetitive move that I like to call "bricking" Kirby style (methinks the banter will be much like that video). This place is a great deal at $10 a person for all day free-play on every game; the game list is awesome. They even have group and family discounts. And it appears they are open to have someone redesign their flyer pro bono which might be a fun project to take on especially since they seem to rely on word of mouth. So overall, I'm super (ninetendo, yuk yuk yuk) excited and I'll be sure to post a review. Oh, I almost failed to mention that this place is located in one of the most Southern of Southern Ohio's cities, hilly Cincinnati. I'm sure we will discover more great places there as time goes on.

B I N G O: Oregon District

We covered so much ground last night and we had a blast (yes, people still say blast). We went to Lucky's, Ned Pepper's and Vex. I decided to do reviews for these places so here they are:

Lucky's Taproom and Eatery

Bar: The bar was good. They had some delicious beer on tap and they had a cider on tap (my favorite drink of choice). They were quick and attentive and also patient. We went up their twice and asked for change for a couple bucks (more on that under "Coolness"). They also had free drink platters going around. I'm sure they don't always do that but any bar that ever does that is okay in my book.

Atmosphere: For all you Clevelanders, it reminded me of the Tremont area. It is young and a little hipster or as hipster as SoOh gets which I would describe as 70s-esque "Classic Rock-loving" hipsters. A couple post-grad folks and early thrity-something professionals are also sprinkled in there as well. As far as the look, the place is painted a dark orange and has some cool nostalgia elements. Namely the sweet-sweet pinball machines in the back which leads me to...

Coolness: The pinball. THE PINBALL! If you read my Englewood post then you know that we traveled there to play pinball and we only encountered one machine working out of the two at the Englewood Fun Center. Well, Lucky's had TWO operable machines and one was Kyle's holy grail of games, "No Good Gofers". They also had the "Playboy" Pinball machine which was a very fun board and it will be my game of choice when we go back. So yes, we were those pinball nerds ooo-ing and drooling over these great rare machines.
Recommend: Oh yes!

Ned Pepper's Bar and Grill

Bar: Not my taste, no cider. In fact I suspect with my short interaction they didn't have much beyond the triumvirate of beers, Budweiser, Miller and Bud Light. I don't even think they had Coors but I could be wrong because once they said no cider I passed completely. Other than that, the bartenders seemed about average on the personable scale. They probably won't have a full on conversation with you beyond what you want but they seemed polite and quick. Sidenoter, the bouncers were chatty and like to joke around with people at the door.

Atmosphere: Definitely the most Cincinnati like bar I've been to so far. And when I say Cincinnati I'm thinking across the bridge to Kentucky-Cincinnati. The girls were being very coy and alluring with their high heels and the guys were being really macho with their tough glances and swagger walks. There was also dancing and rap/heavy bass music were the favorites of the crowd. Not a place to chill but a place to have fun and be-seen.

Coolness: I had the most fun dancing dorkily next to some of the more intense grinding folks. The spaciousness of the place was pleasantly surprising and very neat. I felt fairly comfortable there cause you could get lost in the crowd of people who were either dancing, talking loudly or ordering at the bar.

Recommend: If you like a place to be-seen and appear cool swagger-way or glitzy-girlie way then yeah this is a good place to go.

Vex

Bar: N/A didn't get anything.

Atmosphere: Kyle had read up on this place before and he said that people said the Friday scene was goth. And yes, it was goth, very much so. Lots of black, lots of mesh and lots of piercings in places other than the earlobes. But seriously don't let that turn you away because the music was great! And to be honest, with people dressed up in elaborate outfits it makes it a lot easier to let your hair down, dance and maybe even look silly while doing it. The music was a mixture of House and DnB. And to add my Cleveland reference, the music was like B-Side on a Monday night.

Recommend: Yup, I like the House and DnB scene. Fun and easy to dance too and I got into it at B-Side. B-Side was a bit different since it was full of twenty-something nerds usually dressed in boring jeans instead of the highschool goths dressed in black leather and chains. Despite that though, I'm definitely giving Vex another try on another night and heck even on another Friday night!

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I'm really loving this walking distance access we have to all these cool, new places and I can't wait to do more Oregon District Bingo next weekend!

Englewood (not Inglewood, CA)

WELCOME TO ENGLEWOOD

Today we took an awesome day trip to Englewood. Kyle kept pronouncing it "Anglewood" and I had to explain to him it's pronounced:

"Inglewood"...you know like Inglewood, California.

To which he responded:

Ohhh, that is like that whole "pen" and "pin" pronunciation.

For all you who aren't familiar with the Dayton accent apparently many of us can not pronounce "pen" and "pin" differently. We use the pronunciation of "pen" for both. It's a bit hard to explain in writing but try pronouncing the following words to a friend from the east or west coast and they'll tell you that you ain't saying the words "correctly":

Pen and Pin
Tent and Tint
Gem and Gym

It's a southern accent thing, ya'll. Accent aside, we had a great time in Englewood!

We went to a great BBQ joint called Company 7 BBQ. It's relatively new and I predict good things for this establishment. I'm going to try to keep my reviews short and to the point so here are the highlights:

• Food: is down-home, comfort, southern style food. Health conscious folks should probably look elsewhere but if you are in the mood to eat delicious, tender, fatty foods then this is the place for you. Recommendation: Brisket and Collard Greens
• Service: you can either have someone serve you or you can opt to get your food cafeteria style. We did the cafeteria style which was really quick and easy. They did have servers walking around asking anyone if they needed anything and they were more than friendly and polite.
  
• Decor: the place is themed after a fire station so you have a lot of fire station related items in there. It's cute and kitschy and has an All-American feel to it. Bonus: flame patterned carpet
• Atmosphere: It's an older crowd with a slight biker feel (see pic below). Pretty quiet and tame which is fine because you are really there to just enjoy the food. The lighting was a bit low for me but once I started eating I stopped noticing.
  

After the BBQ, we went to Englewood Fun Center so Kyle could play Pinball machines (did I mention he's into pinball machines...yeaaah).

It was a nice, small arcade. Perfect for the kid at heart and nostalgia seekers. Speaking of nostalgia we ended the evening with Mr. Donkey Kong.

Bingo in the Oregon District

Our lovely home is located smack dab in the middle of the Oregon District which is a historic neighborhood next to downtown. It' a lovely area and it's the go-to place in Dayton. Since I'm coming from Cleveland, I would compare it to the Coventry area in terms of vibe. The area has really gorgeous 100 year old homes that are painted in all shades of yellow, blue, green and red. I'm a fan of exterior painted brick (not interior; leave that brick fireplace alone!) and there are a ton here to "ooo" and "aww" at. But homes aside the best part is that we are a short walking distance from the awesome bars, restaurants, shop and art galleries in the Oregon District. In just two weeks we've been to a couple of the places which is what has encouraged me to keep track of all the locations we've been to and all the ones we have yet to check out. So I created what I like to call "Bingo in the Oregon District". I'll post my reviews of the places later of each place but for now check out where we've been!