Yellow Springs

One of my favorite childhood memories is going to Young's Jersey Dairy for ice cream. At the time it seemed more like a dairy farm that happened to have an ice cream shop on it. Now it's a big commercial enterprise that happens to have a barn with some cows in it. The ice cream is still good, though. Young's is located just outside Yellow Springs, Ohio which happens to be one of my favorite municipalities in the country. It's the home of Antioch College, some hippies left over from the sixties and lots of eco-friendly, fair trade-minded, globally aware, nice people. Anytime I wanted to get away from the inner-city environment where I lived, this is where I went. Sometimes it was to see an independent film, sometimes to take a nice hike to the actual yellow spring for which the town was named. Often it was to do a little window shopping and grab something to eat. I think there's a town ordinance against chain restaurants so with the exception of Subway, which was there before the law, you'll find many one of a kind, locally owned places to dine. Two of my favorites are Ha Ha Pizza, where you can get a nice cup of herbal tea with your whole wheat crusted pizza, and The Winds, where you can get really good vegetarian dishes and their bakery is also outstanding. There's a really great stained glass shop in town and mostly people are friendly. A word of caution if you visit, if you don't agree with a more liberal political world view, it's best not to engage in any kind of political conversation.Above is the actual yellow spring in Glen Helen nature reserve. Ah, memories...