Oxford, to Downtown Xenia, Ohio, Then Home

Joe and MaryLou Barry

Dawn, Oxford, Ohio

It's now 6:10, and I am the first one up.  It' a bit overcast, as the day begins to lighten here in Oxford.  I have my coffee, computer, so I am happy.  It's 59º already, a high of 70º and I like at Chautauqua, and it's to be sunny with a high of 61º, quite a difference.

We had another easy drive, Kansas City to Oxford, Ohio, if driving for nine hours can be called easy.  At least it was sunny and fairly warm as we drove, no rain, and as we got farther east, it became greener and greener, as Indiana and Ohio seemed far ahead of Kansas City.  We took the back roads to Oxford, where are good friends Joe and Mary Lou live.  It was a lovely ride, through mostly farm country, small towns, and trees and fields, just beginning to turn green as spring has arrived in southern Ohio.

Joe and Lou live in a small community of houses, each separate, but they have condo like amenities, the lawns, roofs, shrubs, and trees are all taken care of, so the owner has only a small area off their porch to take care of.  Their house is perfect for them, two bedrooms, two baths, a large living room/dining room, den, kitchen and laundry room, plus a huge basement.  We were welcomed with wine, as they are both vino enthusiasts, and we had cheese and crackers, as we caught up on our families.  They had been out east visiting with their grandchildren, in New Jersey and CT, so we had lots to talk about.

Dinner at Barry's

The Barry Home

We had a great dinner, as Joe cooked out pork cutlets, with jasmine rice, salad, and fresh bread, just what we needed after a long ride.  After dinner, we were given the grand tour of Oxford, Ohio, mostly Miami University.  I have been here a couple of times in my early years, but not in the last thirty, so the campus has changed mightily, with all kind of new buildings, all in the same Georgian red brick style. And of course it has gotten larger, the town spread out now to the outskirts of Oxford.  We walked into the student fitness center which would put most health clubs to shame.  Three pools, four gyms, yoga studios, weight rooms, work out machine rooms, a cafe, all for the students.  And it was being used, perhaps, i would guess, more than the library!  Anyways, for Joe and Lou, its been a great environment to raise their two kids but also to retire to, with all the lectures, classes, and amenities of the university less than a mile away.  And you might want to live a mile away, to avoid the student rambunctiousness, especially on weekends.  Frat row and the residential halls were all immaculate as well, reminding me of what a dump our old fraternity house looked like at Ohio University.  We did get a new building my senior year but we lost it three or four years after I graduated when Phi Delta Theta was thrown off campus for, I assume, drug and alcohol abuse.  Ah youth.    I can see why college towns are such an attractive place for people to retire.

After our ride, we came back, sat around and talked about the good old days at Ohio University, sipping homemade lemoncello, a delightful way to end the evening.  And we both were tired and fortunately, slept well.