Yum-delicious Yellow Springs

A few weeks ago I had the good fortune to spend a couple of days in the sweet little town of Yellow Springs Ohio and attend a workshop w/ Angela Farmer & Victor van Kooten. And finally, I have a minute to talk about it.

Yellow Springs was a fascinating place to me. Granted, I do not get out much so I am easily impressed w/places outside my neighborhood. But Yellow Springs seems to be a small bastion of art and liberalism. An oasis for free thinkers in a mostly conservative area of a mostly conservative state. (Don't let the fact that Ohio voted blue in the past 2 elections fool you.).

During the breaks I was able to explore this place a little bit. After the workshop, I tended to go back to my motel and crash. Tuning into your inner body can be quite exhausting.

I stayed at The Springs Motel, a very cute and colorful 1950's styled motel that sits about 5 minutes outside of downtown.  Loved this place! The new owner, Kat, is incredibly accommodating and makes a killer spiced tea.

And it's so freaking adorable!

The room I had was one of their larger rooms, but it was pretty tiny by most hotel standards. However, I did not feel claustrophobic or boxed in like I usually feel in a motel. The decor was homey and had personality. And most importantly, the place was very very quiet. Some of the rooms are dog friendly as well.   Of course, I didn't think to take a picture of the room.

 This lovely reminder to respect was hung beside the door. 

I definitely recommend staying here. 

Yellow Springs is a very small town of about 4,000 people. There are plenty of places to hike and bike including the Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve (which sounds de-lovely but does not allow pets) and the Little Miami Scenic Trail. There are bike rental places in town too if you don't want to bring your own. 

Downtown is a gathering of art stores and eateries. The coolest thing about this town is that it seems that every restaurant has vegetarian options - & not just a grilled cheese and french fries. Ha Ha's Pizza offers a tofu calzone. ( This tasted better the second day than the first & I don't know that I would order it again.). & there was an ice cream place .... can't remember the name ..... but they have vegan ice cream.

Yep. Just as the sign says - all flavors available in vegan. They also had a very delicious sounding veggie quesadilla that I didn't get. 

Should've written down the name of the place but it's right next door to here. 

Yeah. That's right! Indian food cooked in a beat up trailer in a parking lot. Goddess bless Yellow Springs. 

So this one guy cooks all the food to order and from scratch. The wait time can be extreme. There were quite a few people in front of me. So, I just ordered soup and nan. Freaking delicious and just enough. I had the feeling some of the people in front of me were put off by the wait time, but it's really part of the experience and well worth it to enjoy some tasty Indian cooking. 

While you're waiting for your Indian food, you can check out one of the many artsy shops in Yellow Springs. Too many to name or describe. I am not a big shopper, more of just looking arounder. And I tend to get overwhelmed easily when in an area with a bunch of cool stuff to buy.  So.... I didn't go into too many places. 

The coolest thing to me about the town is the number of people who have dogs. Loved this. Dogs dogs everywhere. Hanging out with their owners in front of coffee shops. Milling about the streets. And it appears that many of the stores allow dogs. 

In fact, I complimented the gentle nature of a woman's black lab. She indignantly told me about just being kicked out of the glass store. I watched as the lab's tail swished side to side & thought about the horror of taking my own waggy butted lab mix into a glass store.  I asked her why she asked to leave. "Because he has a cat in there. My dog would never hurt the cat." Hahaha.  I love this place. 

The workshop was good and interesting and all that. I will write more about it at a later time.