Under $100: Yellow Springs, Ohio

Traveling through central Ohio on your way toward the state capital of Columbus involves stretches of interstate. Once you find yourself near Springfield, it is a good idea to get off the highway and head south. Take route 68 straight into the village of Yellow Springs. As you approach the village, you will enjoy a landscape of rolling hills and cornfields, some of the most idyllic Ohio has to offer. Nestled between John Bryan State Park and Little Miami State Park is the village of Yellow Springs. Founded in 1825 by 100 families, this community sought to emulate the utopic ideals of New Harmony, Ind. The experiment failed, but Yellow Springs remains.

This is a classic hippy town that feels a little out of time. You can start your day with a hearty breakfast at the historic Clifton Mill, where you can take a hike and enjoy some buckwheat pancakes ($12).

After enjoying a bit of nature, wander through town and visit the many ceramics shops run by local artisans. Afterwards, join a historic walking tour through the village ($5). Visit the Yellow Springs Historical Society to learn more about the town’s history. On the western side of the city is Gaunt Park, named after a slave who purchased his freedom and moved to Yellow Springs in the 1860s. When he died in the 1890s he owned a large amount of land and he requested the rent generated from the land be used to supply the widows and elderly of Yellow Springs with flour and sugar. He is the reason the widows in town still receive sugar at Christmas even to this day.

Pick up dinner at The Sunrise Café, which serves mainly vegetarian fare ($20) and then grab an ice cream ($5) on your way out of town at Young’s Dairy, a functioning dairy farm on the outskirts of town. For a bucolic Ohio experience, you cannot do much better than Yellow Springs.