Downtown Kent, Ohio, has undergone quite a transformation. The city and some developers have built a new section of downtown full of restaurants and small shops, and it has made downtown Kent quite the destination for people wanting to go out to eat. We were among those people – on Thursday, Zach and Londa invited us to go with them to Kent, and we happily went along.

They took us to a Mexican food restaurant called Fresco, where it was counter-ordered food, but the food was made to order; it was sort of an upscale Subway for Mexican food. We sat inside, since it was quite hot out, and the food was very good; the only slight downside was that the restaurant got two of our four orders incorrect. I ate mine, since it was just a matter of getting chicken instead of beef, and they quickly made Zach his correct order and let us keep his mistake for free, so they corrected things well.

After supper, Zach told me we could wander, so I happily took everyone down to Kent’s riverside park, passing a live brass band concert in a park as we went along (well done, Kent). The park is not all that new, having been built five or ten years ago, but it was new to me this spring when Nate and I ran there. The park is very pretty, with a beautiful fountain and a high river overlook, and a path along the river that is softly lit by classy streetlights. As a bonus, because of the heavy rains we had had, the river was full and running fast, and it was fun to look at it from the overlook. Mer and I struck up a conversation with a couple, the woman of which liked to canoe through Kent, and was able to tell us about how the river used to be before the construction of the park and the tearing down of a small dam.

After our walk, we headed back up to the new section of downtown, to the College Creamery, where we got ice cream and ate it in the brick alleyway outside the shop. It was cooling off, and it was a pleasant place to sit. We started to head back to the car when I mentioned to Zach that he had mentioned Insomnia Cookies, a cookie store that is open (and delivers) until 2:00 am. Zach laughed, but said he was game, so we went for a second dessert. I’m afraid Mer and I bought and ate five cookies between us – it was not a very reserved evening, but the food was excellent, as was the company.