Hey Dayton, here’s how to detox from that toxic election

Told you we’d make it.

The 2016 United States presidential election is in our rear view window.

Shake it off, my friends. Shake it off.

The morning glow that comes with surviving one of the most contentious and angst-filled election probably won’t last very long. The real or imagined ramifications of the results are sure to bit us all in the heine at least a little.

As Tom and Donna from NBC’s Parks and Recreation would say, “Treat yo self.”

Slough it off before the next reason to be uptight hits us. You deserve it, even if you have more unfriended Facebook friends to re-friend than you’d like to admit.

Save that part for tomorrow and treat yo self today. Here are five easy things you can do to get all that election ick out of your ever-loving system.

1.) DRINK THE BREW

With more than a dozen craft breweries (that is a boatload per capita), Dayton can stake its claim as Ohio's craft beer capital.

MORE: ‘Tickel’ me! See how beer farm puts Dayton hops in Ohio’s beer capital

There are about a half-dozen craft beer bars and four breweries within about a mile of each other in downtown Dayton and its surrounding historic districts. Your feet are made for walking and your lips for sipping craft beer.

MORE: Dayton’s craft beer walking trail is growing

Beer not your thing? Wednesday is for “wining down.”

Ellie's Restaurant in the Mills Park Hotel, 321 Xenia Avenue, Yellow Springs offers half-priced bottles of wine from 5-9 p.m. on Wednesday evenings.

Ele' Cake Co Bistro & Wine Bar, 3680 Rigby Road, Miamisburg in Austin Landing, offers $2 off flights of wine on its Happy Hour menu weekdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

2.) GO OUTSIDE

With today's political climate, who knows how much longer we are going to have an outside?The Dayton area has been dubbed the outdoor adventure capital of the Midwest and will host the California-based American Trails' 2017 International Trails Symposium because we are teaming with outdoor excitement.

MORE: Dayton chosen to host International Trails Conference in 2017 

  • Among the many reasons why Dayton was chosen to host this event was access to cycling, mountain biking, river, hiking, backpacking, equestrian, motorized and ADA-accessible trails — all of which will be featured during the International Trails Symposium.
  • With more than 330 miles of paved trails is the largest such network in the country, according to MetroParks.

And you can get away from it all without leaving the metro area.

MORE: Insider’s guide to MetroParks camping

Bike Sharing 101 will be held at 6 p.m. today at Wright Stop Bike Shop for those interested in learning how to safely bike downtown and how to use the Link Dayton Bike Share. Learn more here. 

3.) SHOP UNTIL YOU FEEL GOOD

They don’t call it retail therapy for nothing. It’s time to get your shopping shoes on and burn a hole in that credit card as wide as the distance between Californian and Texas voters.

Go to a big shopping center, the malls or independent stores in Dayton’s Oregon District, Oakwood, downtown Yellow Springs or Centerville.

MORE:  Five things to do in Yellow Springs 

4.) EAT DAYTON

Go ahead and eat the stress before the stress eats you… something like that.

Tear the top of off an Esther Price candy box with your bare teeth and go to town. Dive head first into a Marion’s pizza. Wipe the sauce off with your shirt. No one has time for napkins.

That's rightDayton — go gluttonous or go home.

Pour several bags of Mike-Sells potato chips down your throat and eat Smales Pretzel Bakery out of its daily inventory.

Eat donut after donut from Bill’s Donuts until you feel like you again.

MORE:  7 foods that scream Dayton

5.) ESCAPE TO THE THEATER

A mental escape might just be what you need to get back in the swing of things. Read a good book, go to the movies or take in a show.

Hail Mary! is at Loft Theatre of the Metropolitan Arts Center, 126 N. Main St. in Dayton through Nov. 20. Tickets are $35-$50 for adults.

It has been called “an irreverent look at religious fundamentalism” — how much stress could that be?

MORE: Human Race to bring the laughs and the tears with ‘Hail Mary!’

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