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Who is going to the Midwest Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati OH


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I just registered for the Midwest Homeschool convention in Cincinnati Ohio and was wondering who else was going. We live in NC but thought we would visit the creation Museum while we were in the area, and the Cincinnati Zoo. Does anyone have any tips for the conference. I have been to the NC conference in Winston Salem, but this will be my first time at this conference. Also any suggestions for must see and do in the area. We are going to the Creation Museum and the Zoo so any suggestions for these would be great also:001_smile:. Thanks Susan

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I'm thinking real seriously about trying to go. I'm torn between registering now (discount is pretty nice if registered by Jan 1) and waiting to see. It's a significant expense for me (lol, that's like 3 months grocery money if I take the kids ;)). I think that if I do go, I'll get a hotel a few miles away and save some serious cash that way. It's a 2.5 hour drive, according to mapquest, from my parents house (which is where my 3yo would likely be). The kids would *love* to go to the childrens convention. This would be our "vacation" if we do go, and my first conference.

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:seeya: We'll probably pick up some Cincinnati-style chili too.

 

 

 

Oh, DON'T do that!!!! I have lived here for 15 years now and even the idea of it is awful!! YUK! get some grater's ice cream instead! :D

 

Anyway, the zoo is awesome, but there are many other good museums/attractions around. The Cincinnati Museum Center is in an amazing Art Deco Train Station that is insanely gorgeous and is only a few min. from the convention (by car). It has reciprocal membership with many museums across the country. (it does have dinosaurs and an ice age exhibit in the NAt. History museum, if that bugs you). There is also the Cincinnati art museum nearby, a fire museum, an aquarium across the river... all sorts of stuff.

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We'll probably pick up some Cincinnati-style chili too.

 

Oh, DON'T do that!!!! I have lived here for 15 years now and even the idea of it is awful!! YUK! get some grater's ice cream instead! :D

:lol: I'm not originally from the Cincinnati area, so it doesn't look good to me either. I've been here 9 years and I've never even tried it. It just doesn't look good.

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Try Skyline not Goldstar chili! Also since you are downtown you have to go to Izzie's. They make the best Rueben's around. This will be my third year going. I would suggest downloading the schedule ahead of time and planning your days that way. It is a very busy day and easy to get overwhelmed. I listen to all the speakers first then got to the vendor hall. Hope it helps and maybe we will run into each other.

 

Also the CM is great and the zoo is amazing!

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:seeya: Hi! I'll be there.

 

We're not doing much in the area, though. Our focus will be on the convention. We'll probably pick up some Cincinnati-style chili too.

 

We usually try to have a meeting with SWB/JW and the WTM board fans. You'll hear more when it's closer to convention time.

 

Oh, I love Cincinnati Chili. We are thinking about going too. My mom lives there so I have a major excuse to make the drive from Wisconsin.

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Oh, DON'T do that!!!! I have lived here for 15 years now and even the idea of it is awful!! YUK! get some grater's ice cream instead! :D

 

Anyway, the zoo is awesome, but there are many other good museums/attractions around. The Cincinnati Museum Center is in an amazing Art Deco Train Station that is insanely gorgeous and is only a few min. from the convention (by car). It has reciprocal membership with many museums across the country. (it does have dinosaurs and an ice age exhibit in the NAt. History museum, if that bugs you). There is also the Cincinnati art museum nearby, a fire museum, an aquarium across the river... all sorts of stuff.

You are too funny Korin. I was born and raised in Cincy and I've never grown tired of it.:lol: I make it homemade all the time. My born and raised Wisconsin kids love it too.

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Oh, DON'T do that!!!! I have lived here for 15 years now and even the idea of it is awful!! YUK! get some grater's ice cream instead! :D

 

Anyway, the zoo is awesome, but there are many other good museums/attractions around. The Cincinnati Museum Center is in an amazing Art Deco Train Station that is insanely gorgeous and is only a few min. from the convention (by car). It has reciprocal membership with many museums across the country. (it does have dinosaurs and an ice age exhibit in the NAt. History museum, if that bugs you). There is also the Cincinnati art museum nearby, a fire museum, an aquarium across the river... all sorts of stuff.

 

We thought it tasted kinda like sloppy joes on noodles with cheese and onions. It wasn't bad. It's not the way I cook my chili at home, but it was fun for Cincy.

 

We did, truly, loooooove the Grater's ice cream though.

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I'll be there if my schedule permits!

 

Cincinnati Museum Center if wonderful! We LOVE it!

 

The Freedom Center might be too strong for younger children, but does a good job of detailing the history of slavery in America.

 

A little further away, at Wright Patterson in Dayton, is the FREE, wonderful National Museum of the U.S. Air Force - big enough for two days of viewing, at least! It's the largest thing like it in the world (and aviation guys tell me it's better than the one in Florida or Washington, too).

 

Downtown, in the venue where the convention will be taking place, is a very good seafood place, McCormick's (I think) is the name. But they aren't open on weekends, just weekdays, so you'd have to hit it on Friday. Further away, off 71, is The Montgomery Inn, and everything I've seen plated there looks mouthwatering.

 

Have fun! Maybe we'll all get to see each other there,

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We're in about the same boat as Melissa. My dh already took the time off, but we're waiting to see how the money works out. We have family in Dayton, so we'll stay up there and drive down each day, more than likely.

 

There's an amazing museum center in Cinci with a kids' please-touch museum, an IMAX theater, and a natural history museum. They have a very cool trading post set up where a kid can bring in an artifact, discuss it with a naturalist, and swap it out for something else.

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I'll be there if my schedule permits!

 

Cincinnati Museum Center if wonderful! We LOVE it!

 

The Freedom Center might be too strong for younger children, but does a good job of detailing the history of slavery in America.

 

A little further away, at Wright Patterson in Dayton, is the FREE, wonderful National Museum of the U.S. Air Force - big enough for two days of viewing, at least! It's the largest thing like it in the world (and aviation guys tell me it's better than the one in Florida or Washington, too).

 

Downtown, in the venue where the convention will be taking place, is a very good seafood place, McCormick's (I think) is the name. But they aren't open on weekends, just weekdays, so you'd have to hit it on Friday. Further away, off 71, is The Montgomery Inn, and everything I've seen plated there looks mouthwatering.

 

Have fun! Maybe we'll all get to see each other there,

 

 

There is a Montgomery Inn very close to downtown, right on the Riverfront. It's called the Boathouse. ANd yeah, it is DELISH! As for Cincy Chili. I LOVE it. But, I was raised on the stuff. Graeters Ice Cream, if you like chocolate chips in your ice cream, make sure to try one of their chip flavors. OMG The chips are like CHUNKS. Seriously, it is out of this world!

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I'm registered and planning to come too! As far as deciding where to stay, I wouldn't stay farther than walking distance. Sandy stayed at a farther hotel to save money, and she said the parking each day was miserable and ate tons of time. The Garfield Suites are close and affordable. Or stay at the Millenium and share a room with someone.

 

The children's program doesn't take kids under 5, so that's a bummer. I wrote the convention people and asked about a supervised nursery, no response. I'll have my toddler. He was easy as a baby, but as a running boy, he's going to be a challenge! Dd LOVED the convention. The vendors knew kids were coming and catered to them, giving gifts, really talking with them, etc. She just had a lot more fun than she expected. Or maybe it was just the mix of vendors. We've been all the other years, but she never had as much fun as she did this past year.

 

The facility is huge and takes time to walk. The sessions are great, and the vendor hall is huge. In other words, you want to plan your extras like the creation museum for an extra day, not a convention day. You probably won't have time for the hotel pool either. We just ate, walked, shopped, and crashed. :)

 

I think convenience outweighs everything for this convention, because it is so much time and walking. I would stay as close as possible. Split a room if you need too. Oh, and you could register now and sell off your registration if you can't go.

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I'm registered and planning to come too! As far as deciding where to stay, I wouldn't stay farther than walking distance. Sandy stayed at a farther hotel to save money, and she said the parking each day was miserable and ate tons of time. The Garfield Suites are close and affordable. Or stay at the Millenium and share a room with someone.

 

 

 

I disagree with this a bit, as I am driving from my house and have to find parking. It took a few minutes (parking garages all around w/ the 5$ rate) and bam, I was there. I could park at my husband's work but it is too far a walk, and I know I will either have stuff or my feet will be tired.

 

So, I don't quite agree with parking being a hassle. But, whatever. ;)

 

I do agree that it is a good place to do other stuff, like planning an extra day... but I think that the other parent, or grandparent... should take the kids to the different sites..

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It wasn't exactly the parking. I guess let Sandy speak for herself, since she'll do it better, lol. She told me she got stuck in miserable traffic each morning and it took her an insane amount of time to get in. But she may have been coming from a differnt direction from Korin or not have known the shortcuts or something. The irony is you don't save THAT much staying farther out. It's still an expensive city. I would leave the kids to cut cost or bring your own food or something but stay close, just me.

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Looks like I will be going, more than likely without any of the kids (3yo will *definitely* be staying with my Mom). I still have to figure out where I'm going to stay, and I'm waiting to see if a friend is going to go to make any finalish decisions on that (she probably won't decide until there's something of a program put out next month). I'm super excited, though :D

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I seem to be in Cincinnati several times a year. We really like the zoo and the art museum. Go up to Dayton for the air force museum if you have time. Jungle Jim's is fun if you love food.

 

I have to admit I've had Graeters and Skyline, and I don't like either one.

 

We stayed out about 15 minutes (cheaper and an indoor pool) last year for the convention, and we had no trouble parking at all. We zipped in and out.

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I've had some Graeters that was only so-so. Their blueberry pie ice cream is AMAZING. So you just need to keep trying flavors. :)

I've eaten at Graeters once. I'm fine with pretty cheap ice cream from the grocery store, so I didn't notice anything particularly special. Having an outing with other moms made it worth it, though. And hey, it's ice cream! Good enough reason for an outing. :001_smile:

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've set up a social group for this year's attendees...in case you haven't discovered it yet.

 

I found driving in last year to be a real pain...traffic was horrid and we had to park pretty far away one day...not to mention that half the garage was roped off and had jacks holding up the floors; scary! I'm staying at the Millennium this year.

 

SWB was kind enough to give me direct contact info so I could set up a "board" meeting this year. I'll get in touch with her assistant closer to convention time and see what we can set up. I'm hoping we can get both SWB and JW together.

 

I'm really lookng forward to the convention. The speaker line-up is great; the topics are interesting. Then there's the vendor hall. MMMMM, can't wait!

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I've set up a social group for this year's attendees...in case you haven't discovered it yet.

I posted the link there too...ladydusk and I must have done it about the same time.

 

I found driving in last year to be a real pain...traffic was horrid and we had to park pretty far away one day...not to mention that half the garage was roped off and had jacks holding up the floors; scary! I'm staying at the Millennium this year.

This is our first year, and we're staying at the Milennium. Sort of a little get-away for dh and I, plus I won't have to drag myself out of bed so early in the morning to drive in to Cincinnati.

 

SWB was kind enough to give me direct contact info so I could set up a "board" meeting this year. I'll get in touch with her assistant closer to convention time and see what we can set up. I'm hoping we can get both SWB and JW together.

I'm looking forward to it!

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Thanks for the reminder. I just booked it. Now, I hope I can make it. I can't believe the Millennium

Hotel is sold out for the discount rate.

Laura, have you been to the CHEO convention in Columbus (I heard they're moving it to Cleveland). How does it compare? From what I understand, it's suffered recently from the Cincinnati convention, and that's why they're moving it.

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I am so excited! Several of my girlfriends and I are driving 18 hours from Colorado to come to the Midwest Convention. SWB very rarely (if ever) comes to Denver so we decided to come to her! We got our rooms two weeks ago at the Millennium. We are counting the days because we are leaving our kids at home with the dads for 5 days!:D

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