Things to do in Cincinnati?

[Farrar]

Taking Mushroom on a brief foray into Ohio on a college trip, of which we'll have two nights in Cincinnati. Any recommendations for where to eat? Or one or two things to do? 

Sidenote... sigh... Kid is obsessed with abandoned places, so if there are any easily accessible ones either in or around Cincinnati or along 70 through Ohio, then I'll take those suggestions too. I wouldn't mind a single abandoned excursion. It is basically his trip, after all.

[Harriet Vane]

The first time I went to Cincinnati we had fun eating Skyline Chili and following up with Graeter's Ice Cream. I do not know if there is a Jeni's Ice Cream in Cincy or not, but that is by far my favorite ice cream shop ever on the whole planet. Jeni's has nifty, unusual flavors and is gorgeously decadent.

[Farrar]

I love Jeni's! But... we have one within walking distance, lol.

[DeainUSA]

If you end up with a few hours to kill, we LOVE Jungle Jim's International Market.  It is basically a huge huge grocery store.  They have a section for country after country, live eels and fish in their seafood section, amazing cheese section, and more.  We have so much fun there, but we might be weird and love grocery stores.

[Rachel]

I haven’t been to Cincinatti since Covid started but Jungle Jim’s is quirky and fun. Cincinatti Museum Center was the inspiration for the Hall of Justice. 

My husband and I enjoy Trio Bistro near Kenwood and also a Lebanese restaurant near IKEA in West Chester  I’m having difficulty finding it on the map so it may have been a casualty of Covid.

In northern KY, across the river you might enjoy Rabbit Hash. 

Full disclosure, I’ve never been here but supposedly you can kayak to it. I would look to see if you can find more recent info: Ghost Ship. This is also in  northern KY  

Have a good trip!

[Rachel]

If he’s at all interested there is a Gap Clearance center in Hebron, KY. It’s super hit or miss but on a good day it’s totally worth it. They sell all the Gap brands, some is overstocks, some are returns. 

[Farrar]

That ghost ship is right up this kid's alley. Sigh. He'd be very happy with that side excursion, I think.

ETA: "That looks dope," said Mushroom. So I guess that's our outing.

Edited July 21, 2021 by Farrar

[PeterPan]

Montgomery Inn has a bbq restaurant on the river that is very pleasant. If you like history stuff, the Freedom Center there is unusual and well done. The metro parks have trails to walk.

Don't fail to eat LaRosa's pizza. Their meat lovers is over the top rich, but you'll feel fine eating it after their BLT salad, haha. I ADORE their BLT salad, dream of it.  

Graeter's is fine. I only like their blueberry pie ice cream. 

It's not abandoned, but there's a quirky castle you can tour in Loveland. It's near a river with good places for kayaking. If he likes fossils, there's a public fossil hunting park.

[Rachel]

2 hours ago, Farrar said:

That ghost ship is right up this kid's alley. Sigh. He'd be very happy with that side excursion, I think.

ETA: "That looks dope," said Mushroom. So I guess that's our outing.

Don’t you love it when kids are super into something and you want to support them, but you kind of don’t?

 

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

Montgomery Inn has a bbq restaurant on the river that is very pleasant. If you like history stuff, the Freedom Center there is unusual and well done. The metro parks have trails to walk.

 

What ages do you think the Freedom Center is appropriate for? It’s been on my to do list for awhile, but we haven’t made it up there yet. Specifically I’m thinking of my 9 year old.

[cintinative]

Classic Cincinnati places to eat are LaRosa's, Skyline Chili (it's not like normal chili--be prepared!), Graeter's ice cream

We puffy heart Holtman's Donuts (multiple locations, but I think it would be fun to hit the OTR one) and Taste of Belgium 

I really like our zoo. 

The art museum is free and is in Eden Park, which is a great urban park with some very nice views of the city/river.

ETA: all these are closer to downtown. For some reason I assumed you were looking at UC when I read the post, and now I see you didn't specify.

We also like Jungle Jim's. It's unique and fun--but it is on the far northwest side of town, so about 40 minutes if you are staying near UC/Xavier.  

Edited July 21, 2021 by cintinative

[cintinative]

If you fancy a bit of a walk, you can hit Over the Rhine (OTR) and grab some food and then walk to the Washington Park by Music Hall (and go inside maybe--it's amazing). Not very far from there is City Hall and a really old church (St. Peter in Chains) with some amazing mosaic work (City Hall has amazing mosaics too but you need a docent led tour so let them know you are coming)

[Farrar]

2 hours ago, cintinative said:

ETA: all these are closer to downtown. For some reason I assumed you were looking at UC when I read the post, and now I see you didn't specify.

We're staying... somewhere not downtown because it was cheaper. Mushroom is looking at UC and then we're also taking a little day trip to see Miami. So I think we'll be a bit all over.

If the federal budget passes as is (I know this is my absurd pipe dream, but still) then it includes in state tuition for us everywhere and I'm feeling like UC and Miami are probably the best fit public schools for this kid.

[The Governess]

I was just there a week ago. We ate at a great tapas place downtown called Mita’s. There is a bunch of street art in the area if you walk around. 
 

There are also a lot of food spots around Findlay Market. The market itself was super crowded so we didn’t go in, but there are shops and food vendors all around it. 

[cintinative]

1 hour ago, Farrar said:

We're staying... somewhere not downtown because it was cheaper. Mushroom is looking at UC and then we're also taking a little day trip to see Miami. So I think we'll be a bit all over.

If the federal budget passes as is (I know this is my absurd pipe dream, but still) then it includes in state tuition for us everywhere and I'm feeling like UC and Miami are probably the best fit public schools for this kid.

Yes, downtown is expensive! I don't blame you. Miami and UC are very different campuses and probably student bodies as well.  Miami has a small town feel and UC is urban.  I *think* Miami has a higher greek (sorority/fraternity) population, but my info might be old on that.  If you are driving out to Oxford, I don't think Jungle Jim's would be outrageously out of your way. 

It shouldn't be a problem to find a Graeter's or a LaRosa's (or Skyline for that matter) whereever you go.  😃

Not sure if they are keeping this, but there was an automatic scholarship for this year at Miami based on GPA alone (no test scores). It was about $7K if I recall correctly. Their removal of the test score requirement was huge for a lot of people. I wonder if they will keep it this way--my guess is they are paying out a lot more this coming year in scholarships.

I hope you have a good visit! Our weather is unpredictable. I hope it is nice for you!

[Farrar]

52 minutes ago, cintinative said:

Yes, downtown is expensive! I don't blame you. Miami and UC are very different campuses and probably student bodies as well.  Miami has a small town feel and UC is urban.  I *think* Miami has a higher greek (sorority/fraternity) population, but my info might be old on that.  If you are driving out to Oxford, I don't think Jungle Jim's would be outrageously out of your way. 

It shouldn't be a problem to find a Graeter's or a LaRosa's (or Skyline for that matter) whereever you go.  😃

Not sure if they are keeping this, but there was an automatic scholarship for this year at Miami based on GPA alone (no test scores). It was about $7K if I recall correctly. Their removal of the test score requirement was huge for a lot of people. I wonder if they will keep it this way--my guess is they are paying out a lot more this coming year in scholarships.

I hope you have a good visit! Our weather is unpredictable. I hope it is nice for you!

Yes! I think Miami’s Greek life and small town may not fit him, but their programs do and if they keep the scholarship, that plus our $10k from the not-a-state would be very good. I’m not sure how he’ll feel about UC, which is part of why we need to visit. My… step-niece?… went there. 
 

Thank you for the recommendations! It’s going to be a quickie trip but we should have time to do a few things.

Edited July 22, 2021 by Farrar

[PeterPan]

9 hours ago, Rachel said:

What ages do you think the Freedom Center is appropriate for? It’s been on my to do list for awhile, but we haven’t made it up there yet. Specifically I’m thinking of my 9 year old.

They have sections that are accessible to that age, yes.

[PeterPan]

5 hours ago, Farrar said:

We're staying... somewhere not downtown

There's a Comfort Inn & Suites on the north side of town, near Fields Ertel, that I've stayed at several times. Stayed at a hotel on the far west side for a week also fine. You just want to be *really careful* to read reviews for bed bugs. 

[Slache]

On 7/21/2021 at 11:16 AM, Rachel said:

I haven’t been to Cincinatti since Covid started but Jungle Jim’s is quirky and fun. Cincinatti Museum Center was the inspiration for the Hall of Justice. 

These were my two pics, but you have to do Skyline. My suggestions are Chili Spaghetti and a 3 Way, but Coneys are a classic.

My personal pics for visits are Penn Station Subs and Newport Aquarium, but I'm not sure those are on everyone's lists.