Tons of pork statues and lots of activities in Porkopolis
Written: Sep 26 '00 (Updated Oct 03 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: many things to do for a relatively smaller city
Cons: road construction all over, different speed limits all over
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| maceyr's Full Review: Cincinnati |
Review Topic: Sights & Attractions
Review Topic: Sights & AttractionsI've just spent two weeks visiting Cincinnati and I have to say that I was quite surprized with the amount of activities that Cincinnati offered. I was told that Cincinnati was a pretty boring city and that I would have problems finding things to see. Mind you, with a 20 month old kid, it takes twice (if not more) as long to go through all the attractions of Cincinnati so it turned out that two weeks was just enough to see all the attractions I wanted.
First off, I was surprized to find that Cincinnati's airport (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport) was actually located in the state of Kentucky, not Ohio. As Cincinnati is located just at the edge of Ohio and Kentucky's borders, the airport wasn't located too far from Cincinnati, about a 10 minute drive from the southwest.
Also, all over Cincinnati and its surrounding areas are pork statues dressed in all sorts of ways. At least one statue is found at every corner in downtown Cincinnati and inside the downtown shopping areas. A few of them I remembered are a pig dressed up in tennis attire with tennis racket called Bjorn Boarg, a pig filled with lots of toys called Babes in Toyland, etc. It gets a bit ridiculous for some of them but apparently sometime in the fall, there will be an auction for all these pig statues and all proceeds will go back to the arts society of Cincinnati. The reason why they have pig statues are because Cincinnati was once known as "Porkopolis", the major pig slaughterhouse of the States in its earlier days. Hmmm.
Among the attractions that I strongly recommend are: Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal which houses the Cinergy Children's Museum, Cincinnati History Museum, Museum of Natural History and Science, Cincinnati Historical Society Library, and the Robert D. Lindner Family Omnimax theater; Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical gardens; Newport Aquarium.
The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal was once a train station called Union Terminal in 1933 and a major departure point for troops during WWII. There is a guided tour available on the weekends. They house the Cinergy Children's Museum, which is very much like a science and learning museum with lots of hands on exhibits and things for children to do and play. Also there is the Cincinnati History Museum which displays exhibits of the history of Cincinnati, with vintage cars, WWII exhibits and a research library pertaining to Cincinnati. They are currently constructing a miniature replica of the Greater Cincinnati area including Mt. Adams, Newport and Covington. The Museum of Natural History and Science displays exhibits relating to the earth's history, including a replica of a limestone cavern, fossil displays and hands on learning displays for children. The Omnimax theater shows changing IMAX films throughout the year. Each museum or attraction can be purchased individually or in a package and the tickets are valid for six months, so if you spent the entire day at the children's museum (which I did), you could still come back another day to do the other attractions without having to pay again.
The Cincinnati Zoo contains some of the world's rarest animals including walruses, white Bengal tigers, and rhinos (of one, which has just been found to be pregnant) and a large variety of animals in 70 acres of land. The zoo is divided into various indoor and outdoor exhibits all over including: Rhino Reserve, which houses Indian rhinoceroses in a large area with muddy holes and natural habitat, Gibbon Islands, which display the playful white-cheeked gibbons and siamangs as they swing all around their habitat and Big Cat Canyon, which has the rare white Bengal tigers. They also contain a Children's Zoo, Joseph H. Spaulding Jr. Children's Zoo, which has an animal nursery, underwater viewing of walruses and otters, and various activities for children. Admission cost is $11 and they do give AAA discounts.
The Newport Aquarium is located in Newport, Kentucky (just across from Cincinnati over the Ohio River). Over 11,000 marine animals are displayed in 60 exhibits and 1 million gallons of fresh and salt water. They house a wide variety of marine animals including penguins, sharks, and jellyfish. The 380,000 gallon shark tank is a beautiful exhibit as you can see the sharks, stingrays and other fishes swim all around you in a see-through flooring, tunnel setup. Divers can be frequently seen in the shark tank cleaning the tank and feeding the marine animals. There is also a short, 8 minute film with a ship captain talking about sharks. It include clips and soundtrack from the movie Jaws so I would not recommend it for younger audiences. My son was a bit shaken from it. Strollers are not permitted at the Aquarium but they provide you with a baby backpack that you can use to carry your child on your back.
There is a special pricing package called "Creature Combo" in which you pay $59 for the package of Cincinnati Zoo, Paramount's King's Island and Newport Aquarium. But, you can only book this through their 1-800 number, and they'll mail you the tickets. Thus, unless you purchase this before you go, you pretty much can't get it because they send it by mail. I went to the Convention and Visitors Bureau in downtown Cincinnati and found that I couldn't buy it there and thus was out of luck. This is valid until Oct. 15th and their number is 1-800-CINCY USA. You can book accommodations and tours via their web site at: http://www.cincyusa.com
I was also disappointed to not be able to go to Paramount's King's Island because they were closed for the two weeks I was there. They reopened on the Sunday that I was to leave so I didn't get to go. Why they didn't open the Saturday, I don't know since they opened on the Saturday after.
Downtown Cincinnati is okay, although I was a bit disappointed to find not as much activities or things to do or see there. The Carew Tower is the tallest building in Cincinnati and has 70 shops and an observation deck with excellent views of the city. And, of course, you can stroll around Fountain Square, located in the center of downtown and view all those pig statues.
Other sightseeing activities that I went to worth mentioning are Cincinnati Fire Museum (has a Fire truck that kids can ride on and turn on the sirens), St. Peter in Chains Cathedral, and Cincinnati Riverfront on Newport's side. As I'm not an art fan, I didn't go to the Art Museum and can't comment on that. I also didn't get the chance to go to the Taft Museum. But I'm sure they must be okay.
Shopping can be found at several malls located around Cincinnati. The largest one (I believe) is the Kenwood Towne Center, located on exit 12 on I-71 which has over 150 shops and services. They currently also have a sand sculpture exhibit that shows Cinderella, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland on each side of the sand exhibit. The mall contains department stores Lazarus, Parisian, Dillard's and specialty stores such as Channel 48 Store of Knowledge, Sharper Image and Museum Company. Other malls in the surrounding Cincinnati area include Eastgate Mall, Northgate Mall and Tri County Mall.
Cincinnati has many old buildings all over town. If you are someone who enjoys viewing old buildings and architecture like me, you'll love Cincinnati. Almost every building is an old building. Many are restored or cleaned up but many aren't. I just enjoy viewing them regardless. There is something about old buildings that I enjoy viewing. Maybe it's just the character of the design of them. I don't know. I just enjoy viewing them.
One thing I did not like about Cincinnati was the one way streets and highway exits. The one way streets were horrible for visitors to get around. My AAA map did not indicate the one way streets nor their directions which made getting around quite frustrating. That, on top of the road construction in riverfront Cincinnati was enough to frustrate any road traveler. Mt. Adams was horrible to get around with the numerous one way narrow, cobble streets. And, the exits can be a bit frustrating too. One wrong exit and you can have problems getting back to where you came from, and get into the wrong neighborhoods. But then, you get that almost everywhere. You'll be better off getting better maps and analyzing your exits and turns before you head out because trying to maneuver with a baby in the backseat and reading your map can be quite a challenge when you're driving on the highway.
But, all in all, I found Cincinnati to be quite pleasant to visit. It had a lot more attractions than I expected. The weather was quite nice (maybe a bit too humid for my liking). I would recommend Cincinnati as a place to visit for a few days.
Recommended:
Yes
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maceyr
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Location: Canada
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