Cincinnati, Ohio. A lively city filled with adventure, tasty food, rich history and architecture: just the first few things you’ll notice when first exploring this Queen City. Eight weeks ago, I moved here from a small town in southwest Virginia to join Curiosity Advertising as a summer intern and to get a taste of the upbeat city life. This southern girl has spent the last few weeks absorbing as much as she can about advertising with a dose of fun here and there.
If you don’t live in Cincinnati and ever have the chance to make it out here, I’ve listed 25 experiences you won’t want to miss out on:
1. Try the chili! Compare Skyline vs. Gold Star and pick your favorite.
2. Enjoy a yummy pizza at restaurants like LaRosa’s and Dewey’s Pizza.
3. Cheer on the Cincinnati Reds, the oldest franchise in Major League Baseball, at Great American Ball Park.
4. Visit the Newport Aquarium (though its technically across the river in Kentucky, it counts as Greater Cincinnati!), and don’t leave until you pet the sharks at the “Shark Central” exhibit.
5. Check out the twelfth-largest public library in the country: the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.
6. Ride up 49 floors to the top of the Carew Tower and see the Queen City from every angle from the building’s Observation Deck.
7. Experience the excitement of Kings Island—riding “The Beast” is a requirement!
8. Enjoy an underground tour of the old, abandoned Cincinnati Subway.
9. Taste test two ice cream institutions: Graeters vs. Aglamesis Brothers.
Graeters Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
10. Cool off at Coney Island’s Sunlite Pool.
11. Uncover Cincinnati’s history and take in the amazing mosaics at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal.
12. Walk from Kentucky to Ohio and back again across the Purple People Bridge.
13. Take a drive or ride a bike across the historic John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge.
14. Feed a giraffe at The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, America’s second-oldest zoo.
15. Test your luck at the JACK Casino downtown.
16. Catch a Broadway show at the Aronoff Center for the Arts.
17. Take a stroll through any of the many beautiful Cincinnati parks: Eden Park, Washington Park, Lytle Park (checkout the beardless Abraham Lincoln statue), Ault Park, Alms Park, Smale Riverfront Park (you have to ride the carousel!) and Bellevue Park.
View from the overlook at Eden Park
18. Enjoy a summer concert on the lawn at Riverbend Music Center.
19. Stargaze through the oldest public telescope still in use in the Western Hemisphere at the Cincinnati Observatory in Mt. Lookout.
20. Spend a Saturday morning shopping at Findlay Market, with a stop at Taste of Belgium for waffles and Pho Lang Thang for delicious Vietnamese food.
21. Everyone has to try goetta at some point (I like Sunnyside Grill’s).
22. Catch a movie at the Esquire Theatre in Clifton.
23. Browse the shops and boutiques on Vine and Main Streets.
24. Rent a red bike and venture around downtown to catch glimpses of all the unique murals and public art projects by ArtWorks.
25. Get a taste of the night life at the Blind Lemon, 16-Bit Bar + Arcade, The ROOK, 1215 Wine Bar & Coffee Lab, Mount Adams Pavilion, Rhinegeist Brewery, Liberty’s Bar & Bottle, and so many more!
Y’all, Cincinnati seriously has so much to offer and it’s hard to believe my summer here is coming to a close. It’s been an amazing second home, and I can’t wait to come back to continue to explore this energetic and vibrant city!
—Karleigh Marshall, Curiosity Intern
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