Across the river from downtown Cincinnati is Newport and Covington. Both have their historical areas with nice looking homes of approximately Victorian area.
Newport has a Gameworks located in what is called Newport on the Levee. It is sort of a hybrid traditional/outdoor mall. There is also a nice aquarium located there. If you want, there is a pedestrian only bridge that goes across the Ohio River into downtown Cincinnati. You can also pay to to climb on top of the same bridge.
Covington has a small area called Main Strasse Village. You can see some of the German heritage in this area with the architecture and establishments. There are some nice restaurants and bars there. Devou Park is also a nice park located on top of one of the hilly areas and the view of Cincinnati can be quite nice.
Downtown Cincinnati is fairly dead. It mostly a business center and practically closes after 6:00pm. There is a nice mall in the Carew Tower known as Tower Place. The building is the tallest building in Cincinnati with an observation deck to see the city. There are some bars and the like in the Main Street area. The zoo is one of the top zoos in the US. Union Terminal/the Museum Center is worth checking out. Not only is the building reminiscent of the Hall of Justice from the Superfriends cartoons, they have various roaming exhibits like the Pirates one that was touring late last year.
Just east of downtown is Eden Park and Mount Adams. Mount Adams used to be a haven for starving artists in the 60's and 70's. They have since moved back in after becoming successful to rebuild the area as one of the more upscale neighborhoods. The art museum and Cincinnati Art Academy rounds out the various galleries, shops, restaurants, and bars in the area.
Clifton is the college area. Various bars are located on "Short Vine". I haven't been in the area in a while. It used to be a fairly fun place to hang out, but it can be dangerous at times. It is also next to Over the Rhine, a once nice neighborhood home of breweries and theaters. It is now a run down, low income housing area with its share of crime. Efforts are being made to revive the area, but it is slow in progress.
Local cuisine include Cincinnati chili. It is based off of a Greek recipe, and is served over top spaghetti as a 3, 4, or 5 way as well as on top of hot dogs as Coneys. You will either like it or hate it. There is usually no middle ground. Most natives prefer Skyline Chili, but other franchises include Goldstar and Dixie Chili. Other places of note are Burbank's and the Montgomery Inn. Both are barbecue places that are fairly well liked (although I am personally not a fan of the Montgomery Inn's sauce). One final local favorite is something called goetta. It is a German style breakfast sausage that combines the meat with pin oat meal. It is so popular that there is an annual festival highlighting various locals more interesting applications for it (chili, pizza, etc.)
Okay, that's it for now. Unfortunately, I will be traveling for a lot of that period to customers' sites for product training. Also, many of the locals are in school at this time (I believe, since I am antisocial and don't really keep up too much with the Bemani locals.) |