101 Cincinnati Things We Can (Hopefully) Look Forward to Enjoying in 2021

Climb to the Top of Carew Tower

For $6 and a 48-floor elevator ride — plus one flight of stairs — you can stand on the top of the city’s second-tallest building (the tallest is the nearby Great American Tower) and get a bird’s-eye view of the skyline, Ohio River and Northern Kentucky from the Carew Tower Observation Deck. Completed in 1930, this Art Deco skyscraper was reportedly used as a model for New York City’s world-famous Empire State Building. Entry is cash only, and the mounted binoculars at the top take quarters. Carew Tower, 441 Vine St., Downtown, 513-579-9735.
Photo: Jesse Fox

Or Graeter’s Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Family-run for 150 years, this local French pot ice cream chain is iconic for its giant chocolate chips — chocolate chunks more than chips, really. They pour gourmet chocolate over churning cream to form a shell that their artisans then break up. It’s totally unique and perfect in flavors like Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip — their all-time best-seller (and Oprah’s favorite) made with black raspberries from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Local Braxton Brewing Co. also collaborated with Graeter’s on a flavored beer, so dessert stans can drink their ice cream, too, via a Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip milk stout. Multiple locations, graeters.com.
Photo: Jesse Fox

Make Your Way Through Cincinnati’s “Chili Trail”

There really isn’t an official Cincinnati Chili Trail, but there should be... so we made one up. You can’t visit (or live in) Cincinnati without eating Cincinnati-style chili, available at mom-and-pop parlors, local chains and even veganized. The combo of spaghetti, chili and bright-orange cheese is good any time of day, but especially after a night of drinking. Luckily, plenty of parlors are open late, if not 24 hours, including Camp Washington Chili (3005 Colerain Ave., Camp Washington, campwashingtonchili.com). A James Beard Award winner, Camp opened its doors in 1940, and Johnny Johnson — the patriarch of the ownership family — has been working at the parlor since 1951. Other unique parlors with a rich history and even richer steam tables include Price Hill Chili (4290 Glenway Ave., Price Hill, pricehillchili.com); Dixie Chili (733 Monmouth St., Newport, dixiechili.com); Chili Time (4727 Vine St., Saint Bernard, searchable on Facebook); Pleasant Ridge Chili (6032 Montgomery Road, Pleasant Ridge, pleasantridgechili.com) and Empress Chili (7934 Alexandria Pike, Alexandria, empresschilialexandria.com). Most have at least some link to family immigrants from Greece — and to each other.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Take a Tour of Rookwood Pottery

Founded by artist Maria Longworth Storer in 1880, Rookwood Pottery was the first female-owned large manufacturing company in the United States. Each piece of tile and pottery is molded, hand-glazed and fired by a team of in-house artists. Tours of the 88,000-square-foot working ceramics factory are offered at the flagship warehouse in Over-the-Rhine, led by a Rookwood historian. And each tour comes with a credit to use toward purchases in the showroom. Celebrating its 140th anniversary in 2020, iconic — and timeless — Rookwood pieces include the 1930s Grove Bunny figurine (designed by artist Louise Abel), the 1920 Kataro Shirayamadani candlesticks and, in a nod to Cincinnati’s rich German history, a ceramic beer stein. You also can’t pass up any of their annual Fiona the hippo ornaments, which benefit the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Rookwood Pottery, 1920 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, rookwood.com.
Photo via Facebook.com/rookwoodco

Stargaze at the Cincinnati Observatory

Known as “The Birthplace of American Astronomy,” the Cincinnati Observatory is the first public observatory in the Western Hemisphere and home to one of the oldest working telescopes in the world. The 19th-century scopes — an 11-inch Merz and Mahler refractor from 1845 and a 16-inch Alvan Clark and Sons refractor from 1904 — are still used to give visitors an up-close look at the stars. The observatory is open certain hours for public exploration, astronomy presentations and guided stargazes, as well as special events (like Late Night Date Nights) and online classes. Cincinnati Observatory, 3489 Observatory Place, Hyde Park, Cincinnatiobservatory.org.
Photo: Jesse Fox

Explore Local History and Global Cuisine at Findlay Market

We have always known Findlay Market is great. But one of the best in the world? OK, we kinda knew that, too. In 2019, Newsweek caught on and affirmed our love for the 165-year-old outdoor market — the oldest continually operated public market in Ohio — by declaring it one of the top 10 food markets in the world. The article has some odd moments — it calls our beloved goetta “haggis-like” — but we can definitely attest to the accuracy of the accolade otherwise. Newsweek puts Findlay rightfully alongside food markets like Torvehallerne Market in Copenhagen, Or Tor Kor Market in Bangkok, La Merced in Mexico City and La Boqueria in Barcelona. The highest praise of all? Findlay was the only market in the United States to make the list. The more-than-50 full-time merchants at the 19th-century landmark sell everything from meat, cheese and fresh-baked bread to produce, flowers and international eats. Stop by on weekends for a pint at the biergarten, a local farmers market and plenty of arts and crafts vendors. Findlay Market, 1801 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, findlaymarket.org.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Ride the Beast at Kings Island

Kings Island’s The Beast turned 41 in 2020, and while it may be getting on in years, the world’s longest wooden roller coaster hasn’t slowed down at all: the ride’s 7,300-plus feet of track includes 135-foot vertical drops, a 540-degree helix tunnel and speeds up to 64 miles per hour. It’s given more than 54 million rides in its four decades and Popular Mechanics magazine recently named it the best roller coaster in Ohio. But it may have some competition: 2020 saw the park unveil Orion, Kings Island’s tallest, fastest and longest coaster. One of only seven giga coasters in the world, Orion boasts a 300-foot first drop and soars across 5,321 feet of track at speeds up to 91 miles per hour. Kings Island, 6300 Kings Island Drive, Mason, visitkingsisland.com.
Photo: Paige Deglow

Ride Carol Ann’s Carousel at Smale Riverfront Park

Carol Ann’s Carousel at Smale Riverfront Park features 44 hand-carved Cincy-centric characters on which to ride (plus 16 hand-painted, stylized landscape murals from local artist Jonathan Queen). The glass-enclosed attraction is rain- and snow-resistant, making it a whimsical year-round pleasure… because the joy of riding Martha the last passenger pigeon or the Findlay Market pig around in circles diminishes significantly if you’re being pelted in the face with sleet. In addition to the carousel, the park’s other interactive features include the Fath Fountain’s dancing water jets, a walking labyrinth, a foot piano (like in Big), bench swings with river views, a monument to the Civil War’s Black Brigade, an elevated metal pig sculpture into which you can climb and a novel “Portland Loo,” a private, freestanding outdoor public potty. Smale Riverfront Park, 100 W. Mehring Way, Downtown, cincinnatiparks.com.
Photo: Jesse Fox

Walk with a Kangaroo at the Cincinnati Zoo

The Cincinnati Zoo’s new Roo Valley habitat is an interactive experience that allows visitors to enter a kangaroo walkabout, a 15,000-square-foot green space where red and grey roos roam as you wander by. Yes, you will be in the same enclosure as the kangaroos. Some adorable marsupials in this tiny land down under (it is technically down under — located where the zoo’s Wildlife Canyon used to be and currently below the local-beer-serving Hops Beer Garden) may even come up and interact with you, and each other. Another zoo superstar to check out? Fiona the hippo, the Queen City’s perfectly plump princess. Since being born six weeks early in January 2017, Fiona has become a bona fide celebrity. Initially weighing just 29 pounds, she inspired the hashtag #TeamFiona as well as plenty of international media coverage, children’s books and mountains of themed merchandise. The former itty, bitty baby is now a sassy and playful thousand-pound hippo. Visit her and her mom Bibi in the zoo’s Africa exhibit. Or check out any one of the many other animal tots who steal our hearts on the regular, especially during Zoo Babies month in May. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, 3400 Vine St., Avondale, cincinnatizoo.org.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Buy Rare Hot Sauce at Jungle Jim’s

Jungle Jim’s is an amusement park for foodies, and not just because of its kitschy statues and animatronics. The huge store (more than 6 acres) contains equal parts weekly shoppers — scanning the aisles for super fresh seafood, exotic produce and international eats from more than 70 countries — and visitors, wandering, mouths agape at the wacky decor, likely with a beer in hand. The Elvis robot monkey is a favorite peculiarity; same goes for the elaborate restroom hidden behind a port-a-potty facade. This Hogwarts of grocery stores offers nearly 1,500 different kinds of hot sauce in the Aisle of Inferno (as it’s so dubbed), “the largest retail selection in the United States.” The aisle is pretty hard to miss — it’s the one with the giant fire truck on top of it. The Fairfield location also has a new bourbon bar, Oscar Station, which you can access via monorail. Jungle Jim’s, 5440 Dixie Highway, Fairfield; 4450 Eastgate South Drive, Eastgate, junglejims.com.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Zig-Zag Up the Art Climb

Starting near the intersection of Eden Park Drive and Gilbert Avenue, the new and expansive Art Climb is a flight of 164 steps that ascends from the sidewalk and zig-zags its way up to the Cincinnati Art Museum. At nine stories high, the stairway includes 16 landings and is flanked on either side by greenery and modern light beam structures. If the climb seems daunting, don’t fret: not only are benches placed throughout, but users can also check out artworks placed at four different art plazas. Cincinnati Art Museum, 953 Eden Park Drive, Mount Adams, cincinnatiartmuseum.org.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Sip Some Bourbon on the B-Line

Cincinnati may be well known for its beer but, for something stronger, hop over the Ohio River into Kentucky, home of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Craft Trail Tour. The Craft Trail features almost two dozen artisan microdistilleries broken into four regions, including Northern Kentucky, where local New Riff Distilling (24 Distillery Way, Newport, newriffdistilling.com) and Second Sight Spirits (301 Elm St., Ludlow, secondsightspirits.com) sit as two stops. It’s an artsy alternative to the big Bourbon Trail and still has its own passport at kybourbontrail.com. For something even more local, Northern Kentucky’s B-Line features stops at nearby distilleries and bourbon-centric bars and restaurants to help enthusiasts “find their sipping point.” Locations include Coppin’s at Hotel Covington (638 Madison Ave., Covington, hotelcovington.com), Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar (629 Main St., Covington, oldkybourbonbar.com), Prohibition Bourbon Bar (530 Washington Ave., Newport, newberrybroscoffee.com) and distilleries including the aforementioned New Riff and Second Sight, plus Old Pogue (715 Germantown Road, Maysville, oldpogue.com) and Neeley Family Distillery (190 Beverly Lane, Glencoe, neeleyfamilydistillery.com). Download an official B-Line guide online and collect stamps from two distilleries, two bars and two restaurants and you can win free swag. Temporary tattoos, trucker hats or T-shirts calling your name? Get sipping! B-Line, findyoursippingpoint.com.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Amble Among Art at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum

Art appreciation and fresh air aren’t mutually exclusive, at least at Hamilton’s Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum. Opened in 1997, the 300-acre nonprofit outdoor art park features more than 80 “monumental outdoor sculptures displayed in a landscape of rolling hills, meadows, lakes and hiking trails” — from abstract metallic works to realistic figures hewn in stone. If the weather’s not to your taste, head indoors to explore the ancient sculpture museum, which houses Greek, Roman, Syrian and Egyptian art, as well as rotating exhibitions of more modern work. And if you don’t feel like walking, the park rents out special Art Carts (aka golf carts) on a first-come, first-served basis. During select winter nights, you can also get in your own vehicle for a special 2.5-mile drive-through holiday light display. Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum, 1763 Hamilton Cleves Road, Hamilton, pyramidhill.org.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Be Transported by Robert S. Duncanson’s Lush Landscape Murals at the Taft Museum of Art

Downtown’s Taft Museum — the former residence of notable locals including Martin Baum, Nicholas Longworth, David Sinton, Anna Sinton Taft and Charles Phelps Taft — celebrated its bicentennial in 2020. Built circa 1820 and opened as a museum in 1932, the Taft’s most iconic works of art may be painted directly onto its walls: Robert S. Duncanson’s series of eight dreamy landscape murals, each about 9-feet-by-6.5-feet, are located in the house-museum’s foyer. Commissioned by former resident Nicholas Longworth in the early 1850s, the project launched Duncanson’s career, leading him to become the first African American artist to garner international acclaim. Following Longworth’s death, the paintings were covered, only to be restored when the museum opened. Now known as the “most significant pre-Civil War domestic murals in the United States,” the Duncanson series was restored again in 1994 and 2000. Taft Museum of Art, 316 Pike St., Downtown, taftmuseum.org.
Photo: Provided by the Taft Museum

Go Underground on a Brewing Heritage Trail Tour

Once one of the largest brewing boomtowns in 19th-century America, the Queen City was home to major pre-Prohibition beer kingpins and, in recent years, has bolstered an ever-expanding craft brewing scene. Over-the-Rhine’s Brewing Heritage Trail explores, preserves and celebrates the city’s storied past as a beer-producing capital with a series of guided tours and a free walking trail. “Hop on” the trail at either terminus — which stretches about three-fourths of a mile between Findlay Market (1801 Race St.) and Grant Park (73 E. McMillan Ave.) in Over-the-Rhine — and follow embedded medallions in the sidewalk to discover historic buildings, brewing sites, public art and more. Currently, about two dozen signs or so are available to peruse anytime — for free. Every building that was part of a brewery on the trail is identified in some way, and other stops were selected to tell a part of Cincinnati’s beer-infused historical narrative. Murals mix with markers to reveal tales of the influence of German immigration on local brewing culture, along with stories of 19th-century labor practices, Cincinnati’s involvement in the Civil War and novel brewing innovations. The trail will eventually stretch two miles and include an app with audio tours and augmented reality experiences that will let users look inside underground lagering cellars and former brewing spaces. A number of guided tours are also available to complement the self-guided trail where you can go into those subterranean tunnels of the now defunct breweries, learn about the Queen City’s beer barons and just bask in our pre-Prohibition boozy history. Most tours also include a pint or two at a local taproom. Brewing Heritage Trail, brewingheritagetrail.com.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Put the Pedal to the Metal on the Loveland Bike Trail

Spanning more than 70 miles along the Little Miami River, the Loveland Bike Trail is a haven for cyclists, runners and walkers alike. The paved, flat trail was developed in 1983, replacing what was once the Pennsylvania Railroad. Now, visitors pedal through to immerse themselves in the landscape of Little Miami State Park, grab ice cream at Loveland Sweets or Loveland Dairy Whip, and maybe even learn a thing or two at the Loveland History Museum. Loveland is also a DORA (Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area) district, so if you grab a brew from local Narrow Path Brewing, you can take it with you while you wander the quaint downtown. And if you don’t own a bike, don’t worry — rentals are a phone call away. Loveland Bike Trail, lovelandbiketrail.com.
Photo: Savana Willhoite

See a Slice of the Berlin Wall at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

Using the city’s historical ties to the anti-slavery movement, the mission of the Freedom Center is “to inspire modern abolition through connecting the lessons of the Underground Railroad with today’s freedom fighters.” Permanent exhibits include a rebuilt 1800s slave pen from Mason, Kentucky; Invisible: Slavery Today, which explores human trafficking and modern slavery; Open Your Mind: Understanding Implicit Bias, a learning lab for identifying and researching unconscious prejudice; and a piece of the Berlin Wall, on display outside and facing the Ohio River — itself a former barrier between the North and South. In 1989, Cincinnati became sister cities with Germany’s Bavarian capital of Munich, the same year the Berlin Wall fell. It’s been over 30 years, and since that time, the Freedom Center picked up a chunk of that history in the form of a chunk of the wall itself. Gifted by the city of Berlin in 2010, it was brought here to reflect upon those who “through courage, cooperation and perseverance worked collectively to demolish a modern barrier to freedom.” The wall is a symbolic reminder of past struggles and a message not to take freedom for granted. National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, 50 E. Freedom Way, Downtown, freedomcenter.org.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Relax at Washington Park

Washington Park is a 6-acre dream urban escape, complete with a water feature, dog park, playground and its own recently renovated deck bar — The Porch — which is open seasonally and serves wine, liquor and local craft beer. A new permanent roof structure offers shade and industrial decor vibes, plus cover for additional seating. Sidle up to the bar and order a brew from Taft’s Ale House, Rhinegeist, Fifty West or the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company. Then grab a chair under the enclosure or on the lawn; you can bring your drink anywhere within park limits. Check Washington Park’s online calendar for special events like live music at The Porch, outdoor movie nights, pop-up craft markets and free workout classes. Washington Park, 1230 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, washingtonpark.org.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Be Among the First to Visit FC Cincinnati’s West End Stadium

The official home of soccer in the Queen City has yet to be completed, but FC Cincinnati fans look forward to cheering on their team at West End Stadium in 2021 — their third year as members of the MLS. The $200 million stadium will seat 26,000 spectators, making it one of the nation’s biggest soccer-only venues, and features 531 LED “fins” that broadcast special effects inside and outside of the arena (it’s seriously cool — look up a video). If you’re not yet a part of FC’s passionate fanbase, covered in orange and blue body paint, now’s the best time to jump on the bandwagon. FC Cincinnati, fccincinnati.com.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger