The Cincinnati History Museum is just one of the museums inside the Cincinnati Museum Center.
The most striking feature here is Public Landing, an imagined landing with a riverboat and cobblestone streets that take you to a photography studio, a dressmaker and an apothocary. Step aboard the boat and explore inside the buildings to learn about life in this river city in the 1860s.
Vintage advertising pieces, a streetcar, and items made in Cincinnati provide insight into the city’s history as well as life in America. Another special thing here is an intricate model of Cincinnati in the forties complete with trains. The kiddos especially love this and I could have stood there all day too.
If you’ve been following along here, you know that these museums are housed in Union Terminal, a gorgeous art deco train station that’s worth a visit. In fact, if you’re looking for rainy day fun, a reprieve from the summer heat, or if you just like museums, the Cincinnati Museum Center is a terrific destination for a day trip.
One of nature’s greatest gifts is when clouds gather and moisture falls to the ground. Whether it’s snow or rain, it feels like a genuine miracle particularly when it has been dry. I also like when rain cools off a hot day.
All the same, I’m ready to cry uncle. Holy cow. It has rained so much lately that I’m starting to mold. Worst of all, any nice weather we have seems to come during the workday. My free time has been very, very damp.
The good news is that the flowers (and weeds) love it. The weeds are quickly taking over but I have lots of roses, peonies and daisies blooming all side any number of plants that promise to flower soon.
Spring in Ohio can be incredibly wet and unpredictable. I hate to complain because it won’t be long before summer moves in and the sun leaves the earth parched and a lack of rain makes us long for moisture.
Last night brought a real treat. The Northern Lights found their way to southern Ohio and I had a decent view from my own front yard.
Mind you, I’m ringed by trees so the view wasn’t great. However, it was good enough given that I’ve always wanted to see this natural phenomenon and it isn’t every day it’s visible in southern Ohio.
I didn’t get to witness much movement but did see light pinks and purples transform into brilliant, rich shades.
I still want to see the lights from Iceland someday but this was a fantastic introduction. Here’s one more!
The Cincinnati Museum Center houses four quality museums including a natural history museum.
You can buy one pass that gets you into this museum, the Cincinnati History Museum and a children’s museum. Admission to the Holocaust museum and the IMAX experience are extra. We did the basic pass, opting to come back another day to explore the rest.
I was most excited for the Cincinnati history museum but, as it turns out, this one was my favorite of the two. They won me over at the front door with the Neil Armstrong Space Exploration Gallery. Using photos, some original artifacts, a few reproductions and a little technology, they do a good job telling this Ohio native’s story as the first person to walk on the moon.
Dinosaur Hall was a lot of fun and there was a jaw dropping long horn bison to appreciate as well. I had no idea such a beast ever existed. It was as big as a car!
Another highlight was going through a simulated cave and the joy of seeing a living bat up close. Lots of people find bats threatening or frightening but I think they’re neat little guys!
I learned that, in geologic terms, we are living in the Anthropocene Age. You know, it has never crossed my mind to wonder about this. I’m probably not alone in my failure to consider my place in the grand scheme of time. In case you’re wondering, Anthro means human and cene means recent. The name basically means the humans have left a lasting mark on the planet.
No kidding.
This is just one reason I enjoy museums so much. Sometimes they feature interesting or pretty things to enjoy and they often show you things you didn’t know existed. If you’re paying attention, a good museum will always give you something to think about and hopefully an idea to revisit another day.
There’s something for everyone here including some thought provoking stuff you might not expect to see. Learn more about the museum here and about the building that houses it here.
Union Terminal in Cincinnati was designed with an attention to detail that simply isn’t found much in modern architecture.
There’s a lot to unpack in the above picture- the lights, the jaw dropping mosaic tile artwork, the ceiling, the marble and the font on the directional sign “to trains” are all worthy of our study.
The space is both grandiose and simplistic. Ornate and streamlined. That’s the thing about art deco style – they keep the lines clean but make a big statement!
It’s a showstopper, isn’t it? Come back tomorrow. We will visit one of the museums that lives in this building!
When choosing a hotel, I have different preferences for different kinds of trips. If it’s a road trip where I’m rolling in late and out again early, cost, clean and convenient are the three C’s.
If it’s a longer trip and it’s possible to stay within walking distance of my activities, a downtown location is terrific. If looking for something quieter or will need the car a lot, I prefer to stay away from downtown city streets that can easily be congested and where parking costs add up quickly.
When we stayed in Cincinnati this last time, I wanted a convenient location in a quiet neighborhood with free parking. I have stayed in downtown a couple of times and that wasn’t the right setting this trip.
After a quick look at the area around Cincinnati proper, my eye wandered up the map to Blue Ash, a nice suburb with reasonable prices and convenient access to the highway. It was a 15 or 20 minute drive to our first destination each day but I didn’t mind since we had no reason to return to the room during the day and there were bookstores to visit on the way back both days.
We eventually chose to stay with Sonesta Suites. I don’t recall ever staying with this chain before but we couldn’t have been more pleased.
It’s set up like condos with a variety of room types. I had chosen a king suite so these two introverts could have a little space to stretch out. The suite was to have a living room and nice eat-in kitchen.
It was a full house when we checked in and we learned upon arrival that we had been upgraded to a deluxe suite. That meant we had a second bedroom and bathroom. Both were unneeded but it was fun to have!
It was all so light, airy and comfortably furnished, we hated to leave. Plus, we were able to park close so we could keep an eye on the car. Not that it mattered. The neighborhood seemed safe and it was so peaceful we awoke to the sound of chirping birds each day.
The eat-in kitchen has full sized appliances and is equipped well enough that I could have cooked a meal here. Of course, that didn’t happen but we did order food to enjoy here each evening.
You can tell they have taken some steps to cut costs and to reduce plastic waste. At breakfast they use big bowls of yogurt rather than disposable single serves. There are pitchers of cold drinks and a nice display of baked goods rather than prepackaged granola bars and bottled drinks. I liked that about them a lot. Plus, the hot food was decent too.
We won’t always have an upgraded room but I plan to make this hotel my go-to anytime I need a place to stay over there.
A quick look at their website confirmed that all Sonesta locations are not created equally but I will certainly consider them in future travels!
Make the Journey Fun 