We arrived on Wed 5/19/21 during regular business hours and no one was…read more there to help us. We struggled to finally find a parking space around the block.We also tried calling the phone number listed on the board at the entrance to no avail ,window shades were drawn. If they were possibly closed due to Covid there was no indication of notice. It was a great disappointment ,especially with the hassel of finally parking. Hopefully not to many people have to go thru what we did!!

The Betts House is a small museum tucked away in the West End, just off of Central Avenue. Clark…read moreStreet looks like it is miles away from Downtown Cincinnati, with its Italianate houses and gigantic canopy of oak trees. This part of town looks like it's straight out of a New England movie, with historic houses to boot. The Betts House is the oldest house in Cincinnati and Ohio, erected in 1804, just one year after Ohio became a state. The Betts family originally owned several blocks of land on the West End, but as generations passed, Cincinnati expanded and plots of land were split. Surprisingly, when the Betts lived here, the West End was considered rural. Just two stories tall and consisting of eight rooms, the house chronicles the history of the Betts family and the evolution of the West End in the permanent upstairs exhibit. Downstairs features a rotating exhibit, currently which is about the New Madrid Earthquake in 1811. The earthquake was felt here in Cincinnati and caused extensive damage to the Betts' kitchen. Sounds pretty cool, so why only three stars? During my visit, a mother brought her toddler to visit one of the docents. Their conversation could be heard loudly throughout the house, even when I was on the second floor and they were downstairs. The toddler was screaming and crawling all over the place. The docent didn't seem to mind that she was getting weird looks from myself and a few of the other guests. That being said, please do not bring children to the Betts House. It's a museum for adults or mature youth. Most of the exhibit features text and diagrams which are much too complex for anyone under age 10. Also, since there is a lot of reading, excessive noise and talking disturbs other patrons. Lastly, when I went upstairs to view the Betts Family exhibit, the room featured a few posterboards propped up on the floor. They weren't on stands or affixed to the wall like a normal museum. I actually had to kneel to read the end of the paragraphs. As a historical landmark, the Betts House is worth a look. The presentation at the museum, on the other hand, I could go either way. Cost per person: $2.00 Viewing Time: 1 hour Tips: - Ample, free street parking - Not handicapped accessible, as it is preserved as a historic house. - Check out the neighboring house with a placard, where the Gamble Family once resided.

Incredible. Everyone should have to view an experience like this…read more I really enjoyed the way that the exhibit is laid out. You start with an introductory film. Then you walk through an interactive(ish) area that tells the history and some personal stories (with a Cincinnati connection). The most unique aspect of the exhibit was the interactive AI room where you could ask a survivor questions and get responses. It was really interesting to ask a variety of questions and get uniquely personal answers (apparently based on hours of interview footage with the real individuals). The last part of the museum focuses on civil and human rights post holocaust. It gave examples of being "upstanders" and gives a call to action. Overall, an amazing place to visit where we learned about new perspectives.

We went to see the "Not Long Ago. Not Far Away." exhibit that was in town for a couple more weeks…read more I was very impressed with the experience from start to finish. Check in was a breeze. They handed out the listening devices, explained how to use them, and gave a few suggestions on how to not just stay in a cluster of people. The Auschwitz exhibit was very moving and all the people going through it were quiet and respectful throughout.

Pete rose hit #4192 marker is a small imbedded into the ground Remembrance of legendary…read moreCincinnati reds baseball player being the all time hits leader located outside the home baseball stadium of the reds great American ballpark. This easy to miss marker celebrating the hit king is located in some Astro turf along the side street next to the stadium just outside of the red stockings pavilion. Overall very cool honor for the hitting legend. Unfortunately with his baseball van keeping the hit king out of baseball these are only type of superlatives the man can have right now. They also have a rally cool statue out front of Pete rose. So it's cool to see his old team honor the man in many ways as possible.

CANstruction is an international community service project of the design and construction industry…read moreto benefit community food banks. Every March, architects, engineers, designers and contractors compete to design and build fantastic giant-sized structures made entirely out of canned foods. Teams of five people gather at five different locations around Cincinnati to build 10'x10'x10' sculptures in five hours. Following the construction, the exhibits stay up for three weeks for public viewing. Cincinnati consistently places at the top of America's best designs. In April, the sculptures are dismantled and donated to Freestore Foodbank. In 2012, CANstruction raised 55,000 lbs of food which equals over 40,000 meals for families in need. Since it's conception 15 years ago, over 500,000 lbs have been donated. Themed sculptures have included: - Pacman - Stormtrooper - Mr. Potato Head losing body parts - Kool-aid Man busting through a wall - A giant baseball glove - A giant bra - Rubix cube - a full-sized kitchen - Arc de Triumph - an Angry Birds scene ... and many more! The main venue for the sculptures is the Weston Art Gallery at the Aronoff, with other exhibits at Downtown Library, Downtown Macy's, and the Scripps Center on Walnut Street. Cost: FREE

Synthetica-M Gallery is located in Brighton (down the hill from Clifton and at the Mouth of Over…read morethe Rhine). They have monthly openings and closings of new work that generally showcases 3 to 4 artists at a time. The gallery draws a rich mixture of local, national, and international artists in a wide variety of mediums. You never know what you will see there, but more often than not it is good. The Gallery brings in artwork that you wouldn't see in other galleries in the city and in the past has shown street art, steam punk, and large sculpture pieces. Check their website and Facebook page for dates and details.

We stumbled across this place when our original hiking plans were changed due to the park being…read moreclosed (Boone Cliffs). Luckily, we brought along our 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles from Cincinnati and this place was right down the road. Despite growing up 30 minutes away, neither of us had ever heard of this place. Seems like we must have missed out on a school field trip opportunity for sure. The grounds are really cool, we did not go into the main house (COVID-19), but looked in all the open buildings. A really cool step back in time. We did the hiking trail, up past the wine house to the cemetery, very cool- yet straight uphill. The trail itself has recently been marked again so there were plently of markers to follow but it's still pretty rough. We had to climb over large tree trunks a few times and part of the trail is basically straight uphill. The walk is a loop and took about an hour, but we were moving quickly trying to beat the sunset. The best part, we only saw two other people the entire time we were here. A great place to escape the hustle and bustle, yet close to Florence and Rabbit Hash.

This interesting 19th century property belonged to five generations of Dinsmores, a well-connected,…read morewell-educated, and well-traveled family that mingled with the likes of American president Theodore Roosevelt. Completed in 1842, the house is open for tours from April through December. Adults are $5, seniors $3, and students $2. The house contains an enormous amount of family literature, over 90,000 pages of letters, journals, and business records which offer an intimate portrayal of the Dinsmore family life. On the thirty acre grounds, hiking trails allow visitors to enjoy pristine Kentucky backwoods. Educational outreach is an important part of the mission of Dinsmore Homestead. Community classes include school programs, such as "Children's Live 150 Years Ago" and "Environmental Practices Past and Present," and adult programs like "Mountain Dulcimer Making" and "Heirloom Plant Workshop." The most enjoyable time to visit Dinsmore Homestead has to be during the Annual Harvest Festival, held at the end of September. Experts in period costumes give tours of the home and lands, bluegrass musicians entertain the crowd, while country cooks serve tasty country ham sandwiches. A must-see event for history buffs and those who cherish a more simple time.

Chase Public is a place perfectly suited to the diverse and eclectic Northside neighborhood…read more Occupying a former feminist sex shop (Elyse's Passion), this classroom sized area offers a diverse meeting space for people of all makeups to come together and share. Events run the gamut from poetry readings to movie screenings and everything in between. Their facebook page is the best place to stay informed about events and other social activities. I scanned it before I wrote this review and a poetry reading is happening one week and then an Amy Winehouse listening party the next. I love the free spirited nature of CP and while this venue and events might not seem to be for everyone, I do feel that one should try to venture out and experience new things in order to be a more well rounded person. The event we went to was a movie screening followed by a roundtable discussion. We bailed on the discussion but the movie was very thought provoking (The Mask You Live In," a documentary from Jennifer Siebel Newsom, follows boys and young men as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating America's narrow definition of masculinity.) I'm glad that Chase Public exists and encourage you to find an event to attend.

Cultural gem with thoughtful programs. Most events free to the public!! Stylish new building.read more

We chose CCAC for our wedding reception because it was in the same neighborhood as the church where…read morewe got married. When we started planning, Raine was the event coordinator. She was immediately buffaloed by straight-forward questions, and she just would not stay organized or save/file any documents we supplied at her request, so I ended up having to make a packet of all of her info so she could keep track better. I really felt like I was her secretary, but she was supposed to be working for us! A few weeks before the wedding she was letting us know when to have our vendors come drop off our orders, but she would change the timeframe day to day, which led to me having to keep updating our florist, caterer and table rental people. Working with her added so much work on my end since I had to keep updating the vendors on when they could come drop off our order when Raine shifted the timeline and then sending the same information over and over since Raine didn't save it the first time she requested it. Luckily for us, Raine was replaced by Liz about 2 weeks before the wedding, and our experience immediately improved! Liz seems to be someone who is on top of things and cares about her clients. Liz was great about anticipating our needs beyond what we had already considered. As far as the space itself, the CCAC ballroom is a little bare, but we were really happy with how it looked with our decorations. They have a great lighting system, so we were able to program the lights on different modes for dinner versus dancing. Our guests had the chance to go around to the art gallery and onto the roof where there are a few firepits, so it was excellent for our guests who weren't big dancers. I think having other spaces for everyone to go gave everyone the chance to stay through to the end of the night. I was really happy nobody left early! For the price (about $4500), I thought the plastic folding chairs that come with the rental were a little flimsy and uncomfortable, so I splurged on banquet chairs from an outside vendor. My main selling point with CCAC was that it was walkable from our church, so I really didn't consider anywhere else. If I had worked with Liz from the start, and if CCAC offered better chairs or a little lower price I think I would easily give CCAC 5*!