Must see Cincinnati
It’s got premium pork, ace beer and top sport. No wonder ‘Cincy’ is Wowing visitors
Cincinnati is the Comeback Kid of the USA’S Midwest. A decade ago it was better known for gang violence than tourism. But these days the city has cleaned up its act so much, budget airline WOW has chosen it as the destination for its new route out of Stansted. And no wonder, because it’s a bit of a hidden gem.
Cincinnati is where the north meets the south, where Ohio meets Kentucky, and where old meets new.
Here are six things a first-time visitor should see, do or try. Cincinnati is something of a pioneer. As we stood at the top of the 1931 Carew Tower (cincinnatiusa.com, $4), the prime observation point of the city at 574ft, we were surrounded by firsts.
The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge was the longest in the world at 1,057ft when it opened in 1866 and the prototype for New York’s Brooklyn Bridge.
Then you can turn to the Great American Ball Park – home of the Cincinnati Reds, the US’S first-ever baseball franchise.
Even the Carew Tower was the inspiration for the Empire State Building. Looks like ‘Cincy’, as the locals call it, was the first draft for the rest of the country. “The main source of water for residents was the canal, which is was basically a stagnant river. They drank beer to be healthy… and most of us still do!”
Those were the words of our local tour guide, as he explained where the drinking culture in Cincinnati came from.
They certainly know how to party. At Aaron up the Carew Tower
one point, locals were believed to drink an average 100 gallons of beer a year each. But then, they’ve got enough pubs to make it possible. Over-the-rhine, the neighbourhood named for its influx of Germans in the early 1800s, is your place to go. With cool bars and local brews (try Rhinegeist, rhinegeist.com), it’s a hip location benefitting from investment in the city.
Taft’s Ale House (taftsalehouse.com), a microbrewery in Cincinnati’s oldest protestant church, is another highlight.
But if you prefer bourbon to beer, head south into Kentucky where New Riff (newriffdistilling.com) offers tours. If you’re vegan, Cincinnati might not be the place for you – it’s nicknamed Porkopolis for a reason. And then they go and lump piles of cheese on top.
Probably the most popular Cincy favourite is the Skyline Chili chain where a mix of minced meat, cinnamon, cocoa and chilli is served on top of spaghetti.
Another treat is the goetta (pronounced get-uh) – a German sausage served at breakfast, lending the textures and flavours of pork, beef and wholegrain oats. Just like the chili, it’s very moreish.
The historic Findlay Market (findlaymarket.org) is the perfect place to try out local tastes and Cincinnati Food Tours can show you the best bits (cincinnatifoodtours.com, $25pp). Be sure to visit the Bridge across the Ohio River famous Graeter’s Ice Cream, in Cincinnati for over a century (graeters.com). At the Great American Ball Park The streets are full of paintings and murals, on nearly every corner. Findlay Market has an large collection. Back in downtown, there is an eye-catching giant robot outside the Contemporary Arts Centre (contemporaryartscenter. org, free), worth a visit if modern and abstract art is your thing.
The Cincinnati Arts Museum (cincinnatiartmuseum.org, free) is a more traditional gallery, with more than 65,000 works of art. Cincinnati locals live for sport.when the Reds (baseball, mlb com/reds, from $5) play, it’s an event, a spectacle, a party. The Great American Ball Park gives the full American experience. The Bengals (American football, bengals. com, from $41) have some of the most passionate fans in the game, playing in a state-of-the-art stadium by the river. FC Cincinnati (football, fccincinnati.com, from $10) are about to move into a new ground ahead of a move into Major League Soccer. They get crowds of 30,000-plus and create a great vibe. The Cincinnati experience that left a real impression on me was the visit to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Centre (freedomcenter.org, $15) by the river. Across a range of exhibits and artwork, it addresses the difficult subject of slavery in the US historically and worldwide today.
Branding itself a museum of conscience, it tells powerful stories of when neighbouring Kentucky was a slave state and Ohio was not.
A fire burns outside the museum, which will only be extinguished when slavery has gone from the world.
With an estimated 21 million still enslaved, that’s not expected to be any time soon.
hotelcovington.com Chili chain and local beer
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