Downtown Cincinnati

We love this lifestyle and get to meet interesting people along the way in campgrounds and the Harvest Host locations.  The first day we arrived a gentleman was walking his dog and introduced himself.  He and his wife are at the campground looking for an apartment to rent in Cincinnati.  He is retired Army and likely in his late 70’s I would guess.  They have been travelling full time for about ten years and are finding it difficult scheduling trips around their medical appointments.  He did not get into what they were obviously, but we could tell he was not pleased about having to give up what they love.  They will rent an apartment and keep the RV for a while to do short trips.

He is from Cincinnati so had some good tips for things to see and do that are not necessarily on the map.  So, we changed what we had planned to a day filled with a routing that would get us to the things he told us about.

We were in no hurry to get going so had a leisurely start to the day.  Around 1000 we headed off toward downtown.  The Findlay Market History is quite interesting and is a great example of the importance of local support from the community and local suppliers.

Findlay Market entrance and inside pavilion

Cincinnati started a program with a number of two-car trams that run a circuitous route around downtown.  They started off being a free service and were very popular gibing citizens and tourists alike an opportunity to get around downtown and connect to the other transit hubs.  Through City decree it has been decided to keep it as a free service.  It takes about an hour to do the whole circuit and is a great way to see downtown.  One of the things that strikes you right away is the downtown is primarily old turn of the century buildings for the most part that have been revitalized and the City hired painters to put murals up against otherwise blank walls.  It made for an interesting site.  One was so lifelike you had to look carefully to see it was a mural and not the real building.  Unfortunately the tram windows reflected a lot of stuff so it does not do justice seeing it but here it is.

Next stop was a drive up town to one of Cincinnati’s own Skyline Chili restaurants.  Not the kind of chili we are used to but worth the stop.  It had a nice smoky flavour and the stores are set up like old diners, and based on what we saw with the comings and goings of patrons they are very popular and have their regulars.

Last stop was to a Graeters Ice Cream.  They have been in business for over 150 years and make an amazing ice cream.  I know Chapman’s makes a great ice cream back home, but this was worth stopping to try.  A little pricey but worth it for the quality.  It was $17.75 US for a pint of ice cream and two cones.