48 hours in The Queen City

Let's start this post with a trivia question:  Where is the Cincinnati airport located?  (answer at bottom of page).

I spent a few days in Cincinnati last week (moniker indeed is the Queen City, coined from a Longfellow poem), and would like to share with you some highs and low's from my quick trip to the Midwest.

Let's start with the positives.  I was in downtown Cincinnati, and it's a beautiful skyline:

Cincinnati is home to three (3) of the largest consumer companies in the United States; Kroger (supermarket/pharmacy), Proctor and Gamble (Crest, Tide, etc.) and Macy's.  Cincinnati is the third largest city in Ohio (behind Cleveland and Columbus) and is the 65th largest city in the United States.

The center of the city is dominated by Fountain Square, a stunning gathering place with festivals year round.  There is large German heritage here, so many events have a German theme, dominated by the Oktoberfest in September.  Cincinnati is also an art/culture filled city, with various galleries sprinkled throughout the downtown area.

The largest Universities are the University of Cincinnati (Bearcats, public, enrollment 40,000) and Xavier (Musketeers, Jesuit, enrollment 5,000).  The two schools are fierce rivals, as they are separated by just 3 miles, and you see many alumni walking the streets proudly wearing their respective school colors.

No visit to Cincinnati would be complete without visiting Skyline Chili, founded and prominent throughout the city.  Skyline is not traditional chili, rather it's a sauce usually spread over hot dogs or spaghetti; I promise it's worth trying.

The riverfront (Ohio River) is a great place for a long walk, where you will run into the baseball stadium of the Reds(Baseball, Great American Ballpark), Bengals (Football, Paul Brown Stadium) and US Bank Arena (concerts, etc.), all within a short walk of each other.  No car needed to get around the city, and plenty of shops, restaurants and bars.

The city is full of activity during the evening hours, but the downtown area still has progress to make.  Most people remain indoors, as there is a large homeless/panhandler population, which you will encounter at least every other block.  Also, there are not many residences downtown (although you can see construction on apartment buildings), thus, you feel touristy and a bit unsafe.  Cincinnati has the feeling of a city on the rise, but a few steps left to navigate.

I would encourage all to take a visit; 2-3 days should be enough to see most of the Queen City

Finally, trivia answer; the Cincinnati airport is located in Hebron, Kentucky