The Roebling Bridge over the Ohio River with Cincinnati in the background.By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher, GwinnettForum
JUNE 1, 2018 | Skyline Chili is to Cincinnati what the Varsity is the Atlanta.
Chances are for Atlantans, that Skyline chili seems a little tame. But Cincinnatians probably wouldn’t appreciate the tanginess of the Varsity hot dog.
The Queen City of Cincinnati also cultivates people with praise for Graeter’s ice cream. While it could be good, perhaps it was the circumstances that we were in that didn’t allow us to appreciate it as we should.
We spent three days in Cincinnati recently, every day with overcast skies and rain. One afternoon we walked from our hotel for a Graeter’s destination, two blocks away.
As we waited for a traffic light, it began to sprinkle. Once across one street, then having to cross another, it began to rain harder, and us with no umbrella. By then we were more than halfway to the ice cream parlor, so we continued on, running, through by then in a downpour, feeling the wetness of our soggy pant legs from the blowing rain.
So maybe when we arrived at Graeter’s, we weren’t in the best mood for ice cream than when we started out. Dripping into the shop, we ordered. By the time we left, it was merely drizzling. You can see where our mind was, on the rain and us being soaked, not paying much attention to the ice cream. We don’t think it measures up to Ben and Jerry’s, or even to Bruster’s. But Cincinnatians are proud of Graeter’s.
Why visit Cincinnati? Because we had never been. It’s an old town, founded in 1788. We passed one restaurant about seven blocks from the river, which said it had been serving food since 1788. We bet its first location was hard by the river.
Three United States presidents were born or raised in Cincinnati: Ulysses S. Grant (18th), Benjamin Harrison (23rd), and William Howard Taft (27th).
Cincinnati’s downtown is laid out on a grid, and easy to get around. Staying downtown, we could walk to many locations. We attended a play, just four blocks away.
We like the Cincinnati Bell Connector, a streetcar on a 3.6 mile loop from downtown to the Over the Rhine neighborhood. We took it to Phoenix Market, a busy place on a Saturday for people buying fresh vegetables and meats, to those simply stopping by to nourish themselves at eateries. The Cincinnati street car two hour pass cost $1, but all day is just $2. That encourages ridership.
Cincinnati, being nearly as old as our nation, was once the jumping off place for the West. And as such it produced businessmen early on who made their fortunes. Today it’s a center of banking and insurance, known for its varied restaurants, including several legendary German ones. Proctor and Gamble, plus Kroger, are headquartered there.
Our cultural element on this trip was a visit to the Taft Museum. It is well done, and our High Museum card got us a 75 percent discount!
Right across the river are Newport and Covington, Ky. The Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) is smart enough to run a continuous free shuttle from these towns to Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati. It was great to hop the shuttle and five minutes later be dropped off at Newport’s Hofbrauhaus for lunch. Afterward we returned via the trolley directly to our hotel. So these two Kentucky towns benefit from downtown Cincinnati visitors.
Our visit was a short trip, but a nice one. You can have a good time in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Our next venture? We hear good things about Greenville, S.C., next in sight.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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