Setting Your Sights on Cincinnati!

Register for the National Meeting in Cincinnati, OH.

Setting Your Sights on Cincinnati
By Sandy Haffner, photo by Sandy Haffner

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So, you have marked your calendar and registered for the National ACS Meeting to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio in June. And you've decided to make the meeting into a conifer-cation and spend a few extra days exploring the area. But where should you visit, and what should you plan to do while there? Read on!

The ACS meeting will take place both in northern Kentucky and across the Ohio River in Cincinnati. If you are staying at the flagship hotel close to the airport, you will be in northern Kentucky. But why is Cincinnati Airport in northern Kentucky? Well, Cincinnati had an airport (and still does) called Lunken which was prone to frequent runway floodings. So, in 1942 when FDR approved federal funds for a new airport, Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties in northern Kentucky lobbied Congress to build the airport in northern Kentucky!

From your hotel, if you head south on I-71/75 to the Burlington, KY exit, visit Ammons Nursery, 6089 Camp Ernst Rd. They have a good selection of both conifers and shrubs.

Head back across the Ohio River and continue north on I-75 to the Mitchell Avenue exit and head for the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens to see the U.S.'s second zoo. Noteworthy are the hippo bloat, which includes Tucker, Bibi, Fiona and Fritz. New also is the Elephant Trek (November 2023) which welcomed 2 adult female elephants and their young male calves. The Botanical Gardens of the Zoo encompasses 75 acres are home to over 3,000 accessions, from trees to groundcover.

Few visitors to Cincinnati realize that the city is built on 7 hills, just like Rome (our sister city). Travel to Eden Park, which is home to the Cincinnati Art Museum, which is a destination in itself! Along with the Art Museum, Eden Park also includes Mirror Lake, the Krohn Conservatory (with a bonsai collection worth viewing) and the President's Grove of trees. Walk up the hill form the Krohn to see the statue of Romulus and Remus (a gift from the city of Rome) and walk to the overlook to see a beautiful vista of the Ohio River!

Head back towards the Ohio River to visit Smale Riverfront Park and take a ride on the historic Carol Ann's Carousel. Panels above the carousel animals depict historical sites around Cincinnati and the carousel animals were built by Carousel Works in Mansfield, OH, the world's largest manufacturer of hand-carved wooden carousels. If you're heading back to northern Kentucky from Smale Park, cross the Ohio River using the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, which at a span of 1,075 feet is the longest suspension bridge in the world!

If the weather is good and you'd like to visit one or more of Cincinnati's parks, choose Ault Park, with its 224 acres of trails, rose gardens, Japanese cherry trees and lookout points. It is one of the best parks to observe the ancient geological features of Cincinnati. Also choose to visit Mt. Airy Arboretum, which includes many lovely mature conifers. Ohio is also home to more than 70 earthen mounds, earthworks sites of the Adena and Hopewell tribes that lived from 3,000 BCE until the 16th century.

Cincinnati's past is rich with brewing history. You can experience that history by going on a tour of the lagering tunnels, built before refrigeration and used to create German-style lagered beers. 40 feel below the streets of the neighborhood called Over-the-Rhine, lagering tunnels cover 10,000 square feet and maintain a year-round temperature of around 55 degrees.

Another site worthy of a visit while in Cincinnati is the Museum Center, complete with an Omnimax Theather, Museum of Natural History, Cincinnati History Museum, and the beautiful Union Terminal. Built in the Art Deco style of architecture, the Museum Center boasts the largest half-dome in the Western Hemisphere and a Rookwood tiled ice cream parlor. While on the west side of town, head up the hill to Price Hilland the Public Incline house for a bite to eat and a view from the patio that is unequaled! Built on the site close to where one of Cincinnati's inclines operated, the incline system idea was "stolen" from the city of Pittsburgh, PA. In its heyday, Cincinnati boasted 5 inclines.

Upon reading this article, you may have to increase the length of your conifer-cation!