Some might think spending a summer in Cincinnati might be boring, or that there isn't much to do to while the days tick away, but actually, there is quite a bit! Here are just a few things to keep your summer filled with food, fun and sun.
1. Get cheap tickets to a Red’s game, but pregame at the banks before you go! Get your tickets here. Also don't forget about the Bark in the Park games during the summer, which are June 9, August 23 and September 13, where you can bring your dog with you to the Reds Game. check out tickets for that here.
2. Try your luck at the Horseshoe Casino. This casino is open 24 hours and has seven restaurants. It's a great time to go win (or lose) some money and get dressed up with your closest group of friends.
3. Go eat your face off at Taste of Cincinnati! This will take place May 28-30, and will be located downtown on Fifth Street. They will have live music performances and more than 100 different dishes to offer you! Check out their website before you head down to figure out where your favorite foods will be.
4. Go see the true-to-life replica of Noah's Arc! This giant structure allows people to go back in time and see what it was like to experience what Noah's Arc looked like in the era of the biblical Great Flood. This structure is 510 feet long and almost 50 feet tall, and is the largest wooden timber structure in the world!It's able to house 10,000 people and will include a live petting zoo and other shows. This opens July 7 and is located less than an hour south of Cincinnati.
5. Drink a margarita at one of these five local restaurants, where tequila never tasted so good! Bakersfield in OTR offers three kinds of margaritas: a top-shelf version, a spicy variant and the house Bakersfield margarita. These are $7 for one, or you can get a pitcher, which range from $28-52. Mazunte always has $5.50 margaritas, cheaper, but still taste fantastic. Nada has a sweeter marg to offer, made with honey, and during happy hour, they are only $5! Rio Grande offers a monster, 44-ounce margarita for only $13.13 as well as a regular size marg for a little more than $5, both a great deal. Lastly, Taqueria Mercado offers $4 margaritas during happy hour, which goes perfectly with their awesome queso.
6. See your favorite band perform at the Bunbury Music Festival. The dates for this musical festival are June 3, 4 and 5. Some performances you won’t want to miss out on are The Killers, Florence + The Machine, Of Monsters and Men and DeadMau5. All three-day passes are sold out, unfortunately, but single day tickets are $89, which you can buy here.
7. Visit Findlay Market on an early Saturday morning and snag some fresh flowers or some yummy vegetables and other goodies. Findlay Market also offers free 30-minute tours on the second and fourth Saturday of the month at 10 am. There's also a Biergarten you can visit. The hours it's open, along with the beer and music schedule can be found here.
8. Snag some ice cream at Graeter’s, and try their seasonal flavors for the summer, which include strawberry chocolate chip, peach, watermelon sorbet and key lime pie! Yum!
9. Spend a Saturday afternoon at Rhinegeist Brewery and play a few games of corn hole or ping pong in their 25,000 square foot facility, while you try one of their 14 beers they're currently pouring! Their hours are Monday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., Friday from 4 p.m. to midnight, Saturday from noon to midnight and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.! Don't forget that they do not serve food, but you are more than welcome to bring your own!
10. Go to a FC Cincinnati Game! Cincinnati welcomed it's first USL Club that began playing in the newly renovated Nippert Stadium this May. Cincinnati fans broke the USL attendance record for a game with 20,497 in attendance for the rivalry game against Louisville City FC, and again, broke their own record on May 14 with 23,375 in attendance! Be a part of this inaugural season by buying your blue and orange gear and cheering on your team as they continue to play on through the season! The next home game is on Saturday, May 28 against the City Islanders! Buy your tickets here.
11. Pick up a six pack and head to Eli’s BBQ. This is, hand’s down, the best BBQ Cincinnati has to offer. My favorite combination is the pulled pork sandwich with a side of jalapeño grits and a side of mac and cheese!The food is amazing, and they have outdoor seating with a BYOB policy. What could be better?
12. Go for a cool, afternoon run across the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge! There's a ton of great running areas around the Ohio River that you can hit all in one day. If you're training for a half or full marathon, these running routes are perfect!
13. Check out the zoo babies at America’s second oldest zoo, the Cincinnati Zoo, on a random afternoon. These include four cheetah cubs, two baby gorillas, two baby Bonobos (chimpanzees) a baby Takin and more!
14. Grab tickets for the Zac Brown Band on July 1 at Riverbend! These guys couldn't be nicer or more talented and always put on one hell of a show. Hurry and get your tickets here.
15. Attend the Western and Southern Tennis Open in Mason taking place August 13-21. This is a Masters 1000 event on the ATP World Tour, meaning the top 44 men are required to play. It is also a Premier 5 WTA women's event. Some famous players who competed last year were Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova! Buy your tickets for this here.
No matter what the event is, Cincinnati has so many different things to enjoy during the sunny, warm months of summer! Get out of the house and enjoy everything the Queen City has to offer!
