Home to one of America's biggest branding companies, some of the country's best chili, and one of the country's most beloved (or hated) baseball teams, Cincinnati is the quintessential American city, whether in a red state or blue state. Add one of the country's best cultural art centers and civic museums, and Cincinnati just became a heck of a lot more than a place every advertising executive "has" to travel to. It's a growing city located just a hop, skip and a jump from Lexington, Louisville, Indianapolis, Nashville and Chicago. With low airfares, it's also a great place to spend a long summer weekend steeped in good old-fashioned Americana goodness.
Three new museums have contributed to making Cincinnati an important cultural site for historians, artists and athletes. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame are all must-stops when weekending in the former "Porkopolis."
After having been called "the most important American building to be completed since the end of the Cold War" by the New York Times, Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center (tel. 513/345.8400; www.contemporaryartscenter.org), completed in 2003, has become a major player in the world's modern art scene. This summer's exhibits include "The Jackleg Testament," forms and figures from Jay Bollotin, an American visual artist, set designer and filmmaker who's work appears in New York's Modern Museum of Art. "The Jackleg Testament" runs through August 21, 2005. Located in central Cincinnati, the Contemporary Arts Center is a site to see in itself. Architecture lovers can read up on the building at www.contemporaryartscenter.org/newbuilding/default.html.
If you're a baseball fan, then the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum (tel. 513/765-7576; www.cincinnatireds.com), located at the home of the Reds at the Great American Ballpark in downtown, is an interactive edition to the Reds family. The first-ever professional baseball team, the Reds have a great baseball tradition and owned baseball in the 1970s with their Great Red Machine. While they may be struggling today, the ballpark is beautiful and Ken Griffey Jr. still roams centerfield, which is never a bad thing.
For literature and a bit of history, the National Underground Freedom Railroad Center (tel. 513/333-7500; www.freedomcenter.org) has vast collections of educational materials relating to the underground slave railroad that provided a route to freedom for so many Southern slaves. Why Cincinnati? Because the Ohio River was a pivotal marking line between freedom and slavery and thousands of slaves made a pilgrimage to freedom on its banks. Don't forget that Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin was from the Cincinnati area. Her house is nearby.
Getting to Cincinnati is easy on Delta Airlines (tel. 800/221-1212; www.delta.com). Round-trip from Atlanta to the Lexington, Kentucky airport, a quick drive to Cincinnati, starts from $178 for Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday travel if you purchase your ticket by June 14, 2005 and travel by August 31, 2005. You need to book ten days in advance and stay over at least one night. Delta also has some flights into Cincinnati from New York starting from $247 for summer round-trip travel. A Saturday night stay is required with the ten-day in advance booking.
A smart place to start looking for hotel deals is Cincinnati USA's "Accommodations" page (www.cincyusa.com/usdm). They have links to all local Cincinnati hotels, some of which have great summer specials. One of those hotels, the Garfield Suites (tel. 800/367-2155; www.garfieldsuiteshotel.com), has an Internet-only special offering a two-bedroom suite for only $99 per night. Located close to the Proctor and Gamble headquarters in the middle of downtown, this deal gives you a lot of room size for very little buck. You can't book this more than 30 days before your stay and the rate is only good for Friday, Saturday or Sunday night. Sound too good to be true? It's not. Go to www.garfieldsuiteshotel.com/contribute/specialevents.htm#internetspecial to see for yourself.
About those good eats. Chili served Cincinnati style is a different animal altogether from Southwestern chili. It's served with spaghetti or over macaroni and it's more from the Chili Dog family of eats than the sitting around a campfire family. Camp Washington Chili (tel. 513/541-0061; www.hollyeats.com/CampWashington.htm) and Skyline Chili (www.skylinechili.com) are two of the most-well known chili havens in town. Be sure to order your chili five ways, meaning it'll come on top of spaghetti topped with beans, onion and cheese.
What's your favorite thing to do when visiting Cincinnati? Share your thoughts with fellow Frommer's travelers on our Ohio Message Boards today.