Dear People from Cincinnati (Cincinnatians?),

As I began my two-hour trek from Indianapolis to Cincinnati last weekend, I didn’t quite know what to expect from your city. I’d never been to Cincinnati before, and all I really knew was the Reds played there, and my friend from Cleveland called it Cinci-nasty sometimes.

My friend and I remained optimistic as we cruised down I-74 on the way south, excited to begin our weekend visiting our Cincinnati friends. It was smooth sailing for a while until we drove close to the city, and my GPS took us around six different freeways, like I-75S, I-71N and US50. For five minutes my GPS actually took us into Kentucky, and then back into Ohio. How do you keep track of the different roads?

I didn’t realize this before, but Cincinnati is across the river from Kentucky. The two sides of the river look pretty identical, but my friend from Cincinnati made it very clear it was Kentucky, and thus inferior to the other Ohio side. Do you have a rivalry with Kentucky? If so, you win. Almost everyone wins over Kentucky.

After the three of us reunited, we headed out to explore the town, which is when I discovered the beauty of your city. There were very interesting and different murals everywhere. Cincinnati also has the Banks, which is the beautiful public park area that overlooks the river. The park had swings for adults, a big piano-looking object and a giant chess set you can play on, like in Harry Potter! I was blown away.

One perk of the Banks is it is right next to The Great American Ball Park, which is where the Cincinnati Reds play. I know this because I saw approximately 4,000 people walking to the game. Everyone everywhere was wearing Reds hats, shirts, sweatshirts and other fan gear. I was a little overwhelmed by the number and intensity of Reds fans, but I was also very impressed.

Also, I noticed how many different bridges Cincinnati has in the Banks. This might be a minor observation, but you have many of them. The bridges are all different, and Cincinnati has no aesthetic unity. There are many huge high schools, Catholic churches, and Taste of Belgium restaurants. Seriously, my friends and I tried to go to the one on the University of Cincinnati campus, and we accidentally went to two different ones instead.

Speaking of what is in Cincinnati, almost everyone is German, or at least a little. Maybe I’m biased because my friends and I went to Oktoberfest when we were there, but it seems as if many people from Cincinnati are German. Cincinnati holds the largest Oktoberfest outside of Germany, and it was awesome. My friends and I took a picture with two men wearing lederhosen.

After Oktoberfest, we saw Wicked at the Aronoff Center for the Arts. I know the musical doesn't have anything to do with Cincinnati, but it was still extremely amazing to experience.

I enjoyed my time in Cincinnati very much. It was a great city full of art, museums and interesting neighborhoods. I didn’t do everything I wanted to, like visiting the zoo and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, because I didn’t have time. I guess those events will be saved for the next time I visit the Queen City.

Actually, why do they call Cincinnati the Queen City? Did a queen visit once? What’s the name of the city on the Kentucky side of the river? Why were there statues of pigs everywhere? Cincinnati left me with many questions that I hope to receive the answers to one day.

Sincerely,

A Girl Who Visited Cincinnati Exactly Once And Liked It Quite A Lot