The boys and I went to Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park in Hamilton, Ohio a couple of years ago over summer break. Ben had never been, so he and I went last month to explore. Now, it is winter in Ohio and it was a windy cold day. We didn’t get to explore quite as much as we wanted due to icey spots and the cold wind. I would definitely recommend going in the Spring/Summer/Fall for the most enjoyment. They do have several really neat pieces! There are a few walking trails in the park as well, although we have not explored them yet.
After entering the park, follow the drive to the visitor center building where you can pay for your admission and rent a golf cart (they call them art carts) if desired. You can walk or drive around the park. There are parking spaces close to many of the sculptures.
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DETAILS:
WHERE: 1763 Hamilton Cleves Road Hamilton, OH 45013
HOURS: Park hours Sunday to Saturday 9:00am to 5:00pm. Museum Monday to Sunday 12:00pm to 5:00pm.
On our quest to find new and interesting things in our area to see, we found the Lucky Cat Museum, in the Clifton area. It is one woman’s personal collection of lucky cats. She has been an avid collector for years and has a large variety of Japanese Lucky Cats. The museum is free, although donations are welcome. There is also a gift shop where you can buy your own lucky cat themed items, ranging from postcards to lucky cats.
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One of my favorite pieces was a disco ball cat. The poor cat has been broken 3 times! The cat had been loaned out and broken. Micha glued it back together, painted it, and then covered it in the disco ball mirrors. The medallion and coins were left bare. The second time the cat broke, the medallion and coins were repaired and covered in mirrors and crystals. The last time it broke, the cat was glued together, filled with expanding foam, and the mirrors replaced.
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There were a few interactive pieces as well, including the slot machines (tokens provided).
After visiting the Harmon Museum, we walked across the street to the Golden Lamb to have lunch. Ben and I had both been there pre-kids. It is a really neat old hotel. The attached restaurant had undergone a renovation since we had last been there, so we decided to try the Black Horse Tavern. The restaurant had a nice fireplace, although we didn’t get to sit near it.
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They had the Christmas decorations up still (1/8/22), and it was fun seeing all the little sheep and lamb ornaments on the trees. We decided to try a few different items and share amongst ourselves. We ordered the Sauerkraut Balls, Bacon Jelly and Biscuits, Golden Lamb Farms Platter, Cheese Curds, and a bowl of the Shaker Chicken & Spaetzle soup.
It’s hard to go wrong with cheese curds and there are very few soups that Will doesn’t like. We liked the pickles from the platter and the sauerkraut balls were surprisingly delicious.
In our ongoing pursuit to seek out new and exciting frontiers and go where we have not gone before…. or just explore great attractions closer to home, we “discovered” the Harmon Museum located in Lebanon, Ohio.
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We were pleasantly surprised! The museum is a lot bigger than we were expecting. It showcases the local history, fossils, and Shaker artifacts. The museum also contains art pieces, many of which are from local artists. There were several interactive pieces to the museum as well, which is a big hit with the kids.
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A museum employee allowed Nick to honk the horn on a 1908 Buick. (I am not sure if everyone is allowed, or if we were just lucky!) The fossil room had informational sheets for kids that included Fossil Vocabulary Words and a Geology Word Glossary.
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One of my favorite parts was watching the kids trying to figure out how to use a typewriter and the rotary phone located in the town area. I’m going to date myself a bit and say that, although it was brief, I had experience with both items before we were saved by The Oregon Trail.
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This museum was great for seeing some local history. If you like learning about local history, stop in!
DETAILS:
WHERE: 105 S. Broadway, Lebanon, OH 45036
HOURS: Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
COSTS: $10/person, Family (2 adults, 2 kids) $20
PARKING: Yes (on street and parking lot)
BATHROOM: Yes
TIME RECOMMENDED: 2-3 hours
COVID RESTRICTIONS: Masks required (as of January 2022)
Details correct at time of posting, please double check before you go.
There is a really neat factory tour near Columbus, Ohio at a company called the American Whistle Corporation. I have had this on my list of things to do with the kids for years, but never got around to it. We finally found a day where everyone was off of school and made our appointment.
I would pay attention to your GPS, because although there is a small sign, it is easy to miss. There is parking around the back of the building. There is a small entryway with a display case and framed articles about the company. The next room is the main manufacturing area (which also includes the bathroom).
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The manufacturing area was smaller than I thought it would be, but it looks like they had it well laid out and made good use of the space. There was enough room for our group, plus 2 other small families, to walk around and listen to the tour.
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Our tour guide was great. He kept it interesting, as well as informative, and was enthusiastic about his place of work. The tour was a mix of walking and seeing the equipment, a demonstration of the equipment, watching people work, and watching a video. The tour ended at the plastic whistle area near the gift shop. The gift shop had several different items available for sale. At the end of the tour, each person also gets a metal whistle.
For an extra fee ($2.15) you can make/buy a plastic whistle. We made one whistle that I now have on my keys. To make your own whistle, you get to pick a color for either side, as well as the ball. We went with a glow in the dark, a blue, and then a green ball. You put together your whistle pieces (placing the ball in the interior circle area and line up the sides). Once you place your whistle in the machine, you pressed a button on either side and the machine sonic welds the pieces together.
I would definitely recommend taking this tour if you are close to Columbus!
HOURS: Tours are available Monday to Friday. (Currently, tours should be pre-scheduled. M/W/F tours are at 10:00am, T/R tours are at 1:00pm). Gift Shop is open M-F 9:00am-4:00pm.
COSTS: $6/person for the tour (includes a whistle)
PARKING: Yes (Parking available behind building.)
BATHROOM: Yes
TIME RECOMMENDED: 1 hour
COVID RESTRICTIONS: n/a
*Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.
When I was searching for unique things to do, this came up on my list. I used to work in downtown Cincinnati for years and did not know the Mercantile Library was there!
This Library is in an older building from the 1800s and is located on the 11th floor. (Don’t worry, there is an elevator going up to the Library.). There is paid parking available on the street or in nearby parking garages.
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This not a public library. That’s right, I said NOT a public library. It is a membership/subscription library. Annual dues are $65 (For an individual. There are several different membership options available.) This library began in 1835, created by a group of local merchants. They shared their books and funded the library with their own money. They eventually rented space in the Cincinnati College building. After a fire in 1845, the group pulled together to raise $10,000 to help rebuild the building, and in return the Library was given a 10,000 year lease.
I love older buildings; there is almost always something interesting about them. The library had a tiled floor entry, neat architectural details, and a spiral staircase. (I am a sucker for spiral staircases.) The second story on the right hand side had glass walkways! The building still had the old style US Mail Chute in the walls.
The Library doors open to a nice area with seating and select books displayed. To the right is the service desk, a bathroom, the spiral staircase leading to a meeting room, and a flight of stairs leading to a second story of books. To the left is additional seating, books behind glass door cases, and another flight of stairs leading to a second story of books. Some of these books were old, some were new. There were books I never heard of. There were also books I don’t think the public library would have (i.e. a section on the occult).
It was so quiet! There were only a few other people there, but they all were quiet while they read or worked on their laptops. I would not say that it is a younger child friendly library. There were no children’s books that we could see. However, on the plus side, it is a place where you could go to relax and read or get some work done. There were windows everywhere letting in light and views of downtown.
If you are in the downtown Cincinnati, Ohio area, check out this library treasure. It was a neat space and is a great piece of history. I never really thought about the history of libraries before. They were all funded by local taxes to become public libraries.
DETAILS:
WHERE: 414 Walnut St., Cincinnati Ohio 45202
COSTS: Free to Visit. Memberships begin at $30 for students. Individual memberships are $65, Household Membership $110. There are other membership packages as well.
HOURS: MONDAY-FRIDAY 9:00AM to 5:30PM, SATURDAY 10:00AM to 3:00PM
PARKING: On street (paid) or parking garage (paid)
BATHROOM: Yes (1)
TIME RECOMMENDED: 1+hours
COVID RESTRICTIONS: Masks required as of January 2022
*Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.
They have free admission on 1/17/22 for MLK Day, but we were worried it would be too crowded, so we went the Sunday before.
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“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”, Winston Churchill wrote. Everyone has a bias, even the history books and museums; we wanted to expand the kids’ views and to expose them to all different views of history so that they could learn, research, think for themselves, and listen to all points of view. Each museum has been a different experience, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect of the Freedom Center.
I will say we were pleasantly surprised. I thought the spacing throughout the Center was very nice and that there was nice mix of props (statues, cotton bales, buildings, maps, a few artifacts). There was a lot of factual information, along with some personal anecdotes.
The third floor is where most of the exhibits are and where they recommend you start your visit. The Center did a pretty good job with decorations around the exhibits and movie screens to set the scene. There is an outdoor terrace that has a great view of the Ohio River and Suspension Bridge. It also has Freedom’s Eternal Flame (a gas fueled flame). The Terrace was closed while we were there; of course, it was about 28 degrees outside.
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The 3rd floor also had an modern day slavery exhibit that went over Forced Labor, Child Labor, Sex Trafficking, Bonded Labor, and Domestic Servitude. The crazy statistic that I saw was that 59% of online recruitment for sex trafficking victims was on Facebook.
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The second floor had a Pavilion, which is currently closed. There was a Slave Pen (an original structure brought into the Center) that you could walk into. The inside was very empty, other than a wooden box that had some shackles in it. There were several films available on the 2nd floor. You first walk into a waiting room and listen to a short film with Oprah Winfrey. The doors automatically open to go to the next theater. I thought the movies were well done. One of the theater rooms was even decorated with trees to help set the mood for the film.
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There were only a few interactive exhibits. I think there is a lot of opportunity to do several more interactive exhibits. (For example: an example of hidden stairs and rooms that you could walk through, touching cotton plants.) There were some visual aids, but it was mostly reading. It was definitely an older child/adult type of museum in terms of attention level and retention. It would have been nice to see a map of known Underground Railroad stops in Cincinnati. Ben and I both knew of two, but I’m sure there plenty more.
There is small store on the main floor. (The postcards were $3 each, which I think is the most expensive postcard we have bought!)
DETAILS:
WHERE: 50 East Freedom Way, Cincinnati, OH 45202
HOURS: Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
COSTS: $15/adult, $10.50/children ages 3-12, under 3 free. (Family Season Pass is $65)
PARKING: Yes (Paid parking available on-street or nearby parking garages.)
BATHROOM: Yes (On our visit, only the 3rd floor bathrooms were open.)
TIME RECOMMENDED: 2-3 hours
COVID RESTRICTIONS: Masks are required (as of January 2022).
*Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.
We have driven by the Voice of America Museum for years, but have never gone through it. As part of our New Year’s resolution to act more like tourists in our own home state and to see more local things, we finally made it there.
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As you turn onto the long driveway, you get a great view of the Museum building. The museum is housed in the former Voice of America Bethany Station. There is parking along the front and side of the building. They are only open Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. During your visit, you can walk around on your own or go on a guided tour with a docent (included with admission). The Docent provides a lot of helpful information and can answer questions you might have during the tour. The Voice of America Bethany Station (named such due to its proximity to the Bethany phone exchange) opened in 1944.
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The Voice of America began broadcasting different radio programs in 1942. The purpose of the radio station was to send news and the “truth” to other countries where information was limited and outside radio contact was frequently banned. Although you can hear the broadcasts (including a program where they teach basic English), the broadcasts are meant for international audiences.
During World War II, Germany sent out propaganda over the radio. To counteract Nazi propaganda, The Voice Of America sent out broadcasts through five different transmission stations, including the VOA Bethany Station. All content was created in Washington and sent out via special lines to the Bethany Station. The broadcasts were sent out in over 50 languages. The VOA Bethany station would send out the programs through their multiple antennas, including two curtain antennas (a new type of antennae at the time that could send radio waves out farther than before). There were also several relay stations located throughout the world.
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During the Cold War, the radio broadcasts were aimed at countering Soviet propaganda. One of the coolest relay stations during this time was a Coast Guard vessel called the USCGC Courier. This wartime vessel was converted to be an unarmed ship with the ability to transmit strong enough signals to get through the Iron Curtain. It was stationed at Rhodes, Greece from 1952 to 1964. It received the VOAs signals and would then broadcast them into the USSR and nearby countries.
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There were a lot of entertaining things to look at during our tour. They had a mix of informational signs and original equipment (control room, transmitter room) from the days when the station was still up and running. There was even some of the original copper grounding throughout the building, including in the floor.
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Behind the museum building, you can walk out and see the antennae switch station. When engineers had to go outside to switch the antennas, they could only be near the switch station for 10-15 minutes a day! They had to do this even in the cold and rain. Could you imagine having to be near those electrical currents while it is raining or snowing around you?
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Click To Enlarge. WLW tower Corona Ball. It sat at the top of the tower. The holes are from lightening strikes.
Because of the changes in technology, the Bethany station became outdated and closed in 1994. The antennae towers were removed beginning in 1997. The Voice of America still transmits programs, but it is now done digitally and by satellite. The original land of the Voice of America Bethany Station has been converted to a shopping area, a county owned park (Voice of America Metro Park), and the Voice Of America Museum. You can still see some of the concrete antennae bases throughout the Voice of America Metro Park.
If you really want to see a large radio antenna, you can still see the huge WLW tower further down on Tylersville Rd.
There were other exhibits at the museum as well, including a room full of inventions made by the man who helped make VOA Bethany possible. Crosley was a native Cincinnatian who began in his work in the automotive industry. He then transitioned into radios, where he made radios cheaper and more available for everyone. He began his radio station WLW radio. WLW had its first broadcast in 1922 and also helped with broadcasting during World War II. After World War II, Crosley began making appliances, including a refrigerator with an ice maker.
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There was also a History of Radio and Broadcasting in Cincinnati room. It had items from several local shows like the Uncle Al show, Ruth Lyons, and Nick Clooney. Ben even starred on one of the Uncle Al shows and it was fun to show the kids something from the past.
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The museum is also now home to ham radio/amateur radio enthusiasts. Their current set-up includes ham radio, Morse Code, digital, and a high-powered broadcast. They use about a dozen amateur radio satellites. The white dish that remains outside the museum is used to bounce the signal off of the moon! There are competitions for amateur radio and the current VOA amateur radio has quite the cool collection of QSL postcards from around the world. These postcards are from around the world, from South America to Asia!
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There is a small gift shop in the museum. It has some note cards, books, etc. No postcards though!
DETAILS:
WHERE: 8070 Tylersville Rd., West Chester, Ohio 45069
HOURS: Saturday and Sunday, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
COSTS: $10/person. Under 16 free.
PARKING: Yes
BATHROOM: Yes
TIME RECOMMENDED: 2-3 hours
COVID RESTRICTIONS: Masks are required (as of January 2022).
*Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.
If you would like more information on The Voice of America, check out these sites:
One of the things I really wanted to do when we got back home was to explore our area more, just like we would if we were visiting the area. Our year of travel showed me that we get to be complacent and set in our daily schedules when we live stationary.
I happened upon an article about Doscher’s Candy Company while scrolling through my social media feeds. When I saw that they were the makers of the French Chews that Nick loves to get at the grocery store, I knew we had to check them out!
We went on the boys’ next day off of school and got there right when it opened, but it was a lot busier in the store than I thought it would be on a Wednesday morning. Of course, it was the day before Thanksgiving. The store is currently in a cute antique home and has its own large parking lot.
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I loved the interior of the store. It was set up incredibly well, and everything looked so appealing. We saw many different types of candy canes, including dye-free. The boys were there for one thing, and one thing only: French Chews. Normally we only see the vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate French Chews at the grocery store. However, Doscher’s store had so many different kinds including were several new, holiday, and limited edition flavors (candy cane crunch, birthday cake, green apple, blue razz, orange cream).
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We had a lot of fun exploring the space and picking out some candy. The gift shop also offered non-candy gifts including candles, books, seasonal gifts, and locally sourced items. I may have went a little overboard, but how could I resist the cute mini-French Chews and all the different flavors? St. Nick picked out some candy canes for the stockings as well.
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If you are in the Cincinnati area, I would check out Doscher’s! Of course, it’s fun to look and find candy all year long, but St. Nick’s Day and Christmas are coming up as well (wink, wink).
HISTORY:
Doscher’s is the oldest candy cane maker in the US. The company began in 1871 making candy canes. They currently make candy canes, Candy Buttons, French Chews, and caramels. The location we were at makes the candy canes, candy buttons, and French Chews. They still make the candy canes by hand! The caramels are made in Bozeman, Montana by a store they own.
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Our haul
How do you like to eat your French Chews? I like mine nice and soft, whereas Nick likes to freeze and then crack his into pieces.
DETAILS:
WHERE: 6926 Main Street, Cincinnati, OH 45244
HOURS: Tuesday to Friday, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
PARKING: Yes
NOTE: Currently, they are not offering factory tours. If they open the tours back up, I would love to go.
Although we stayed in Bear Lake, we frequently went into Frankfort, Michigan. Frankfort was about 15 minutes away and was a cute town. There was a grocery store and gas stations near town. The main street had several restaurants, a bookstore, bakeries, and a neat beach area with a lighthouse. We found a Little Library and a Little Art Library.
There were several ice cream places in town as well, and the two we tried were both good. The bagels from L’Chayim were delicious, the ice cream cake from Kilwin’s was amazing (but expensive), and The Bookstore was fun to explore.
On Nick and Mom Day, we walked the jetty to the lighthouse. It was very foggy and you couldn’t see the lighthouse from the shore when we started. We spent some time on the beach at the swings. After telling Ben about the fun things at the beach, we all headed there the next clear day. The benches and swings all face the Lake! There were also a few sand volleyball nets. Restrooms were near the parking lot. It was a great place to relax. You could swim there, and some people were, but the water was too cold for us.
Frankfort was a nice walking town. If you are in the area, I would check it out!
