Being a non-native, I frequently find myself hosting somewhat bewildered out-of town visitors with scant knowledge of our fair Queen City. In typical fashion, said visitors will have little if any familiarity with Cincinnati, other than, perhaps, the predictably tired references to WKRP, chili and/or the Mapplethorpe imbroglio. Any time such an opportunity presents itself, I find myself in the role of a de facto, unofficial, self-proclaimed ambassador for the city. When given such an opportunity, it is easy to respond with a steady dose of museums, zoos and similar cultural outings, concerts, dinner at a nice restaurant, etc. While that is all well and good, and while one can certainly spend a week with our fine cultural institutions, it is advisable to try and balance a healthy dose of the CAC/Museum Center/Taft/CAM/Opera/Ballet/CSO/theater et al., with some more unique local offerings. Not to denigrate any of our exceedingly excellent cultural institutions, which are clearly an incredible resource for a city of this size, but one needs to mix in a little off-the-beaten-path parochial charm in order to resonate with the uninformed and uninitiated. Cincinnati has no shortage of such charms, and what follows is an easy-to-navigate sampling of some of my favorite near-downtown options.
So where to go, what to do? If I’m picking up a tourist at a downtown hotel, one of the city’s innate and often unadorned simple pleasures is its stock of amazing architecture, readily available with minimal effort. While some residents don’t reflexively consider a trip through Over-the-Rhine as a stop on the tourist circuit, I know there are others (myself included) who consider it an absolute must see. A quick trip up Vine from downtown necessarily includes a stop-off in the impressively evolving
Gateway Quarter, perhaps lunch and glass of wine at
Lavomatic for a casually chic yet urbane interlude, and a stop off at the unique and local merchants who have pioneered a retail presence on its burgeoning commercial strip. Follow this with a trip up to nearby Prospect Hill, up Milton and down Boal, to provide a beautifully panoramic perspective on the city, as well as an excellent dose of Italianate architecture, among the varied and well-maintained homes in the neighborhood. Prospect Hill remains, hands down, one of the city’s best hidden gems, and I’m often amazed as to how many natives reply with a numbly glazed “huh?” when I bring it up in conversation (“…you know…the south side of Mt. Auburn…?”).
In the shadows of Prospect Hill, just off Reading Road and Liberty, I inevitably deposit my visitors at
High Street, a stylish yet eclectic 8,000 square foot emporium of home design, decor, jewelry, urban style, books, all around fabulosity and just about anything else that captures the tasteful fancy of owners Leah Spurrier and Matt Knotts. The goods at High Street run the gamut as far as price range is concerned, but my out-of-town visitors usually leave there with more than a few purchases (and I find it an invaluable resource for last minute Christmas shopping, this year being no exception). The vibe of the store is one which would not be out of place in a chic section of San Francisco or London, and if you’re ever feeling a bit stagnant in the creative decor department, High Street works wonders in breaking up the logjam.
While I don’t consider
Findlay Market to be an “off-the-beaten-path” type of attraction, I still believe it deserves at least a brief mention. In particular, the relatively new Market Wine shop at Findlay Market, located in the historic old Elder Cafe, offers a great variety of excellent wine and beer for sale, not to mention lively wine tastings which are usually scheduled for Saturday and Sunday afternoons. On a recent stop at Market Wines, we were joined by downtown resident, scooter aficionado and (per official mayoral proclamation) “Mr. Cincinnati for Life” Jim Tarbell, who shared with us some recently purchased bread, cheese and charcuterie products, along with lively conversation, as we meandered our way through the muti-faceted wine tasting. Kudos to Michael Maxwell at Market Wines for providing a welcome respite for weary Findlay fans after a day foraging for provisions amongst the many vendors.
Next up, while everyone is familiar with downtown’s typical attractions, I particularly enjoy a couple of longstanding downtown institutions that are a bit off the beaten path, both literally as well as figuratively. First, the Mercantile Library, located since 1903 in the upper echelons of the 11th floor of the Mercantile Building near 4th and Walnut, is a non-profit membership library organized in 1835, the city's senior library and one of the oldest cultural institutions in the midwest. In short, it’s a really cool, albeit literary, place (not that those two concepts are mutually exclusive), with circular cast iron staircases and classical marble statuary nestled amidst the stacks, all for a basic membership price of $45 per year. Curiously enough, another downtown institution, the
Cincinnati Athletic Club (“CAC”), originally established in 1853, is also in a classic building constructed in 1903, the same year as the Mercantile Library’s refined digs. The CAC, a beautiful structure on the National Register of Historic Places, is nestled quietly down an alley street behind the Shillito’s building, and is in many ways a somewhat anachronistic, old school institution, but clearly the anachronisms are what gives it a lot of its charm. What other gyms have popcorn machines and a full time bar? In short, if you’re looking for a Lifetime Fitness or Urban Active, you’ve come to the wrong place. Sure, no HD video screens on the treadmill, but this place has, hands down, one of the best steam rooms in town….it’s like running your own personal steam-powered locomotive Add to that a basketball court on the third floor, an elevated running track above, a pool in the basement, a weight room in the attic, a variety of quirky nooks and crannies and other rooms for hitting golf balls, racquetballs or speed bags, and you have a unique facility the likes of which, sadly enough, has virtually disappeared from many other cities. I’m still looking for their vintage collection of those belly-jiggling belt machines popular with cigar-chompin’ CEO’s of the 1950’s and 60’s. In any event, although a culturally endangered species, the CAC has fortunately seen an uptick in new members (no doubt as a result of the “no commitment, 3 months for $100 introductory offer), helping bring down the average age, which in the past seemed destined for rarified AARP territory. The CAC also gets added acclaim for graciously hosting the Soapbox holiday party last month.
Finally, after dutifully exhausting your visitors physical as well as mental faculties, might I recommend stopping off at
Grammer’s, at the corner of Walnut and Liberty, for a round or two of quenching refreshments, a basket of adobo-spiced popcorn and some reflection on the days’ stirring events. A virtual Watering Hole VanWinkle, Grammer’s reopened last year after being shuttered like a bejeweled, beveled glass time capsule since 1992, then survived an unfortunate Hurricane Ike-induced fire, which destroyed the adjacent rathskellar room, while leaving the main bar intact. Currently open on Fridays and Saturdays only, the bar is up and running now (other rooms feature a pool table, and board games, respectively), with a kitchen to follow (hopefully) later this year. Opened in 1872, Grammer's was originally located two buildings over and moved to its current location in 1911. One of the most amazing features is the solid wall of leaded beveled glass facing Walnut Street, hand-made in Germany, shipped over and installed in 1911, surrounding a matching domed entryway.
Again, just like all of the other spots mentioned in this piece, Grammer’s is somewhat off-the-beaten-path, uniquely Cincinnati and, to put it bluntly, a really cool place. You can’t go wrong taking out-of-towners (or in-towners for that matter) to any of the above spots. Better yet, hit ‘em all in a day, as none of these are much more than, at most, a mile apart. Next time maybe I’ll hit a couple of neighborhoods that are actually outside of downtown.
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Photography by Scott Beseler
Downtown architecture, 7th and Vine
Lavomatic
High Street
The Mercantile Library
Cincinnati Athletic Club gymnasium, Friday Night Fights
Paul Coors, patron at Grammer's