Celebrating the Holidays in Cincy

Recently I found myself in a chat on Facebook discussing fun things to do in Cincinnati. As some of you may already know, I am passionate about this city and I love getting out to enjoy everything it has to offer.  It's not hard for me to come up with something fun to do with my best friend (and husband) Bryan. Upon realizing that many may not know what this great city has to offer during the holidays, I wanted to dedicate this post to celebrating the holidays in Cincy.

A little warning: I am bit biased as I tend to focus on downtown. But there other fun things going on in Greater Cincinnati. We simply find it difficult to get out of downtown when it has so much to offer. High class problem, I know. 

Last Sunday we enjoyed the day in Eden Park. At first we simply planned to walk around and enjoy the newly fallen snow. After several hours of walking we wondered into the Krohn Conservatory.  Initially it was to use the bathroom and warm up, but then we decided to stay and view their holiday display "A Cincinnati Scenic Railway". We thoroughly enjoyed our time there observing miniature replicas of famous Cincinnati sites. After our little detour we started walking home. While going through the park we saw people sledding, cross country skiing, and walking their dogs.  People were finding all kinds of interesting ways to have fun in the cold.

Below is my list of fun ideas for this Holiday season in Cincinnati.

Theater:

• Cincinnati Ballet and SCPA both put on the Nutcracker
• Know Theater: This season their improv group has a show at Arnold's The Naughty List
• Playhouse in the Park: For a more traditional show there's Christmas Carol 
• Shakespeare Theater: Every Christmas Story Ever Told 
• Ensemble Theater: For a non- Holiday show there's  Around the World in 80 Days

Shopping:

• Findlay Market: Cincideutsch Christkindlmarkt
• The City Flea: This is a one day Holiday shopping experience in Washington Park Wrapped up Holiday Market
• Rhinegeist: Another fun event is Art on Vine at Rhinegeist brewery. 

Enjoying "Luminaries":

• Krohn by candlelight
• Light up OTR
• Luminaria Mt. Adams

Other fun stuff:

• Naughty or Nice Christmas
• Reindog Parade
• Eggnog Jog  If you want to get in a "fun run" before Christmas, there's a 5k run through Mt.Adams.
• Ice skating Downtown
• Festival of Lights

Movie Night:

Last year my husband and I started a tradition where each week in December we watch a different holiday film. Below are our favorites. 

The Holiday

White Christmas

Elf

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Love Actually

Christmas Vacation 

  

Lastly, what would the holidays be with out a few libations. This is a list of our favorite places to enjoy a few drinks or a tasting:

Market Wines We love popping into this store/bar. It's got a great neighborhood feel. You can go there any night of the week and have a drink at the bar or make a quick run in to pick up a few things for home. On Tuesday and Sundays they have tastings.

Rhinegeist This is a new brewery/bar that's best enjoyed with a big group. In addition to enjoying their beers you can have fun watching sports on their flat screens, or play a game of corn-hole or ping pong.

1215 Wine Bar This is a great place to go on a date or with another couple. My favorite night is when there's live music. Who doesn't enjoy listening to someone play the guitar. 

Eight Ball We recently came across this little gem while shopping at the Party Source. They have 42 different beers on tap, each available for 4 oz beer flights.

Everything's d'Vine Every Friday night they have a wine and beer tasting.
Pedal Wagon This is something that has been on my bucket list. It's a 2 hour pub crawl with 15 other people. They take you to some of my favorite places; Neon's, Arnold's, Lackman's, and Rhinegeist. I can't wait to pin down a time to do this.

Onwards & Upwards, T