Cincinnati Art Museum 953 Eden Park Dr 513-721-5204 Founded in 1881, the Cincinnati Art Museum has expanded to house 88 galleries and more than 100,000 objects.

Cincinnati Zoo 3400 Vine St 513-281-4700 The Cincinnati Zoo is a seventy-acre home to 700 different animals and species and more than 3,000 types of plants. The zoo features lowland gorillas, a baby elephant, and white Bengal tigers. The Children's Zoo has 55,000 square feet of exhibits. "Insect World" is the largest building in North America focusing on the display of live insects.

Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal

1301 Western Ave., downtown, Cincinnati.

Phone 513-287-7000. Toll-free 800-733-2077.

Monday-Saturday 10 am-5 pm, Sunday 11 am-6 pm.

The last of the great art-deco railway stations in the U.S., Union Terminal houses an impressive collection of museums. (For remnants of its past, notice the tile mosaics.) Plan to spend a full morning or afternoon there if you intend to see all three museums and an OMNIMAX show.

Younger visitors will enjoy the Cinergy Children's Museum.

Cincinnati Observatory Center

3489 Observatory Place, Mount Lookout, Cincinnati.

Phone 513-321-5186.

Thursday-Saturday after dusk. children under age 18 free on Thursday. You can view the stars and the heavens from this observatory, one of the oldest in the country. Look through one of the huge telescopes or simply gaze up through the enormous dome to observe the evening sky. Reservations are strongly recommended—observatory nights can book up months in advance.

Cinergy Children's Museum

1301 Western Ave., downtown, Cincinnati.

Phone 513-287-7000.

Monday-Saturday 10 am-5 pm, Sunday 11 am-6 pm. The workings of science are explored through play at this museum, which is the biggest attraction at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. There's a play area for toddlers. Older children can learn about hydropower and solar energy. Kids' Town explores how children live around the world.

Contemporary Arts Center

115 E. Fifth St., Cincinnati

Phone 513-345-8400. Monday-Saturday 10 am-6 pm, Sunday noon-5 pm.

free on Monday. While you're strolling around downtown, take time to visit this art museum, which moved into new quarters in spring, 2003. Now located in the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, it has an eclectic collection of works in all mediums by internationally known artists, as well as locals on their way up in the art world. (This is where Robert Mapplethorpe's controversial photographs caused a stir.) Designed by British architect Zaha Hadid, the building itself is a work of art.

Harriet Beecher Stowe House

2950 Gilbert Ave., downtown, Cincinnati

Phone 513-632-5120

Tuesday-Thursday 10 am-4 pm. Free, but donations are appreciated. The author of Uncle Tom's Cabin was inspired to write about the evils of slavery while living in this house, a former seminary that's now a museum dedicated to her and to the Underground Railroad. Stowe lived there until 1850 and later won acclaim for her antislavery writings.

Museum of Natural History and Science 1301 Western Ave 513287-7000 More than 125,000 square feet of exhibits spread over two levels focus on regional natural history. The museum features immersion exhibits designed to bring guests into the setting. The Children's Discovery Center offers interactive exhibits on the human body and on the impact of human settlement in Cincinnati over the last 400 years.

Paramount's Kings Island 6300 King's Island Drive King's Island, OH 45034 513-573-5800 This awesome theme park features roller coasters, rides and lots of excitement. Perhaps best-known is the Beast, the world's longest wooden roller coaster, and the centerpiece among the other 11 coasters at the park. Little ones love Hanna-Barbera Land while pre-teens and teens head for Nickelodeon Splat City featuring the Rugrats, the Addams Family-style haunted Shriek House, and WaterWorks, a 30-acre water park. With 300 rides and attractions in all, the park itself is an event, even just to walk through.

Southgate House 24 E 3rd St Newport, OH 41071 Guests to Cincinnati looking for a good time should check out Southgate House, one of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky's best club attractions. An historic mansion located on the Ohio River across from downtown Cincinnati, the Southgate is being restored with entertainment venues on every floor.

Taft Museum 316 Pike St 513-241-0343 The Taft is one of Cincinnati's treasures, recognized as one of the best small art museums in the country. Built as a home in 1820, its final residents were Anna and Charles Taft (half-brother of President William Howard Taft) who used their combined fortunes to travel the world collecting paintings and decorative arts.

Americana Amusement Park 5757 Hamilton Middletown Rd Middletown, OH 45044 513-539-7339 This amusement park has both old-fashioned and state-of-the-art rides. There's a nostalgic brass ring carousel, a ferris wheel and a tilt-a-whirl. The newer area features more than 100 rides, many updated and refurbished within the past two years. Also included are a trio of roller coasters, the very popular log flume ride, a miniature golf course and a petting zoo. Kids also love the Kids Water Play World with several water slides.

Bicentennail Commons Sawyer Point 801 E. Pete Rose Way 513-352-6316 Altogether, this park encompasses more than 22 acres of premiere downtown playground including ice skating, roller skating, tennis courts, a boathouse with a rowing center, a performance pavilion with free concerts in the summer and a super playground for children.

Cincinnati Nature Center 4949 Tealtown Rd Milford, OH 45150 513-831-1711 This outstanding nature preserve, located east of Cincinnati, offers 15 miles of trails in its 1,425-acres permitting easy observation of the 237 varieties of wildflowers.

Heritage Village Sharon Woods Park 11450 Lebanon Rd 513-563-9484 All of the buildings in this recreated 19th century village were gathered from across southwestern Ohio to be part of the Heritage Village.

Parky's Farm, Ark, Playce, and PlayBarn 10245 Winton Rd. 513-521-7275 Located in 2,630-acre Winton Woods, "Parky" activities are designed to delight city children. Parky's Farm is a 100-acre demonstration farm with vegetable gardens, orchards, farm animals and a petting zoo. Parky's PlayBarn is an indoor, two-story barn-like playground with soft flooring where kids can tumble, explore and climb to their heart's content. Children can get wet at Parky's Ark water playground near the Harbor Pavilion, where creatures like frogs, turtles, bugs and fish spurt water at squealing youngsters. The hands-down favorite is the 180-foot snake that crawls through the play area with 47 nozzles squirting water in all directions. Children can also choose to stay dry at Parky's Playce, another playground located near the Pavilion.

Surf Cincinnati Waterpark 11460 Sebring Dr 513-742-0620 This water park includes Cincinnati's largest wave pool. This relaxed, family-oriented destination offers lots of excellent water activities: flumes, white-water rapids, lazy river rides and water slides. Next door is Fun City, which has dry activities like Chip Shot miniature golf with 18 holes, volleyball, basketball and a game room. Squirt City is designed for younger children.

The Dude Ranch Waynesville Rd Morrow, OH 45152 513-958-8099 The Dude Ranch offers everything from one-hour trail rides through the woods and rolling meadows to a real cattle drive. Kids can take pony rides, hay rides, and enjoy looking at all of the beautiful horses and animals features on the trail.

The Beach Waterpark 2590 Water Park Dr 513-398-7946 The Beach features more than 41 water slides in its 35-acres. Adults will like the 100,000-gallon Pearl lagoon where relaxation is encouraged.

Children's Theater of Cincinnati 2106 Florence Ave 513-569-8080 Some of Cincinnati's best actors, musicians and technical people are on the production team that presents great musicals, comedies and dramas for kids. This is a great attraction for families with children of all ages.

Shopping

Shopping Hours: Generally Monday-Saturday 10 am-9 pm, Sunday noon-6 pm. Specialty stores are typically open Monday-Saturday 10 am-8 pm, Sunday noon-5 pm. Cincinnati offers some of the best shopping in the Midwest, including a lively downtown retail area anchored by the Tower Place Mall. Near the mall are such upscale favorites as Saks Fifth Avenue and Tiffany and Co., as well as major department stores. The stores are connected by skywalks, making them easily accessible even in unpleasant weather.

Several neighborhoods have distinctive shopping areas. Favorites include Hyde Park, Clifton and Mount Lookout, which have small-town squares or plazas. Outlying shopping centers include Rookwood Commons, which has specialty stores and some of the city's best restaurants, and Kenwood Towne Centre, which is so popular that the parking lot and garage are often filled to capacity during holidays.

Markets Findlay Market

117 W. Elder St.,

Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati.

Phone 513-352-6364.

This European-style market, which opened in 1852, is actually a collection of butcher and cheese shops, fishmongers, and craft and flower vendor: some in open-air booths, some indoors. While several of the German butchers are fourth-generation, many of the vendors are a new generation of entrepreneurs selling crafts, as well as ingredients for Italian, African-American, Latino, Lebanese, East Asian, Vietnamese and other cuisines. They all compete for your attention, not only with their goods, but with their personalities. Most of the fresh produce is locally grown. Hours vary by vendor but are generally Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 10 -6.

Sports

Horse Racing

River Downs

6301 Kellogg Ave.

For information, call 513-232-8000

Live thoroughbred racing and simulcasts from other parks on every day of the week except Monday. Free admission.

Major-League Baseball

The Cincinnati Reds play home games at the Great American Ball Park

100 Main St.

For information and tickets, call 513-765-7400.

Season continues through late September

NFL Football

Cincinnati Bengals

Paul Brown Stadium

Elm Street and Central Avenue.

For information and tickets, call 513-621-8383.

The Cincinnati Bengals play regular-season home games at Paul Brown Stadium.

Season continues through late December

IHL Hockey.

The Cincinnati Cyclones

U.S. Bank Arena

100 Broadway. For information and tickets, call 513-421-2222.

The Cyclones play regular-season home games at the U.S. Bank Arena, 100 Broadway. For information and tickets, call 513-421-2222. Continues through early April 2005

Casinos

Indiana Casinos. The Ohio River continues to shape the fortunes of Cincinnatians and their neighbors, who flock to the growing number of riverboat casinos. Because gambling is illegal in Ohio and Kentucky, these floating gaming halls dock at small towns in neighboring southeastern Indiana. The largest and most popular of these boats, the Argosy VI, is tethered in Lawrenceburg, 25 minutes from downtown.