Ohio Travel Guide

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Top Things to See

• Tour Cincinnati’s National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (website: www.freedomcenter.org), focusing on the struggle for freedom experienced by runaway slaves. See five history galleries, changing exhibits and a Slave Jail.

• Visit the Museum Center (website: www.cincymuseum.org) at Cincinnati Union Terminal, where the Cincinnati Historical Museum and the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History are housed in an art deco train station. The Baseball as America exhibition will delight sports fans.

• Tour Cleveland’s Holden Arboretum (website: www.holdenarb.org), the largest in the USA.

• Go underground in Hocking Hills State Park and explore Ash Cave, Ohio’s largest recess cave, with a 27m- (90ft-) high waterfall (website: www.hockinghills.com). Don’t miss the Rock House (a series of large rooms mysteriously carved into the side of a cliff), the 46m- (150ft-) high Cantwell Cliffs and Hocking Forest, where rock climbing is permitted.

• Visit Johnny Appleseed country in the picturesque north central region. Attend a musical drama in the outdoor amphitheater (seating 1,600) at the Johnny Appleseed Heritage Center (website: www.jahci.org) in Ashland.

• Do a little wine tasting on Middle Bass Island (website: www.middlebass.org). The island is dominated by the Gothic castle of the Lonz Winery, established in 1860 and still making wine.

• Explore Kelleys Island (website: www.kelleysisland.com), on the National Register of Historic Places. Along with old, picturesque homes, it offers historical sights such as Inscription Rock, an exceptionally large Native American pictograph.

• Discover art treasures at the century-old Toledo Museum of Art (website: www.toledomuseum.org) and adjacent University of Toledo Center for the Visual Arts (website: www.cva.utoledo.edu). They are among the top 10 art museums in the USA.

• Relive the historic moment in 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. Visit the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta, named in his honor.

Top Things to Do

• Experience the Midwest’s only drive-through safari at Cleveland’s African Safari Wildlife Park (website: www.africansafariwildlifepark.com). Special feature at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (website: www.clemetzoo.com) is the rainforest habitat, with simulated tropical thunderstorms and an 8m- (25ft-) high waterfall.

• Enjoy a touch of German culture in Columbus at the lavishly restored German Village (website: www.germanvillage.org), complete with fine restaurants and taverns, and the 11-hectare (27-acre) Brewery District, with vintage beer-making factories which now contain restaurants, specialty shops and taverns.

• Follow in the footsteps of famous Western writer Zane Grey on a narrated sternwheeler cruise in Zanesville. Visit the National Road/Zane Grey Museum, and learn about the building of America’s first highway and the town’s famous Western writer.

• Visit Amish country in the northeast of the state. Shop for handwoven baskets, handmade quilts, antiques and fresh produce. For a glimpse into the Amish lifestyle, the Yoder’s Amish Home (website: www.yodersamishhome.com) in Holmes County, which has two reproduction Amish farmhouses open to visitors, and buggy rides for children.

• Find many nature-based activities in the 13,355-hectare (33,000-acre) Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area (website: www.nps.gov/cuva). The 35km- (22-mile-) long river surrounded by steep, forested hills, sandstone gorges and hidden waterfalls is popular with birdwatchers and hikers. The Hale Farm and Village is a living-history museum depicting life in the mid 19th century.

• Spend the day riding rollercoasters at Cedar Point Amusement Park (website: www.cedarpoint.com), Kings Island Theme Park (website: www.pki.com) or Cincinnati’s Boomerang Bay ‘Down Under’ resort, featuring over 50 wet-and-wild activities and 30 slides.

• Explore Serpent Mound State Memorial, a giant snake effigy mound created by the Adena Native Americans over 2,000 years ago.

• Visit the National Museum of the US Air Force (website: www.nationalmuseum.af.mil) in Dayton, the world’s largest and oldest military aviation museum. The museum follows the history of flight from the days of the Wright brothers to stealth fighter aircraft and today’s precision technology.

• Grab a hotdog and watch a ballgame with either of the state’s two pro baseball teams - the Cincinnati Reds (website: www.cincinnati.red.mlb.com) and the Cleveland Indians (website: www.cleveland.indians.mlb.com).

• Participate in water activities on Lake Erie, on Ohio’s northern border. Watersports options include fishing, swimming, boating and jetskiing.