Underrated Attractions in Cincinnati You Should Visit This Summer

Go Cat Crazy at the Lucky Cat Museum

2511 Essex Place, Walnut Hills
Located inside Essex Studios, the museum boasts a one-of-a-kind collection of Japanese maneki neko “lucky cat” figures. The glass displays stretch across the walls, containing thousands of styles, colors and sizes of cats. Some are golden, others white with red ears and a green bib. Some don black fur or are chipped. Some are stuffed, others ceramic and plastic. There are some wacky ones, too. All of them, however, carry an undeniable charm. There's even a gift shop.
Photo: Kellie Coleman

Get Slightly Freaked Out at Vent Haven

33 W. Maple Ave., Fort Mitchell
Vent Haven is the only museum in the world dedicated to the art of ventriloquism. In addition to more than 800 figures (don’t call them dummies), guests can view a library of vent-centric books, playbills and thousands of photographs. The museum also hosts the international ConVENTion every year for hundreds of ventriloquists.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Get Some Air at the Swing House

1373 Avon Place, Camp Washington
The Swing House is a whole-building art project — a freestanding 1880s three-story brick home in Camp Washington where owner and artist Mark de Jong has removed the interior walls and upper floors and built a swing right in the middle of the opened-up interior. Made from pine he salvaged from third floor joists, the swing is attached by 30 feet of natural-fiber rope to a metal beam on the ceiling. Visit during the monthly open house event, every second Saturday from noon-4 p.m.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Summon Aliens at the Spaceship House

222 Wright St., Covington
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Finnish architect Matti Suunerro designed less than 100 Futuro houses, or flying saucer-esue homes — and Covington has one of them. It was purchased in 1973 by Rob Detzel, who first saw it in an issue of Family Circle. He made arrangements for its display at a home and garden show, then took it on a tour of sorts; in 1987, it landed (er, it was delivered) to its current location. The community embraces its presence and the Futuro House has even been included in a mural titled “Love the Cov” by Jarrod Becker, on the wall at Kroger’s Covington location. In 2013, Covington's Mayor Sherry Carran declared Nov. 2 — the 40th anniversary to its purchase by Detzel — “Futuro House Day,” officially naming the property it is on “Area 89.” Note: This is a private residence.
Photo via Google Street View

Have a Picnic at the Loveland Castle

12025 Shore Drive, Loveland
Former World War I army medic and Boy Scout troop leader Harry Delos Andrews built Château Laroche over the course of 50 years with handmade bricks (formed with quart-sized paper milk cartons) and stones from the nearby Little Miami River. Modeled after European castles, it features towers, a dry moat, hand-tiled ceilings, murder holes and a collection of period weaponry. The castle grounds are available for picnics, overnights and private parties and are rumored to be haunted by a variety of ghosts.
Photo: Brittany Thornton

Gorge Yourself on the Butler County Donut Trail

Various locations throughout Butler County
Just a short 45-minute jaunt from Cincinnati is a magical place called Butler County, home to one of the largest number of donut shops per capita in the Midwest. And among these donut shops are 12 family-run establishments that have come together to offer humans a chance to test the limits of their interest in fried and filled dough, as well as their blood glucose levels. Get an official Donut Trail passport stamped at all nine and get a free T-shirt.
Photo: Jesse Fox

Visit Handsome at the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum

308 Reading Road, Pendleton
Handsome was the city’s first police dog. Found by a patrolman in 1898 as an abandoned puppy, the mutt quickly became a fixture at the police station and soon joined daily patrols, chasing down thieves and murderers. He reportedly assisted in hundreds of arrests in the course of his career. After his death in 1912, the beloved Handsome was stuffed and placed in a glass case to honor his contributions. He is now on public view at the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum, also home to thousands of local law enforcement artifacts and a memorial wall to fallen local, state and federal officers.
Photo: Megan Waddel

Bathe in Neon at the American Sign Museum

1330 Monmouth Ave., Camp Washington
Get lost in the ads and landmarks of yesteryear. Winding pathways of colorful signage give way to a mocked-up Main Street, with faux storefronts, cobblestone and giant logos from Howard Johnson, McDonald’s and Marshall Field. From roadside nostalgia and a looming Big Boy to pharmacy signs and gas station markers, the flashing lights, buzzing electricity and rotating wonders are almost a sensory overload. Almost. Guided and self-guided tours available.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Pet a Wolf at the Wolf Creek Habitat and Rescue

14099? Wolf Creek Road, Brookville, Indiana
When the wild calls, answer it at Wolf Creek Habitat and Rescue. The owners share their Brookville home with a pack of more than two-dozen wolves, all of whom were either surrendered to the sanctuary or rescued from the wild. Guests are able to go inside the animals’ enclosures and interact with them (alongside a center volunteer). Warning: The wolves have been known to give kisses and request belly rubs.
Photo: Mackenzie Manley

Go For a Stroll at Jungle Jim’s International Market

5440 Dixie Highway, Fairfield
Some people refer to Jungle Jim’s as “an amusement park for food." Founded in 1971, Jungle Jim’s has become a unique shopping experience one cannot get anywhere else. The 300,000-square-foot space has thousands of items to choose from and one of the largest wine collections in the United States.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Visit the Grave of the Inventor of the Pringles Can

Arlington Memorial Gardens, 2145 Compton Road, North College Hill
Fredric Baur, a Cincinnati chemist and the inventor of the Pringles can, died in 2008, after which he was cremated and buried at Arlington Memorial Gardens in an empty can of Original-flavored Pringles. While you can’t see the can itself (it’s in the ground), you can pay your respects to the snack food revolutionary while chomping on some crispy, stacked chips.
Photo via FindaGrave.com

Visit The Mushroom House

3331 Erie Ave., Hyde Park
Architect Terry Brown was a University of Cincinnati professor of architecture and interior design, but to most in our region he’s known as the guy behind Hyde Park’s famed “Mushroom House.” Guests at street level will notice a winding entry staircase and a misshapen exterior constructed of metal, glass, ceramic and warped wood shingles, suggesting a fairy tale or bizarre, otherworld-esue appearance that looks like a very large mushroom. The one-bedroom, one-bath, 1,260-square-foot structure was built by Brown from 1992 to 2006, and served as his second residence until his death in 2008.
Photo via Zillow listing.

Buy Unique Taxidermied Animals at Hail Dark Aesthetics

720 Main St., Covington
An oddities and record shop in MainStrasse. The storefront is stuffed with taxidermy, tarot cards, religious ephemera, Black Metal-style jewelry, branded Ouija boards and a bunch of dead snakes. For good or bad, there aren’t too many other stores where you can buy a pig fetus and the Twin Peaks soundtrack on vinyl in the same transaction.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

See the World’s Only Cardboard Boat Museum

311 Front St., New Richmond
Located along the banks of the Ohio River, historic New Richmond is home to the idiosyncratic Cardboard Boat Museum. See replicas of the Delta Queen steamboat, a John Deere Tractor and other cardboard creations from the city’s International Cardboard Boat Regatta. You can even take a class on building your own.
Photo via cardboardboatmuseum.com

Watch Airplanes Take Flight at CVG’s Aircraft Viewing Area

1459 Donaldson Highway, Erlanger
If you like watching airplanes, CVG Airport has you covered. The viewing area is open from 8 a.m.-10 p.m. and has picnic tables, a play area, portable potties and an entertaining view of planes taking off and landing.
Photo via CVGairport.com

Hide Away in the Mercantile Library

414 Walnut St., Downtown
The Mercantile Library — located on the 11th and 12th floors of a downtown office building — is Cincinnati’s own Room of Requirement (for those who aren’t Harry Potter fans, basically it’s just an extraordinarily cool, secret space). Open since 1835, this membership library (one of only a two-dozenish left in the U.S.) is home to more than 80,000 books, dynamic lecture series — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ray Bradbury, Tom Wolfe, Julia Child are just a handful of names who have spoken here — concerts, yoga classes and cocktail hours. While you have to be a member to check out books, the public is welcome to wander the stacks, attend events and marvel at the luddite luxury of this classic club.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Get a Dose of Nostalgia at Stricker’s Grove Private Amusement Park

11490 Hamilton Cleves Road, Hamilton
Stricker’s Grove is closed to the public for most of the year, save for a few special days in the summer and fall (or if you feel like renting it out for a private event). This family-owned and operated, 25-acre old-fashioned amusement park is home to tons of nostalgic games and classic rides. Play mini-golf and arcade games or take a ride on the Ferris wheel, tilt-a-whirl or swinging pirate ship. If it’s thrills you seek, hop on one of their two roller coasters: the Teddy Bear or Tornado. The wooden Tornado, completed in 1993, was constructed by park owner Ralph Stricker — the only person in the United States to build his own roller coaster.
Photo via strickersgrove.com

Learn About Northern Kentucky History on the Newport Gangster Tour

18 E. Fifth St., Newport
To quote The Godfather, “I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.” American Legacy Tours, too, makes an offer that's difficult to refuse. On the tour, learn about how gangsters made and lost millions in Newport, Kentucky. Part of the tour is located inside of an old casino, which is perfect because the tour also discusses how the city became pivotal in the gaming and gambling industry.
Photo via AmericanLegacyTours.com

Visit the World’s First Glass Door Oven Historical Marker

2701 Spring Grove Ave., Camp Washington
The first full-size glass door oven was invented by Ernst H. Huenefeld in 1909. The door allows bakers to see their delicious concoction in the oven without having to open it. The marker was erected in 2003 by the Cincinnati Preservation Association and The Ohio Historical Society.
Photo: Holden Mathis

Ride the Anderson Ferry

One Anderson Ferry Road, Delhi
This nationally registered historic site has been in operation since 1817, transporting people and goods across the Ohio River, from the West Side to Northern Kentucky. It used to be powered by horses walking on a treadmill, but now people use it as a shortcut to the airport. Still a fun novelty. Buy a ticket, drive your car onto the barge, go across the river and come back.
Photo: Creative Commons