Family Fun and Learning in Ohio (continued)

12) Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal – Several fun places for kids are all located under the soaring Art Deco roof of a former freight and passenger rail terminal. The Cincinnati History Museum uses costumed interpreters to recreate a World War II home front, a 1910 machine shop and the Cincinnati Public Landing of the 1850s (including a side-wheel steamboat.) The Duke Energy Children’s Museum features the Little Sprouts Farm and Kids’ Town for toddlers and preschoolers, and the glaciers, caverns and creatures of Ohio are on display in the Museum of Natural History. Throughout the year, there are cultural festivals inside the Terminal and annual events like BugFest – here’s your chance to meet a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach.

13) Cuyahoga Valley National Park – Ohio’s only national park spreads across 33,000 acres near Akron and Cleveland. Its location combines geographic aspects of both the Appalachian Plateau and Central Lowlands, so the wildlife is diverse – bald eagles, coyotes, blue herons and beavers. In addition, there are rides aboard the historic Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and a Canal Visitor Center that tells the story of the Ohio and Erie Canal that runs through the Valley and connects Lake Erie to the Ohio River. Ride bikes down the canal-side Towpath Trail and see the locks, taverns, gristmills and small towns that supported this important trade and transportation route. 

14) Celebrate Juneteenth – Every year across the state, residents celebrate the end of slavery on or near June 19^th, the day that word of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached to the far corners of Texas, two and a half years after the Proclamation was issued. Many Ohio cities and towns feature educational activities, sports, musical entertainment, family reunions and good food. Columbus, Toledo and Cincinnati have particularly noteworthy events, but Gallipolis, Ohio has the longest-running Juneteenth celebration in the US. 

15) Franklin Park Conservatory – A botanical garden with more than 400 plant species housed in a wedding-cake 1895 glass palace, the Conservatory also includes 90 acres of outdoor gardens. It was the first conservatory with an annual butterfly exhibition (now called Blooms and Butterflies, from March to September) and it is also unique because it incorporates a number of stunning Dale Chihuly glass artworks into the plant displays. Summer youth workshops engage children ages 4-12.

16) Malabar Farm State Park – This is an interesting combination of Ohio State Park, working farm and historic landmark. The country home of author and conservationist Louis Bromfield invites visitors to explore farm life with animal petting areas, wagon rides and a cow milking exhibit. There are special events like barn dances and star parties, and at the end of your visit, eat locally-grown food at the restaurant or pick up produce at the farm stand. Camping is available, and there is one family room at the main house, which is now a hostel (the first hostel opened in a state park.)