Places

Here is a list of my favorite places to visit in alphabetical order.

Bodyshape 24/7 Gym – my go to workout place. The owner keeps the gym clean and the equipment in great working order. If you are a weight lifter this place has everything that you need. 24/7 access is given via card. The owner is only there in the morning to clean and organize and he is a nice guy. Same group of people workout here and you get to know them after awhile. You will find me there early in the morning before work starts and sometimes during lunch.

Cincinnati Museum Center – the museum is expanding and adding new exhibits. We are a season pass holder here. We try to go once every few months. The boys particularly like the Children’s Museum. We usually get Graeter’s Ice Cream there for a treat.

Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens – my favorite place to visit. We are season pass holders and visit at least once a month, year round. I’ve taken some incredible photographs here. My favorite time to go is during the winter when the zoo is less crowded and the animals are surprisingly interactive. During the summer we get up early to hit the members entrance time and leave before lunch.

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium – we make one trip up here a year. We like to come up for a four day weekend and visit one entire day. We usually see the entire zoo in that trip if we can. The food is good and we switch around where we eat.

Columbus Center Of Science and Industry (COSI) – usually we make our trip up here when we visit the Columbus Zoo. We like to take a four day weekend and come here on Friday to beat the weekend crowd. We always eat lunch here and the food is good.

Dublin, OH. We like to stay here in town at one of the hotels (prefer Spring Hill Suites) in the new city center (Greystone Mews) and eat dinner at a restaurant there (usually Z Cucina di Spirito). We typically walk over the Dublin Connect Bridge to Dublin. We like Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.

Dutchman’s Rod and Gun Club. I am so blessed to be here. 150 plus acres of land to camp, hike, or hunt. Two trap houses means I can shoot whenever. A pistol, rifle, and archery range. Two stocked ponds. This place is incredible and without it I would have no access to country living of any sort.

Happy Fiddler Condominiums, Indian Rocks Beach – our favorite vacation place. We usually come here during spring break. It fits everything I want in a beach vacation. It is family friendly, has a heated pool, and is affordable. The water is calm and there is good shelling. We like to do putt-putt and we usually eat at a restaurant in town. We’ve actually come to know this area pretty well and consider it a second home at times. It seems that the rents are going up here, especially with the hurricane activity affecting so much of Florida, but we are content to continue visiting here for the time being.

Great Smokey Mountain National Park – we come down here once every other year but I foresee this becoming more common for us to visit. We love the park and take a drive through it to see the overlooks along 441. I suspect we’ll begin hiking more in GSMNP itself as the boys are bigger now. Sometimes we rent a cabin on the North Carolina side through VRBO and day trip around the area. Sometimes we go to Dollywood for their Christmas in the Smokies event, which we love also (Granny Ogles is our favorite place to eat). We’ve began exploring more of the area and doing some of the tourist activities, which I always shunned, but the boys are interested in. We usually visit in the fall when the leaves change colors. Favorite places include the Smokey Mountain Knife Works, which is a must visit, and restaurants like Krispee Kreme and Flavortown.

Indianapolis Children’s Museum – we like to come up here once a year during a late winter holiday. We tend to stay for the entire day and eat lunch here, the food is good. There is lots to see. We usually see the entire place and let the boys lead where they want to go next. The Chihuly glass sculpture and dinosaur area is popular with us.

Putz’s Creamy Whip – our favorite summer ice cream place. We try to come up once after a visit to the Cincinnati Museum Center. I like getting a foot long cheese coney and a vanilla double malt. Pure decadence.

Silverlake The Family Place – usually where we spend our summers. I try to get up here a few times a week in the evening to swim laps. We mostly go during the summer at the water park. Our sons used to play sports here more but we’ve been playing in leagues closer to home now.

Six Flags Kings Island – we come up here several times a year. We are season pass holders. We rarely go to the water park, instead focusing more on rides the boys can get on. We really like Coney Bar-B-Que to eat. We come up for Halloween Haunt and Winterfest also. We are very lucky to have this park in our backyard.

Starlite Auto Drive In Theater – we like to visit a few times during the year when they are open. This is my favorite place to watch a movie. The food is good and we love the soft serve. My wife thinks their ice cream is the best in the area. We have our system down with speaker system, chairs, and bedding. I look forward to our first visit here every spring.