Riverboat cruises, baseball games and day hikes were just a few of the fun activities we squeezed in during our week in Cincinnati before heading west on our grand road trip.
Usually, when we come back to Cincinnati it revolves around one holiday or another. With both of my parents and much of the rest of my family still living in Greater Cincinnati area we usually make one or two trips out a year. One of the best things about this trip has been the opportunity to spend more time with family without the frantic rushing around that comes with the holidays. I would highly recommend anyone considering a career break or extended travel to use the time you have at the beginning or end of the trip to visit with family. Well, that is if you enjoy your family’s company.
One of the first things we did once we were in town was to spend a beautiful evening on the Ohio River aboard a B&B riverboat for a charity dinner cruise. Starting the evening with a buffet dinner we quickly moved out to the outside decks to take in the city views and eventually the beautiful sunset sinking below the western horizon.
One of the great views we had while on the Ohio River was the new Cincinnati Reds Ballpark. While I was in town when the old Riverfront Stadium was imploded in 2002, I had yet to make it to a game in the new stadium. By a happy coincidence, while we were home the Reds were running a promotion offering half price tickets to teachers. A good friend of the family, Craig Smith, is a teacher in Northern Kentucky and is also a huge baseball fan. He offered to buy tickets for all of us and was able to secure great seats 15 rows back from home plate. And despite a brief rain delay in the 5th inning we saw an amazing game by the Reds with a 7 to 2 win over the Washington Nationals.
One of our final adventures in the Cincinnati area was a day hike in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Yellow Springs is about an hour north of Cincinnati and its claim to fame is that the during the Christmas season the Clifton Mill, just south of town, is decked out in millions of lights. While it is not quite as postcard picturesque in the summer as it is in the winter, the hike along the Little Miami River was wonderful. The 5-mile path winds along the river and showcases southern Ohio geology, including erosion of the layered sedimentary cliffs and the fossils contained in them.
This trip to Cincinnati reaffirmed something that most people seem to agree with when we have asked them about it: the unique phenomenon of local residents never making the time to see the sights located in their own hometown. New Yorkers that have never been to the Statue of Liberty, Australians that have not made the trip to Ayers rock and Philadelphians that have never laid eyes on the crack in the Liberty Bell.
What attractions in your hometown have you not made it to that an out of town tourist armed with a guidebook would hit in the first 24 hours? Let us know in the comments below.
For more pictures from Cincinnati be sure o check out the Road Trip Pictures page here.
Meet the Beast. That is the affectionate nickname we gave to the Eddie Bauer Edition 1998 Ford Expedition my dad graciously offered to loan us for our 4-week U.S. and Canadian road trip. One question that may immediately come to mind when seeing our choice for vehicle is, “Hey I thought this blog was GREEN Around the Globe? What’s with the massive gas-guzzling SUV? Shouldn’t you guys be driving a Prius?” While Amy and I do have a passion for the environment and for businesses that have environmental sustainability as a core strategy, we are also firm believers that economic incentives play a huge role in the choices that we make as consumers. As such, I wanted to detail the evaluation process we went through and why the Beast was the best option.
Need for Flexibility
When we returned from Australia and made the decision to continue traveling closer to home, we needed transport that offered flexibility. After briefly considering the few public transport options, trains, buses, airplanes, etc. we came to the quick realization we were back in the car-centric US. If we wanted to get across the country at a reasonable cost while being able to stop and see places along the way we needed to drive. This was reinforced when flipping through the Lonely Planet USA in a bookstore. In the things to remember section it said, “Driver license, even if you don’t plan on driving, once you see how big America is you may change your mind. “ So we needed a vehicle. We also had to plan for the possibility that we might have to return to the East Coast on short notice and would prefer not to have to drive three days straight to do that. With this as our primary evaluation criteria for transport we had two options: rent a car from a national company or borrow the Beast from my dad. With the rental car, if we needed to we could go to the nearest airport and return the car, probably pay a penalty, and get on a plane. With the Beast, we could go to the nearest airport, lock it up and get on a plane. We’d then have to return when we could to get it back to Cincinnati. However, my dad was not very concerned about when it was returned, increasing the flexibility of this option. With that settled, next we needed to evaluate costs, which called for a spreadsheet.
Cost Comparison
Surprisingly, the Beast was the cheaper option, 30% cheaper in fact. Let me explain how I got to that estimate. For overall trip assumptions we estimated that the 32-day road trip would be about 7,500 miles and that gas would cost on average $3 per gallon. Also built into the detailed assumptions was the cost to offset any incremental CO2 that would be created by choosing the less fuel efficient Beast over a smaller rental car. (Detailed assumptions are outlined below). In the end, with the relatively cheap cost of fuel in the U.S., and the high per day rental cost, the Beast still had the cost advantage. This savings amounted to nearly $9/day. Not to mention the added flexibility borrowing a car from family offered vs. the prospect of dealing with a rental car company in the event our plans changed. Somehow I suspect that Avis would be less understanding than KEA was with our camper van rental in Australia.
Detailed Cost Assumptions
What do you think? Would you have taken the Beast, or rented a smaller, more fuel efficient car? Let us know in the comments below.
Here it is, folks, our latest video on our six weeks in Bhutan and China this past spring. We had an incredible experience in both countries. Enjoy!
One of our final adventures in the Cincinnati area was a day hike in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Yellow Springs is about an hour north of Cincinnati and its claim to fame is that the during the Christmas season the Clifton Mill, just south of town, is decked out in millions of lights. While it is not quite as postcard picturesque in the summer as it is in the winter, the hike along the Little Miami River was wonderful. The 5-mile path winds along the river and showcases southern Ohio geology, including erosion of the layered sedimentary cliffs and the fossils contained in them.
