Cincinnati was named one of the United States' top three travel destinations for 2012 by Lonely Planet. With a world-class arts and culture scene and major league sports, the Port of Cincinnati offers something for everyone. The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Station is one of only four museums in the US to host the "A Day in Pompeii" exhibit about the tragedy of the 79AD eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
The Port of Cincinnati's downtown runs along the north bank of the Ohio River, and hills, parks, and beautiful neighborhoods radiate north to the north from downtown. The newly renovated Fountain Center anchors the Port of Cincinnati's easily walkable downtown area, and skywalks connect the city's hotels, stores, garages, and convention centers to promote pedestrian traffic.
The Port of Cincinnati is located in a transition zone between the humid subtropical and humid continental climate zones. Summers are humid and hot with lots of rain. Winters are cold and snowy. Temperatures range from an average high of about 30°C (85°F) in July and August to an average low of -5°C (22.5°F) in January. Humidity levels peak in August and September at almost 90% and fall to about 78% in May. Rainfall is heaviest from March to August and peaks in May at 12.5 centimeters (4.9 inches). Light snow comes to the Port of Cincinnati from October through April and peaks in January and February with from 16 to 17 centimeters (6.3 to 6.7 inches).
BB Riverboats offers one-hour cruises on the Ohio River. Available sightseeing cruises feature historic, pirates of the Ohio, and Trauth Dairy Ice Cream themes. The Port of Cincinnati's BB Riverboats also offers kids' and birthday party cruises. Non-meal sightseeing tickets are available on all lunch, brunch, and dinner cruises. Lunch and brunch cruises sail at noon and 2pm, and dinner cruises sail from 7pm until 9:30pm. The Newport Landing is a docked boat with seating capacity for 120 people. It has all the amenities for special events.
The Belle of Cincinnati, BB Riverboats' flagship, has climate-controlled decks with full bars, dance floors, and elevators. The open-air upper deck is great for enjoying the beautiful riverside scenery or taking a romantic moonlight walk. Available for private charters, the Belle of Cincinnati is a great place for events and parties. The River Queen has two climate-controlled decks with buffets and full bars. The covered third deck is open-air but covered.
The Port of Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal was built in the 1933 Union Terminal train station and is a National Historic Landmark. The Museum Center contains the Cincinnati History Museum, the Museum of Natural History and Science, Duke Energy Children's Museum, and the Robert D. Linder Family OMNIMAX Theater.
The Cincinnati History Museum focuses on the city's history and early Ohio life. The museum has a replica of the 1850s Cincinnati Public Landing where visitors can board the 29-meter (94-foot) steamboat Queen of the West. The home front exhibition tells the story of the Port of Cincinnati during World War II. There is also a model of the city in the early 1900s complete with working trains. Costumed interpreters tell about their lives and include settlers from the 1792 river valley and flatboat men unloading cargo. Visitors can help a printer set type and visit a 1940s street car conductor.
The Museum of Natural History & Science recreates a 19 thousand year old Ice Age glacier and a limestone cave with underground waterfall, fossils, and a live bat colony. Visitors to this Port of Cincinnati museum can explore prehistoric worlds and creatures.
The Port of Cincinnati's Duke Energy Children's Museum is one of the best of its type in the country. Kids can climb, explore, and learn about the world. Hands-on activities are distributed among eight educational and exhibit areas, two of them for preschool and younger kids. Every year, the museum has more than 1800 hours of programs on areas like culture, arts, reading, and science.
The 1933 Union Terminal is a local Port of Cincinnati treasure. The art deco building was voted one of the United States' most popular buildings by the American Institute of Architects in 2007. Building a train station on the riverfront was an inspiration when the city decided to build it.
Part of the Port of Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, but located 75 miles east of the city, is the 14-thousand acre Edge of Appalachia Preserve, one of the biggest privately-owned preserves east of the Mississippi River. Flanking the Appalachian Escarpment, the preserve contains eleven distinct areas, four of them recognized as National Natural Landmarks. The museum has worked with the Ohio Chapter of the Nature Conservancy to protect the area for half a century.
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