Traveled. Found. Devoured.
Thanksgiving weekend found many of our friends out of town and TaGeez working so ShelleyJean and I tossed some bags in the car and headed down to Cincinnati for the
Butler County Donut Tour!
Yes, you heard that right! Visit a dozen homegrown, neon-frosted, so sweet our teeth hurt confectionery establishments for free swag (and about 10 extra pounds)! 9 stamps on a
passport earns a
Traveled. Found. Devoured. t-shirt and 12 smilies plus
code words for a geocoin.
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| Butler County Donut GeoTour GC6P6WX |
And the adventure was a hoot! In just a few short hours upon arrival, with Shelley at the wheel and me navigating, we found 12 friendly 'donut' caches, coffee bean art, Alexander Hamilton in leg warmers, and several other wonders in lower Ohio. Many of the shops included other delicious items including brownies, cookies, and even maple syrup.
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| Alexander is Back in Town GCZGB4 |
Although overcast, the weather was mild enough for light coats and site-seeing. We scoured the usual websites before the trip, and Hamilton (although a sweet little town) had only two real claims to fame: the German Village and the
Hollow Earth Monument. Does it not resemble a donut? But, no! That's not what the tour is all about!
We even nabbed a few Virtuals on our donut tour trek, too. This is a pretty interesting virtual - to claim it, you have to visit a specific benchmark and there is a different one for each month. This is the WLW "super power" Radio Tower (aka "November").
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| Benchmark of the Month Virtual GC7227 |
Downtown Cincinnati Adventure
We arrived with a loose game plan. ShelleyJean found this fabulous puzzle in Montgomery, and, I must admit, it was the first moment I felt the holiday spirit. We solved this puzzle by the light of our smart phones, and then strolled down a pine-festooned, festively-decorated cobblestone walkway to the cryptex at the final.
In turn, I dragged Shelley across the Ohio River into Kentucky for one of my favorite Virtuals. The streets were filled with holiday revelers. We crossed back into Ohio by the lovely John A.
Roebling Suspension Bridge and were greeted by fireworks! We discovered later that Cincinnati was celebrating its tree lighting tonight (with Santa & friends rapelling down Macy's facade) at Fountain Square - excellent timing!
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| "Newport KY" World Peace Bell *Virtual* GC653C |
We ended our fabulous first day at The Boathouse - Montgomery Inn for dinner. It's a round, two-story restaurant with floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooks the river. The food was amazing and the tables were full. If you go, make reservations first to save your sanity. And, oh. Order the crab cakes - yum!
Sunday Morning Promenade
With plenty of time to explore so many places, we still awoke early and headed out. There were donut shops to revisit (If you do the tours, they do close early when they run out of donuts so plan accordingly). Afterwards, we headed downtown again - Sunday mornings are the perfect time for site-seeing and urban geocaching in any big city.
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| Great American Ball Park - Red Sox Statidums |
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| **Spoiler - not supplying a GC** |
Admittedly, one of our favorite stops was totally unplanned. Across the parking lot from The Boathouse and along the Ohio River is the Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park (along the river walk). Shelley had spotted a cache she wanted to visit, and I realized there is a wherigo starting in this parking lot. Two birds - one stone. And a truly lovely walk. Notice the sun is finally shining?
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| Geocaching Around the World Wherigo GC3NK19 |
Such a well-planned chain of smaller parks (as described in the wherigo as a "bracelet" where each continent is a charm). The landscaping, rock formations, art objects, informational signs blended beautifully, and, before you know it, you've walked a lovely strolling mile (being passed by joggers, perambulating dog walkers and mothers with strollers).
The first "charm" is the Garden of Europe which includes the Munich Pavilion “Castle of Air” that caught Shelley's attention. Fascinating! It reflects like the Bean in Chicago. You have to be careful where you stand because the heat from the reflections can be pretty intense. You can cool off by stepping into the inner sanctum within the structure (a good place to hunt for a traditional cache).
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| Cincinnati "Castle" in the Clouds GCN0BR |
Ok, admittedly, I'm pretty comfortable with myself as a whole. But after seeing myself in this very flattering stretched reflection I'm beginning to regret all those donuts from the day before!
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| Looking good! Scrapcat and ShelleyJean |
The Garden of the Sun (and Sun Plaza) features a sundial made from 150-year old charred English oak trunks.
The river walk ends in the Garden of the Americas and is anchored by Susan Ewing's 50-foot Crystalline Tower.
Energized by our walk and finding the wherigo final, we turned towards Fountain Square. Inside the visitor center is a large travel bug hotel (4 trackables in - 2 out). And outside we found Cincinnati's famed fountain, their holiday tree, and the Christkindlmarkt in full swing.
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| Cincinnati mural near Fountain Square |
With a few hours of sunlight left, it was time to turn North.
Spring Grove Cemetery
“Only a place with a heart and soul could make for its dead a more magnificent park than any which exists for the living.”
[Source: Atlas Obscura]
Established in 1845 as a result of a cholera epidemic, Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum is a prime example of a "garden lawn" cemetery. Along with the renowned distinction of being the second largest cemetery in the United States, Spring Grove Cemetery is also "one of only seven cemeteries listed as a National Historic Landmark." During its heyday, the Cincinnati elite would day trip to these rolling hills and 15 serene lakes "to be seen". According to the wonderful guides, Spring Grove became so popular that tickets were required for admittance to prove family was interred within.
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| Cypress Knees within the Civil War section |
Our first stop was the Civil War section. We grabbed our first geocache in AFK's Freedom GeoTour.
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| Shelly for the find! FGT Spring Grove Cemetery GC5T08W |
A must-stop is the Dexter Mausoleum with its stained limestone and flying buttresses (rumored to be the only mausoleum in North America with flying buttresses). This wonder contains 12 marble catacombs and was planned to include a manual elevator.
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| Dexter Mausoleum/Chapel |
Read this fascinating article which includes a bit about an actual open house when it was first built. I would've enjoyed that tour. As ShelleyJean asked, do they still build structures like these?
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| Dexter Mausoleum Entrance |
Quite the final view, eh? 15 lakes, 10-acre preserve, and "serving as a living horticultural laboratory, Spring Grove’s Arboretum boasts a remarkable 1,200 species with over 1,000 labeled for study and research purposes for universities, nurseries, and growers."
Spring Grove was stunning and worth committing an afternoon. Stop at the office to pick up four impressive brochures: Historic Spring Grove Self-Guided Walking Tour, Historic Spring Grove Visitors Map, Historic Spring Grove Cemetery Beer Barons, and Historic Spring Grove Cemetery Presidential Connections.
Vine Street Hill Cemetery
Across from Spring Grove Cemetery were two additional historic cemeteries: Vine Street Hill Cemetery (formerly the German Evangelical Protestant Cemetery) and St. John Cemetery (fascinating Catholic cemetery perched on a hill).
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| Symbols of the Vine Street Hill Cemetery Wherigo GC5J6D1 |
ShelleyJean and I rounded out our Cincinnati adventure completing another wherigo, a Beer Barron letterbox, and a Historic Chapel puzzle in Vine Hill Cemetery. We left so many geocaches behind!
Ah, so many more Ohio geotours to do! On our way home, we stopped in the Pure Michigan Visitor Center and discovered a new Earth Cache onsite. Such a fun, well-rounded weekend!
@ShelleyJean took some truly amazing cemetery photos on this adventure. If you'd like to see her work visit her on Instagram. Her landscapes and "arty photos" are stunning!
