Using my NPS site map, I decided to stop in Cincinnati for a couple nights on the way to Washington for my Visa appointment. I wanted to the see the Taft historic site. I booked a great AirBNB for 3 nights.

I visited the William Howard Taft NHS Saturday morning for several hours. There is a nice visitor center with a video about Taft and his family; the home was the one he grew up in and you can visit both floors. The home was sold by the Tafts in 1899 and several successive owners modified it. The William Howard Taft Memorial association saved it from demolition in 1938 and it was designated a National Historic Site in 1969. The NPS used Louise Taft’s letters that detailed her decorating plans and home improvements to guide the restoration.

Before visiting I knew Taft was President, of course, and a Supreme Court Justice, I knew a little about the 1912 election where Roosevelt ran third party and helped Wilson win but knew very little else. The exhibits in the visitor center, the house and discussions with the rangers in the home helped me learn much more about this great man and his family.

I visited two lovely parks, Eden Park and Smale Park. I had lunch at Goose + Elder.

I spent the afternoon in the great history museum, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. It requires 2-3 hours to read all the exhibits. Saturday night on the way back to my AirBNB I stopped at Rhinegeist Brewery for a flight.

Sunday morning I went over to the American Sign Museum. There is a great audio phone tour, that offers a lot of interesting information about the history of signs, from painted signs, show boards, lighted signs with bulbs to neon and argon signs, animated neon, molded plastic. It is a very interesting museum with lots of old signs on display.

Parking is difficult but still worth it to visit Findlay Market. I had lunch there Sunday before taking the Ultimate Queen City Underground Tour. We walked around the OTR, or Over The Rhine, area of Cincinnati. We visited the crypt of St. Francis Cathedral and the underground cellars of the old Kauffman Brewery.

I also visited Mainstrasse, a German village across the river in Covington, KY and then had dinner Sunday at the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, Kentucky.

A very nice weekend stop.

** All photos property of Lisa, not to be copied or reproduced **