A literal underground party?! Why not! I'd heard stories of the transit center and figured this…read morewould be a great way to check it out. Cars, stunt bikes, photo booth, mechanical bull, food trucks, music.. can't go wrong right? Well.... it could be because we went later in the evening. Most cars were gone, most stands packed up, and food trucks out of most things or already packed up. Oh well, continue to the music! The lasers were cool, the strobes in that small space were not... as well as the acoustics. Way too much reverb. They might be better off putting the stage closer to the door to help the sound. I mean that's what we're there for right?! It was just kind of meh... not sure I'd be up for it again... but kind of cool to say you "went to an underground rave"

I made a last minute decision to attend this. It didn't hurt that the event was free, so I do feel…read morea little bad giving it 3 stars. Overall it was a unique event in a unique space that will hopefully see more activity as I assume it goes unused most of the year. I felt like I was going to some kind of underground rave, and in theory I was. Great to see lots of food trucks and other vendors. Had I not already eaten, I would have loved to try some of the food. The music, at least in my opinion, was only so so. For some reason RJD2's sound was super treble heavy to the point of almost painful. Give me some bass!!! A minor highlight were a few b-boys and even a b-girl strutting their fancy dance moves to the music. It was good for about an hour of entertainment.

I've been wanting to do this event for years. To kayak/canoe on the Ohio River is amazing! You get…read moreto see the best of Cincinnati! From downtown, Kentucky, the west side and more! The event takes place at Schmidt Recreation Complex (2944 Humbert Ave., in the East End) . Ends at Gilday Riverside Park. What's awesome about this event is it's organized by and benefits Adventure Crew, a nonprofit that connects city teens in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky with nature and each other through engaging outdoor adventures. A great cause. My Mr. also volunteered the day before to help set it up. We signed up online We don't own a kayak or canoe so we had to rent one. We ended up with a canoe since they were sold out of kayaks. Then there is the admission fee per person. You are welcome to bring your own. You can choose the 4 or 9 mile. I highly recommend the 9 mile because there are vendors at the end of the event. When you are done , you can catch a shuttle back. It starts at 8:00 am and must be out of the water by 12:30 pm The weather was so perfect! We enjoyed it so much that I want to do it again next year. It's one of the largest paddlefest in the U.S.! Now how cool is that?!

I'd volunteered for Paddlefest for a couple years prior but hadn't participated until this year…read more After finally doing so, I think my lady and I will definitely be doing it next year too. It was so much fun being out there on the Ohio River along with so many others enjoying it all. You can bring your own canoe or kayak or rent one at the event. You can choose either a 4.5 mile run or a 9 mile. I highly recommend the 9 mile to really get the full experience as well as the party at the end with lots of food, drinks, and so much more. My lady and I opted for a two person canoe because they were out of two person kayaks. Still, we had a blast and took lots of pics on the river. If you're a fan of the outdoors or just love canoeing/kayaking, this is a must-do event for you. See you out on the river!

Despite a protest from some local politicians after a LGBT group was not allowed entry, the…read moreCincinnati St. Patrick's Day Parade went off as expected this past Saturday. However rather than boycotting the parade all together, it seemed to me that there were many other groups in the parade showing support for the LGBT community and groups. I think this was much more effective than boycotting the parade, which would have done very little in the eyes of those watching the parade. My family and I watched the parade for a couple of hours and had a good time. This was my first time attending the Cincinnati parade, at least in recent memory, and while it doesn't compare in size to the Denver version, it is a very spirited group and good fun for the entire family. With that said I wish they could somehow alter the route so that the parade wouldn't have to be stopped every few minutes to let vehicular traffic through.

We travel a fair bit for criterium races in the Midwest and this one proved to be a lot of fun. It…read morecertainly doesn't hurt that it's in the charming Hyde Park neighborhood just outside of Cincy. My husband raced Friday night in Madeira and Saturday at Hyde Park. I typically make an adventure of it to scope out the neighborhood and festivities. This particular day-long fest featured a 5k in the morning, more than ten brewery booths, five to ten food booths along with the brick and mortar businesses surrounding the criterium's path. The announcers made this event super fun from a spectator standpoint and around 75+ racers showed up for the Category 1 men's race at the end of the night. I love that the race takes place at the end of the day allowing the temperatures and sun to drop. Free to attend for spectators and $40+ for cyclists to enter.

Hyde Park Blast is a fun race that draws walkers, runners, and bikers of all abilities and levels…read moreof competitiveness. I participated in the walk/run race in the morning. The race in the morning is a bit longer than a 5k (it's about 4 miles). Local running groups like the Running Spot offer training for this event and the participants range from super fast people up front to those in no particular hurry in back- no need to feel self conscious signing up for this race if you are not super speedy- everyone is there to raise money to fight cancer and that's what counts. The registration fee, which goes towards fighting cancer, also includes a shirt and a finisher's gift at the end (this year sunglasses). This is not an event that will leave you famished. Plenty of local eateries and stores are on hand to give you free snacks and beverages (an adult beverage is included for those of age as well). Gear is also available for purchase at the event. Probably the only hassle involved in this event is parking which is to be expected- but otherwise it's a fun, mostly flat route for a great cause! Check it out- maybe even make it your first race!!!!!!!

On Saturday, May 13, 2006, the University of Cincinnati celebrated the completion of its three-year…read more"extensive renovation and upgrade of all UC's athletics facilities," known as the Richard E. Lindner Varsity Village. The state-of-the-art facilities are very important to the future of Bearcat student-athletes, and the eight-story Lindner Center between Nippert Stadium and Fifth Third Arena even includes an academic center and study facilities. Now as big of a Bearcat fan that I am, I don't go to UC. My school has a larger athletic budget, but the facilities aren't nearly as new or nice, so anytime I step onto the UC campus and more importantly in the Varsity Village, I'm very pleased with what UC has done. The places I'm most likely to frequent are Fifth Third Arena, which added a new scoreboard and expanded strength-training equipment, and Nippert Stadium, which installed new turf, upgraded 8,000 seats, and created permanent seating in the north end zone and game-day locker rooms. While all that is great for the two biggest programs at UC, they've made tremendous updates elsewhere, including brand new venues. The swimming and tennis programs both had to travel off campus to practice, but each now has its own on-campus facility, which also allows for home meets and matches to be held. Ben & Dee Gettler Stadium is the completely renovated soccer and track complex, which seats 1,400 and has a press box too. In 2004, the baseball program got a boost with the new Marge Schott Stadium, while even the band has its own facility as well. There is even a five-story trophy case/hall of fame in the Lindner Center, the "hub" of Bearcat athletics, which also has offices, locker rooms, meeting spaces, and administrative services and support areas. I had the opportunity of touring some of these facilities as a senior in high school and they are each very nice. The $105 million project shows UC's commitment to its athletics (but also academics with the Lindner Center), and it has already paid off with the recent successes of many of its teams including, baseball, football, and men's soccer. Now I know that I didn't cover everything, but in general the facilities are great. They have already made an impact on recent student-athletes and will continue to do so and draw the best athletes to Cincinnati where they will strengthen the image of UC athletics and the University of Cincinnati in general.

If your physique is robust, the imaging center here has an MRI machine that can accommodate you --…read morea closed MRI. Novel, even. All the staff was really nice and they have headphones you can use in the machine which is fun. Some places don't. The folks at reception also did a great last minute job of tracking down some blood work that was supposed to have been faxed to them. No complaints from me, and it's located close to UC Hospital if that's where you're headed.

I've seen pictures of this race through my friends feed on Facebook and always wanted to…read moreparticipate in this event. When I heard that they are coming to Cincinnati, I signed up right away. For signing up, you receive a T-shirt, knee high socks, runners bib, a color pack, and removable tattoo. You have the option to sign up for the just the race or option with both parking and pass to Kings island. I did the race and park/pass. It's starts at 7:30 a.m. for runners and walkers 7:45 a.m. Color Me Rad is the only 5K color race with eight color stations throughout the course. It is loosely based on the Hindu Festival of Colors, otherwise known as Holi. The festive colors used are a sign of winter's end and spring's new beginnings. Or in the case of RAD; the color represents the end of lame runs and the beginning of fun runs. The race was held at King's Island. We started the run on the parking lot. You go through the park and ending destination is in the front of Kings Island (near ticket booths). I love the color stations-you either get squirted the color gel or thrown the color paint/powder. At the end of the course, there is someone that gives you bottle of water. After the race, if you want more color thrown on you, join the DJ for the after party. They throw free color packs and every 15 minutes we toss it in the air and get really dirty. My favorite is the smoke blowing everywhere!! It's so awesome. If you wear white (highly recommned), you are able to see the colors more. Make sure to wear sunglasses and cover your cell phones. I look forward to seeing the professional pictures. Overall, I had a blast. I can't wait for next year. I think everyone should try this! FYI, this is not a charity. Also, make sure to brings towels because you will need it on the way home!

It was a cold, blustery Ohio day turned into a Southern California fiesta! Bakersfield has a…read morereputation for hosting a good time, but for Dia de los Muertos, they were definitely prepared to party in our sporadic Mid-Western climate. Greeted with an archway of balloons and classic country music, the parking lot at 12th and Vine was perfectly laid out with drink booths, food booths, activities and tables. Never mind that it was 50º; numerous space heater towers were placed next to each table and made the entire event space feel like a mild day. Faces By Jen painted up the crowd Day of the Dead style, each patron getting a custom design. This wasn't wimpy carnival face painting either; Jen's team dolled people up with full white face paint, black noses and skeleton detailing, plus vibrant accent colors for the occasion. Some folks had their whole face painted, others did half and half, and some had just a few accents to enhance their costume. Speaking of costumes, there were plenty of creative outfits present including both Dia de los Muertos style, and pop culture Halloween. Tim Burton's Mad Hatter won best of show, alongside a man painted blue as Avatar, a stewardess, Batman, and a group of four women wearing adorable tiny top hats. Bakersfield served up margaritas and three kinds of tacos. I first tried the carnitas, which satisfied my craving for spicy beef. Next, the server suggested I try their new recipe they were testing. I like adventure, so I sunk my teeth into what looked like a new steak taco. Tender and flavorful, their new recipe was actually heart and liver! I was surprised too, and wouldn't have asked for it had I known what I was eating in the first place. If you have the chance, give it a try! Surrounded by friends, warmth, good food, good music, and the essence of Halloween, Dia de los Muertos was a spooktacular way to start off the weekend.

This was a really good idea- 24 wines from around the world, a great range of rosé, red, whites,…read moresparkling, all for $2/taste or $6/glass. The website does a really good job of setting up their mission of "Drink Better Wine," so I was really excited to find some great new wines to buy/drink all summer. Saturday dawned and it was HOT out. There was a seminar/panel at noon, but we didn't go to that, so hopefully someone else can weigh in. Around 3pm we arrived to kind of a chaotic check in. We hadn't purchased tickets in advance, and decided to split a 6 tasting card so we could try a few and get a feel for the place and buy some more tastes if we wanted to. We probably stood there, at the front of the line, for several minutes while the people working the check in table figured out how they wanted to be set up. This was an hour after they started? Anyway, we stepped into the parking lot and saw that everything was spread out among four tents around the perimeter, with tall top tables in the center, right in the heat rising off of the blacktop. We stopped at the first tent to ask what the rhyme and reason were between where each wines were located, and found that there wasn't one. Wines weren't organized by region or type, but rather you could find a range at each tent. At first I was surprised and confused so we had to take a few minutes to create a game plan from the combo of the wine guide book (LOVED the book), and our tasting card. But as more people came, I think the range worked because everyone wasn't crowded around one certain tent. The wines themselves were ok. We ended up tying 12 wines but only walked away with one (a delicious rosé, #yeswayrosé). We came in and out a bit throughout a couple of hours and only heard a band play once so I'm guessing the music portion picked up later in the evening. The weather isn't anyone's fault but one thing I noticed, and kept noticing, was that the people working the event were really crabby about it. There were several times when I walked up to a tent and there would be several people standing or sitting behind the table fanning themselves or wiping their brow and not step up to help me or ask what I wanted to try. The people working the tent also seemed to be somewhat under-educated. There was usually one person doing a lot of talking but maybe 3-4 others who didn't know pricing or details about the wines they were serving. There was a price list available, so I'm not sure why they didn't have it behind the tents. Overall, I was kind of disappointed by the Urban Wine Festival. I hope that they continue to do it though, as I think it will get better with time.