Favorite Must-Sees in Cincinnati!

It’s been another fun week of summer adventures, and if you follow me on Instagram, you know that this week, we took a little girls’ trip to Cincinnati! It’s the halfway-point between us and some good friends of ours from Michigan, so we met up with them for some fun.

We came upon some great places while we were there this time, and as I promised on Insta, I’m giving you the low-down…

First up was Vine Street, which has undergone a revival with several great shops and restaurants, not to mention this cute mural…

Of course, we had to hit the famous Holtman’s Donuts first, with its old school charm and unique variety of donuts.

And speaking of charm– we chose the Lucky Charms donut and, yes, it was magically delicious!

Just down the street are two great locations of the same great shop!! My sister now lives near Cincinnati, and this is her favorite on Vine St. It’s called Elm and Iron, and the two shops are basically across the the street from each other. One is cute and small, and the other is three stories of awesome! Check out their site here, but check out their store in person! We loved it!

After Vine Street, we decided to head down to the Smale Riverfront Park, which is a really beautiful spot for relaxing on a swing by the river, taking a stroll…

Or renting a bike! On a last-minute whim, we decided to rent this quad bike and we had the best time taking it through the park! The Cincinnati Bike Center is located just across the street from the park at the entrance to the parking garage. Visit their site here to check for coupons and rates!

After the bike ride, we took our appetites to a place my daughter, Abby, saw on Pinterest called Nada. It’s an adorable Mexican restaurant located right next door to the Arnoff Center on Walnut Street.

I knew I was going to love it as soon as I spotted the string lights and lanterns in a tree outside on the patio!

We ate inside because it was a little rainy, and I’m glad we did because it was soo cute! It was almost as if Cath Kidston planned a fiesta with a modern twist.

Even the bathrooms were rave-worthy!

Note the magical tv screen in the mirror…

I had a fried avocado taco and Abby had the mac and cheese and both were amazing! Click here for the link to their site. It’s a definite must for visiting Cincy!

And then, to keep the fun food tour going, we headed to another spot the girls found on Pinterest… Aglamesis Bros Soda Parlor!

I’m not kidding when I say this is the real deal. This shop has been open since 1913! Yes, over 100 years old!

They specialize in ice cream, candies, and sodas, and of course, soda parlor charm!

So much of the store is original, down to the marble tables and tile. And the treats were soo yummy!

We absolutely loved this place and enjoyed talking to the employees to get all the history! Seriously so fun. Check out their site here for locations and info!

And I have to mention one more of my favorites in the Cincinnati area– it’s the Ballard Designs Outlet in West Chester. It’s just about a mile from IKEA, and we’ve found some great deals here in the past. This time, I wanted to cry when I saw these Paris Bistro Stools were only $49! I have been eyeing these for a while in the catalog and actually came looking for these specific ones. The bad news was, they only had one black tall stool and I need 4! It was such a heartbreaker!

And then, I spotted this– what are the chances this adorable tray would have my initials?? But, since it had a huge crack in the corner and it was still kinda pricey, I let it go for some other JCR to discover.

So there are a few of my recent Cincinnati favorites! I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!