Beat the Heat
It’s one of those Cincinnati afternoons. Maybe the humidity is pushing 90%, making a playground trip feel like a trek through a sauna, or perhaps a sudden Midwest thunderstorm has just washed out your afternoon plans. The kids are bouncing off the walls with cabin fever, and you desperately need a lifeline that gets everyone out of the house without battling the elements.
Cincinnati Fire Museum
315 W Court St.
Open Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission:
Adults: $10, seniors (65+): $9
Children: 7–17, $8; 2–6, $5
More at cincyfiremuseum.com.
Enter the Cincinnati Fire Museum.
I recently took my two energetic toddlers to this Court Street gem on one such drizzly, disgustingly humid morning.
I think there is technically a path you're supposed to take, but my girls led the way directly into the big room with the massive vintage fire trucks. This room also has a firetruck cab for kids to play in. You better believe we spent a good 10 minutes pretending to be on a fire run. Rosie is a terrible driver.
We grabbed a scavenger hunt list when we first arrived. I had fun looking for the various artifacts it contained while the girls mostly marveled at the Dalmatian-themed flying pig (only in Cincinnati) and the massive horse statues drawing an old firetruck from my hometown of Aurora, Indiana.
We tried to get Rosie to go down the real-life fire pole (she declined) and try on some fireman's gear (she happily acquiesced) and then we ended up in a play room where the girls played with toy trucks for a few minutes. In another room, Rosie very much enjoyed playing with a pumping apparatus while Ruby watched. We hit up the gift shop on the way out for a tiny toy firetruck and a stuffed Dalmatian and walked back into the drizzle after a lovely 1.5 hour excursion.
Cincinnati actually established the first paid, professional fire department in the United States back in 1853, and they've created a very cool, hands-on museum to honor that heritage. It's just another thing that makes me appreciate how cool Cincinnati is and how much there is to do with my girls!
– Shae Huth