Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati, Ohio)

 If you have followed my blog from the beginning (August 2007), or even just read the introductory remarks on this blog’s homepage, you are aware that one of our goals as we travel the country is to get to all 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) parks. We began this summer with twenty checked off the list, and figured since we were on the east side of the country already, we may as well pick up the Midwestern teams we hadn’t got to yet. So began our 2016 continuation of the Great MLB Park Tour, with our first stop in Cincinnati, Ohio to watch the Cincinnati Reds versus the Texas Rangers on 8/24/2016. The Reds have been around a long time, and have an interesting history.

The original team was called the Cincinnati Red Stockings, founded in 1866, and was baseball’s first fully professional team. There has been a litany of name changes, city changes, star players, and championships since then, way too much to document here, but easy enough to search out on the internet for those who are interested. I thought it would more fun to highlight a couple of the “fun facts” about the team instead!

•        The highest recorded attendance in a season was 2,629,708 in 1976, which happened to be the year they won their second consecutive World Series title.
•        The Cincinnati Reds were expelled from the National League in 1880 for continuing to rent out the ballpark on Sundays and not ceasing to sell beer during games.
•        There are some hardcore Reds fans that believe Opening Day should be named a Cincinnati holiday. For decades, the first pitch of every major league season officially took place in Cincinnati, and the Reds remain the only major league team to always open the season with a home game.

 Attendance during the game we attended was 16,001 (capacity is 42,319), and despite “root, root, rooting” for the Home Team, Texas won, 6-5. 

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Cuyahoga River Valley National Park, dubbed “A National Park for All People”, is one of a growing number of urban recreation areas established to bring national parks to people living in cities. Set along the Cuyahoga River, the park is a natural treasure bounded by the suburbs of Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. Cuyahoga (or Ka-ih-ogh-ha, the American Indian name) means Crooked River -  an apt description, as it turns out. The river twists and turns for 90-miles, but as the crow flies, only covers 30-miles from the mouth of the river in Cleveland to the base of the escarpment in Akron.

The park consists of 33,000 acres along 22 miles, with more than 125 miles of hiking, skiing, bicycling, and horseback riding trails. There is something for everyone here, and truly a four seasons park. Picnicking, golf, canoeing, kayaking, and hiking in the milder seasons; sledding, skiing, and snow-shoeing are available in winter. The Blossom Music Center within the park offers summer evening classical and pop music concerts, the Porthouse Theater features summer stock performances, and there is even a Saturday Farmer’s Market from May through October. There are multiple visitors centers, lodging options, and interpretive programs provided by park service personnel.

The RV Park where we stayed in Streetsboro, Ohio is just 15-miles from Cuyahoga, very conveniently located for our visits. Our initial trip to the park was to the Boston Store Visitor Center to pick up brochures and hiking maps, and to get a lay of the land. That day was off-and-on rainy, so we didn’t want to commit to anything too lengthy lest we get caught in a downpour. We were able to get to a couple of waterfalls, though, ones with short trails from the parking lot so we could easily get back to shelter if necessary.

By the next day, the rain had moved on, so we decided to plan a more lengthy hiking adventure. With so many trails to pick from it was hard to narrow our choices down, but ultimately we decided to spend the day hiking the Ledges and Pine Hollow trails. We spent the morning wandering through 5-miles of forest with gently rolling hills, interesting rock formations, an active bat cave, valley overlooks, and gurgling streams. At the end of our hike we picnicked along the trail before wrapping things up. It was just coincidence that we ended up staying in Streetsboro at all, so being able to visit yet another of our nation’s beautiful National Parks was definitely a bonus.