Arts and Entertainment

Check out The Banks Cincinnati

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Cincinnati is not the boring, midwestern city it used to be. Recently there has been many changes in the downtown area to draw people in.

By Paul Plas

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Currently OTR and The Banks are very busy and continue to keep people coming back on the weekends.

The Banks is a recent development that is located along side of the Ohio river, in between The Great American Ballpark and Paul Brown Stadium. There are over a dozen restaurants and bars, including Moerlein Lager House, The Yard House, Ruth Chris Steakhouse, and many more. There is also a hotel, along with apartment living, as well as Smale Riverfront Park. Not only is the Banks known for their fun family events, but also its nightlife. A lot of these bars and restaurants turn into a club-like scene at night.

I went down there Friday, September 20, for their famous Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is a big festival alongside The Banks, where there is a ton of traditional, German style food and more beer than you could ever imagine. I got down there around 8 pm Friday night and the streets were packed. The food lines were 20-30 people long, and there was even 4 or 5 live bands. People were singing and dancing to the music, everyone just having a good time. Not only were they playing current hip hop and country music, but also classic rock and even traditional style German music. One block down from Oktoberfest, the Cincinnati Reds were in town. When the Reds are in town on a Friday night, you know you’ll be seeing some fireworks because every Friday night, the Reds put on a large post-game fireworks display for the entire city. It is truly spectacular.

This year the Banks added a huge Ferris wheel, called the SkyStar Wheel. This wheel was originally going to be temporary, but since it was such a big hit they decided to keep it permanently. According to thebankscincy.com, the SkyStar “is 15-stories tall. It is the largest portable Observation Wheel in North America. It has 36 climate-controlled gondolas. Each gondola holds 6 people. It has 1 million LED lights, making for a spectacular evening experience. Rides consist of 4 revolutions and takes about 12 minutes.” One of Cincinnati bloggers, Nedra McDaniel, said, “If you want a view of the skyline of Cincinnati from a unique perspective, you need to take a ride on SkyStar Observation Wheel!”

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All in all Cincinnati is an amazing city that has great tradition and culture, and as continued to shine over the many years. I am not too sure if people even recognize it, but there sure is a lot to do downtown. More than people give it credit for. Whether you’re looking for a night out with your friends, or want to bring your kids and family to downtown for a nice time, you will definitely have fun.

About Paul Plas

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