This is a guest post courtesy of Hunter Payne, Managing Partner at HomeLinkCincinnati.

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If you take a contract job in Cincinnati, it’s a great opportunity to turn it into a prolonged mini-vacation during your periods outside of work. Cincinnati is a fantastic city to live, work and visit, with tons of things to do, see, eat, drink, and experience. Here are the seven main ways you can turn your contract job in Cincinnati into a vacation.

Culture & Arts

There are tons of cultural and arts centers for you to visit during your time in Cincinnati, many which hold special displays, exhibits, or events for you to enjoy. The city is home to the Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Newport Aquarium, and Contemporary Arts Museum.

It is also home to the Cincinnati Museum Center is in a former railroad station that includes the Cincinnati History Library and History Museum, and the Museum of Natural History & Science to explore. It also has the OMNIMAX Theater that shows interesting movies and documentaries on a five-story, 72-foot diameter screen in a dome.

So if you are a big fan of culture, education, science, or the arts then you have plenty of opportunities for new and exciting experiences on your contract job in the city.

Music Scene

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If you love good music, there are tons of venues and music events to visit on your evenings or days off from work. The biggest is the Riverbend Music Center, an outdoor concert venue that can fit more than 20,000 people. It’s a great place to see major acts on warm summer evenings.

If you also like smaller, more intimate venues you can find a large variety of local music acts and performers. The most beloved by people in the Cincinnati area is arguably The Greenwich, which has a very relaxed atmosphere to soak in great local jazz groups.

Restaurants & Cuisine

You might not expect Cincinnati to be a hotbed of good food, but while you’re in the city for your contract job you’ll find some fantastic restaurants and local specialties to feast on. Chili is the Cincinnati specialty of choice, with tons of chili restaurants dotting the city that serve incredible varieties of chili you’ve never tasted before.

Cincinnati used to be a center for processing pork in the country, and even if that has faded away by now it has led to a tradition of pork-based BBQ. If you love ribs, pork loin, sausages, bacon, pulled pork, and other types of pork-based dishes, you’ll find delicious local barbecue restaurants.

Breweries

Another remnant from the city’s history comes from the German community that settled here in the distant past. They left behind a strong love of beer, which is why there are around 50 local craft breweries in Cincinnati and surrounding area today. If you love drinking and trying new beer, you can try out a new brewery every week for an entire year and only start repeating by December.

Of course, the German heritage also means there is a huge Oktoberfest celebration every year, with parties that offer all the German beer, sausage, and lederhosen you could ever want. It lasts for a full weekend every year, with tons of fun events, ceremonies, exhibits, and live music to experience. It can be a great way and relax on your weekend off from contract work.

Festivals & Events

Throughout the year, Cincinnati hosts a massive amount of special festivals and events — cultural festivals, music festivals, food festivals, arts festivals and so on, that are annual events. There’s the Taste of Cincinnati for food lovers to really discover the great food the city has to offer, Cincinnati May Festival for choral music at the Taft Theatre, the Cincy Cinco Festival for Cinco de Mayo, the International Butterfly Show for nature lovers, Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts for lovers of international and local culture, and more.

There’s also major events such as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s “Run Like Hell” 5k race where you can dress up in whatever costume you want to run and have fun for a good cause. There’s also the “Pigs Can Fly” marathon that is the city’s biggest party over a full weekend every year, with over 30,000 participants in the marathon and corresponding events.

Sports

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If you love watching or participating in sports, Cincinnati also has a lot to offer visitors on short-term contracts. They have professional football and baseball teams in the Bengals and Reds, as well as major College and University teams with big rivalries and drama. There are also minor league sports teams that make highly entertaining experiences — the Florence Freedom baseball team for example has tons of giveaways, concerts, fireworks displays, costume nights, beer nights, and special food nights to make it a great occasion.   

If you like participating in sports, Cincinnati has the Perfect North ski hill during the winters, that Olympic medalist Nick Goepper grew up using. There’s also local adult leagues for basketball, baseball, football, hockey, and soccer to join, as well as golf courses, bowling alleys, tennis courts, and so on.

Fun Activities

If you like going out to do something fun, you’re spoiled for choice in Cincinnati. There’s two major amusement parks in Kings Island — the largest theme park in the Midwest — and the famous Coney Island. You can go on tons of rides, visit the water parks, and enjoy all the fun games, food vendors, and exhibits during the warmer months.You can also stay in the downtown area of the city with their extensively renovated town square, which hosts tons of events through the year and offers high-quality bars and restaurants all around Fountain Square. If you want a little excitement, there’s also the Horseshoe Casino that gives you a little flavor of Las Vegas, with casino games and gambling combined with excellent food and drink.

About the Author:

Hunter Payne will argue that, “If you don’t just LOVE Cincinnati, there is something wrong with you, not the city.” He started his career with the Netherland Hilton Hotel in Downtown Cincinnati, and after graduating from Ohio State University Hunter worked in the construction and real estate management fields. As the current managing partner of HomeLinkCincinnati he enjoys annoying his fellow workers by instituting standards that are almost impossible to obtain such as their “OCD clean” policy.