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Our epic FirstSaturdayOffSince2011 Day of Merriment and Excellence began as all classic Saturdays should, luxuriously sleeping in until  8 a.m. (my teenage self is gasping in horror right now) and homemade blueberry pancakes.

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Shortly thereafter we eagerly booked it downtown with our required flashlights and sturdy waterproof shoes for a rare and highly sought after Cincinnati Museum Center Heritage Program tour of Cincinnati’s abandoned underground subway and mass transit tunnels that we’ve been anxiously stalking for well over a year and, thanks to a fantastic Christmas present from my parents, we were lucky enough to book back in February, on the very day the tour was released for public ticket sales. The tour runs only one day a year and usually sells out instantly, with a mile long waiting list.

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Long story short the water canal that used to connect Cincinnati to other major Ohio cities like Toledo, Cleveland, and Columbus in the late 1800s was drained, dug out, and turned into an underground subway system in the 1920s. But about halfway through the project, the city ran out of money and the concrete tunnels were never completed. One of the stations, it is rumored, was going to be outfitted with gorgeous tile from Cincinnati’s famous Rookwood Pottery, and the tunnels were very well built. They were built to impress and they were built to last. My blog post from last February gives you a little more detailed info about it, if you’re interested. The above ground stations were torn down during the construction of I-75, but the underground stations still remain intact. In the 1960s the Liberty Street station was installed with electricity, a telephone, flushing toilets, bunk beds, basic kitchens, and a supply of food and water so that it could serve as a nuclear fallout shelter. And in the early 2000s the city spent $6 million (the exact amount it would have taken to finish the subway back in 1928) to structurally restore it and install a 52″ water main in it to supply the west side of Cincinnati with water. And though many proposals have been presented over the years for how to revive the tunnels and make them useful again, none of the options have been viable enough to bring to fruition. So the subway remains abandoned…and totally alluring!

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Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed on the tour, so I don’t have any personal pictures to share, but the experience was just awesome and the memories will last a lifetime! We entered through the boarded up and police guarded Race Street station on the corner of Race St. and Central Parkway downtown. It was pitch black in there save for the beams of our flashlights. But they placed a few candles along the edges of the platforms on either side so nobody would fall off, which gave it a very Phantom of the Opera look, which I greatly appreciated. Our docents were very knowledgeable and shared a lot of great information with us as we walked down the oak planks laid as per-cursors to tracks in the tunnels. We crossed “Lake Cincinnati” because the tunnels are no longer completely waterproof. And at one point we all turned our flashlights off and stood perfectly silent in the blackness for a moment – it was eerie and powerful all at once. How often do you get to experience such deafening silence, in a subway tunnel no less? Such a rich history our city has! If you ever have the opportunity to do the tour, it’s worth it. Sure, it’s just an empty old subway, but experiencing something so integral to the history of such an amazing city and standing where so few other people will ever get stand is really something special.

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After the tour we walked over to Findlay Market, Ohio’s oldest continually operated public market in the depths of the historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood downtown. This is another Cincinnati landmark I’ve been aching to visit for well over a year. I would liken it to Seattle’s Pike’s Market. We walked around for several hours perusing the spices, fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses, pastries, plants, restaurants and more. It was a perfectly gorgeous day out – sunny and 75° with a light breeze, so it was wonderfully relaxing, enjoyable, and surprisingly not too crowded.

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While at Findlay, I ordered a Banh Mi Thit Nuong Vietnamese sandwich from Pho Lang Thang, which was phenomenally flavorful and well worth the eight months I’ve been waiting to try it, and washed it down with a scoop of creamy sea salt caramel ice cream from Dojo Gelato. Dojo’s thai mango with spicy chili pepper ice cream and lemon rosemary sorbet were also to die for. We walked out of Findlay Market with treasure – 3 lbs. of crunchy green beans from one of the farmer’s tables and a pound of thick ruby red stalks of fresh rhubarb to take home.

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Despite our aching feet from all that walking, we had to spend an hour exploring Eden Park, which surrounds Mt. Adams, because it was just too beautiful outside to pass up the opportunity. Eden Park was named because it was listed as one of the top ten possible locations on Earth, according to Catholic and Protestant clergy of the 1900s, for where the Garden of Eden could have been. We walked around Mirror Lake, strolled the shaded paths, tried to identify flowers and various berries on trees, admired the city from the top of scenic overlooks, dashed across grassy meadows and down hills, and climbed up and down the remains of an old rock wall. In addition to boasting miles and miles of gorgeous, Eden Park is also home to some lovely Mt. Adams homes, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. We loved everything we discovered! The pictures don’t even do it justice, and Mirror Lake is simply stunning.

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Every November Eden Park also hosts Balluminaria, where dozens of hot air balloons are glowed up in the night sky for the evening….which I must attend this year!

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After exploring some of the coolest sights in Cincinnati until our feet were throbbing, we thought it best to head home, play a few rounds of our favorite lawn game Washers in the backyard, enjoy a homemade meal of slow cooker chicken veggie Parmesan, and throw in a movie.

It was a deliriously perfect day.

Oh, and if you were wondering what became of that fresh rhubarb from Findlay Market…

A fresh pie might be something along the lines of what happened to it. My insanely delicious top secret recipe fresh strawberry rhubarb pie was ready to make an appearance – welcome back summer!