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Ohio Family VacationsThere are 2 sides of Ohio, you can easily get to a traditional city environment in Cleveland, Toledo, Cincinnati or Columbus or travel just outside the cities to the second side of Ohio small towns and family farms. Of course we can’t forget Lake Erie on the Northern side of Ohio when planning your Ohio family vacations. Cincinnati Cincinnati has a lot to offer for your Ohio family vacations. The Cincinnati museum center at Union Terminal is home to the history museum, Children’s museum and the Museum of Natural History. The museum of Natural History and Science has both permanent and changing exhibits including an Ice Age exhibit and a Limestone caves with waterfalls and bat colonies. Cincinnati’s Zoo is one of the 10 best zoos according to Child Magazine. This zoo is home to some of the rarest animals including Bengal tigers and gorillas. Outside of Cincinnati is Kings Mills, home to Paramount’s Kings Island. This is a family park offering more than 80 attractions including 12 roller coasters, a 15 acre water playground with 20 waterslides, wave pool and surfing pool and an assortment of live shows. To see it all including some nickelodeon characters plan to spend all day at this family fun park on your Ohio family vacation! Columbus Columbus has a lot to offer for your Ohio family vacations. The Columbus Center of Science and Industry (COSI) science center has great family hands on exhibits. Among all the great science exhibits, you will find a back to past exhibit which takes you right back in time with a cobblestone street, 50’s dinner and gas station. Most exhibits allow the kids to go in and play inside each area or building. There’s a water exhibit including a real submarine you can ride and an underwater vehicle you can maneuver. Don’t miss the static electricity show where your kids can volunteer to go up on stage and see how static electricity can be passed from one person to another! For those of you with brave family members there is even a high wire you can ride. Columbus Zoo and Aquarium - The Columbus zoo and aquarium is home to elephants, bears, cougars, lions, bison, moose, manatee, sharks, penguins and flamingos just to name a few. This year, 2008, they open Zoombezi Bay a 22 acre water park with 15 waterslides, wave pool and kiddy area. Lake Erie Lake Erie has a lot to offer for your Ohio family vacations. Lake Erie borders Ohio to the North offering hiking, Jet skiing, boating, fishing, and even diving excursions to shipwreck sites. There are a number of resorts and day parks along the Sandy beach part of the Lake. Here are a few Ohio family vacation destinations along the Lake Erie side of Ohio: Toledo Toledo’s zoo with Hippopotamuses, Koalas and Gorillas covers the Arctic tundra, wilds of Africa, the tropical rainforest and the Sonora Desert. Inside the Toledo Zoo is a children’s petting zoo for younger children who want to pet and feed the animals, always a hit with the young kids. The Center of Science and Industry (COSI) Toledo is a science center with hundreds of hands on exhibits. For the summer, the exhibits include an area to design your own roller coaster, liquid nitrogen ice cream, and even an Alka Seltzer rocket construction area. Cleveland Cleveland has a lot to offer for your Ohio family vacations. Home to the Cleveland Indians baseball and Cleveland Browns Football allows the family to take in a professional sports game or two, be sure to check game seasons and schedules ahead of time. The “Emerald Necklace” a 21,000acre 100mile chain of metro parks offers hiking, golf, skating, water parks and in the winter cross country skiing. For those of you with rocking teen agers, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum is a 150,000 square foot living legacy of music. Visitors can listen to the music that shaped rock and roll history and see a large collection of images and artifacts. Here are few additional family friendly locations to consider when planning your Ohio family vacations: Dayton Ohio: For those of you who have children who love military aircraft, Dayton Ohio is home to Wright Patterson Air Force Base National Museum of the US Air Force. This museum has one of the largest displays of aircraft and cover is one of the best we’ve ever seen. Cedar Point, located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, is a family fun destination. It includes some of the largest roller coasters, an 18 acre soak city water park, music shows for older kids and camp snoopy shows for the younger ones. Let’s not forget Planet snoopy for a bite to eat where the kids are in charge. This is another all day family attraction! I have included just a few ideas in the major areas of Ohio for your family to consider, there are also lots of parks for bike rides and day hikes in all areas as you are planning your Ohio family vacations. I hope that if you visit family and or friends in Ohio you will be welcomed by the same warm caring sprit we found ourselves so overwhelmed by during our visit.
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