Travelling to Cincinnati was a blast. I spent most of the day there and I loved it. The time was most convenient since it was on a Friday and my only class was cancelled because my professor organized this trip for his intro level class (BTW, the professor, Dr. Walker, is the same one who led the two Columbus field trips I wrote about last year). The only real drawback was that I had to leave the school around 7:30 am so my wake up was around 6:30 am. At least, I got to sleep on the ride on a nice bus.
The itinerary: I awoke to the National Underground Railroad museum around 9:30 am. The intro class for Geography (Cultural Geography) and myself toured the museum and I was humbled by many of the exhibits. I knew about many of these exhibits but to look at the shackles and to stand in the wooden cells that held my ancestors was surreal and an experience that I would never forget. I wanted to stay here for the entire day but I knew that this was not possible. I hope to visit the museum sometime soon because there are so many exhibits I did not get a chance to see.
Around the noon day started the actual excursion of the trip. For the next four hours, I saw many historic parts of Cincinnati including their version of Cleveland's West Side Market (the name slips off my mind but I think I have a picture of the place). The area the market was located in was right in the middle of the neighborhood near the downtown similar to the location of the West Side Market. I was broke (which is a bad thing for a field excursion) but fortunately, one of the students brought me fish and chips which was unexpected.
After thanking him and replenishing my energy, the class toured (by foot) the downtown area. Another surreal experience for me was entering one of the Catholic churches in the downtown area. I was not expecting this as I thought would not be open. The church was open and there is tons of proof that I went below. I have been into Catholic churches but none were as decorative and elaborate was this specific church. The church was pretty big and had several sections meant for different purposes. I think the class spent at least an half hour in the church before roaming around the downtown some more.
The journey through downtown Cincinnati was long and often awe-inspiring. The class did some heavy footwork (up many stairs and inclined roads) to the outskirts of Cincinnati, particularly the neighborhood of Over-The-Rhine. I received a guide and history about Cincinnati and Over-The-Rhine, which I eventually used in my term paper for my Contemporary American Landscapes class about Case Studies in Gentrification and its Effects Upon Individual Cities in Ohio. We went to another Catholic church (not as elaborate as the one downtown) which overlooked the downtown and other parts of Cincinnati. This church was called Immaculata Conception and this, along with a stop in the ice cream store, concluded our field excursion in Cincinnati. Nice experience and a day away from the school. I love field excursions and further research.
Enjoy the abundant pictures from the trip. I know I did.
To experience life firsthand, experience Geography,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10
