Ohio Love Staff Picks: July 2025

You love Ohio. We love Ohio. 

Each month, the Ohio Magazine editorial team shares what we adore about the Buckeye State right now. From the coasters of Cedar Point and charming Hocking Hills museum to a waterfront park ripe for exploring, we hope you find something to love in our July 2025 picks. 

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Queen City Jewel

Right on the edge of downtown Cincinnati, you’ll find yourself standing below the beauty of the Roebling Bridge. The suspension bridge towers over the Ohio River, connecting the Queen City to Covington, Kentucky. Driving over, one may not even notice the park hugging the riverfront. But take the few flights of stairs down and you find yourself in Smale Riverfront Park.

Recently, I took a walk through the park and was delighted to see it used by so many different people in so many ways. The park’s many interactive play structures drew in kids and adults alike, hopping across stones in a fountain or climbing aboard a large metal flying pig that flaps its wings when you tug on the attached ropes.

Fun for kids takes centerstage throughout the park, with a splash pad on the east end, not far from Moerlein Lager House. Walking west, you’ll find Carol Ann’s Carousel. Housed in an all-glass structure, 360-degree views of Cincinnati are a guarantee on every ride. Further down the path are swinging benches, where you can sit and watch the river traffic flow by. Teenagers were practicing their skateboard tricks as others admired the beautiful roses at the Gardner Family Rose Garden.

During my visit, I was happy to just sit and watch the community take in all this impressive park had to offer. It felt like home for Cincinnatians and tourists alike, a place that I’d like to visit with my kids one day. Upon hearing there may be a tasty treat from a nearby snow cone truck, my kids would be in all in for a visit to Smale Riverfront Park.

For more information about Smale Riverfront Park, visit cincinnati-oh.gov/cincyparks

Sharp Stop

Chances are, if you ask someone from Ohio where you should take a long-weekend trip, they’ll recommend Hocking Hills State Park first. And with good reason! My husband, Nick, and I have been twice now, once with his extended family for a chilly Thanksgiving stay and the second time just the two of us for a “babymoon” weekend before our daughter arrived. Of course, the winding trails and scenic caves are amazing sights to behold, but actually, the only link between both trips is that they included a visit to the Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum.

I’ll get to the point: This place is adorable. I am not sure what you’re picturing when you hear a word as all-encompassing as “museum,” but take your vision and miniaturize it (which is not to say it’s unimpressive). After the Rev. Paul A. Johnson’s death in 2010, his wife made the decision to turn the Ohioan’s quirky hobby of collecting pencil sharpeners into a colorful collection for all to see.

The small-but-mighty structure that houses it started as a shed just outside the Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center and was replaced in 2024 with a permanent and more modern home. Since then, more pieces have been added from the late Frank Parades of Tampa, Florida — another pencil-sharpener collector — bringing the total number of display items to nearly 5,000.

Nick and I visited the older iteration in 2021 with his younger brothers, Andy and Joey, who were probably kind of skeptical about the operation at first, but after stepping inside, couldn’t stop staring at the pencil sharpeners in the shapes of cars, Disney characters, animals and musical instruments lining the tiny space.

When Nick and I visited again in 2024, we spent at least a half hour perusing the shelves full of sharpeners, marveling at airplanes, radios, dinosaurs and clowns. When you’re planning your next getaway packed with cliffs, gorges and waterfalls, make sure not to erase this hidden gem from the itinerary.

For more information about the Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum, visit explorehockinghills.com

Fourth of July Fun

Nothing evokes summer quite like a high-80s-but-feels-like-90s day with the sun blazing like a drop of molten gold in an enormous crystalline sky. And despite the unrelenting heat, I think there’s no better way to embrace a day like that than to grab your sunscreen, sunglasses and water bottle and head out to a baseball game, especially when it falls on a Fourth of July Friday. 

And that’s exactly what I did this past Fourth of July.

I love attending sporting events, whether it’s a football game in the fall, a basketball game in the winter or a baseball game in the summer. Luckily, having lived so close to Cleveland for all my life, I’ve enjoyed the convenience of driving downtown for all kinds of events whenever the occasion arises. And this first Friday in July was no different.

Summer is my favorite season, so it may only be natural that baseball games are especially appealing to me. The idea of spending time outside under the wide-open summer sky, decked out in team gear and cheering for my favorite players sparks a true buzz of excitement. Maybe it’s the smell of popcorn, the fanfare of the announcers or the satisfying crack of the bat, but there’s something about the atmosphere that feels like a perfect slice of Americana. 

This Fourth of July baseball game was my first of the year and with it came free T-shirts, a postgame fireworks show and, my personal favorite: $1 hot dogs. All these things combined to create a picture-perfect evening, and coincidentally, I happened to snap a pic that I feel captures it all.

For more information about Cleveland Guardians games, visit mlb.com/guardians

Mural Masterpieces

Columbus has a multitude of murals scattered throughout the city, which makes any trip through town an artistic adventure of its own. But some of my favorites are the riffs on famous paintings that pop up in surprising places in the city’s Short North Arts District.

I first encountered these mural masterpieces close-up when we filmed our Great Ohio Road Trips video about art in Columbus in 2021. These twists on beloved and instantly recognizable works by renowned artists pay tribute to the original while also presenting each in a fresh way that feels vital and contemporary. 

My favorite and the most well-known in the district is the twist on Grant Wood’s “American Gothic,” the 1930 painting that depicts a farmer and what appears to be his daughter standing in front of their modest home. (The models for the painting were in fact Wood’s dentist and his sister, Nan.)

Installed in 2002, the Short North version of “American Gothic” tightly frames its human subjects from the shoulders up, but has the woman in the painting upside down, with her head pointed toward the ground, and swapped the position of the two figures.

Another favorite is this version of the “Mona Lisa,” which is laying on its side in an alley a couple blocks off High Street. Installed in 1990, the paint-on-concrete is the only mural in the Short North Arts district not visible from High Street but one that proves taking a side quest here and there pays off with whimsical discoveries.

For more information about murals in Columbus’ Short North Artist district, visit columbusmakesart.com/tours/short-north-public-art-tour.

Wild Ride 

Cedar Point is getting a lot of attention this season, and for good reason. Not only is Top Thrill 2 making its take-two debut after a season-long closure, but Siren’s Curse has come ashore to take those who dare to board it plunging toward the ground. Siren’s Curse sure gets the blood pumping, but with all the new rides at Cedar Point, we cannot forget those that came before.

It would be controversial for me to say there is a “best” ride at Cedar Point, but it’s not an unpopular opinion to claim that Maverick is one of the greats. When this Wild West-themed ride splashed onto the Cedar Point scene in 2007, it quickly became a favorite and remains as such. (I mean, have you ever seen the line for this ride be less than an hour?)

I just had the chance to ride Maverick again when I visited Cedar Point with my husband’s extended family over the Fourth of July holiday. We wound through the waiting queue and finally took a seat in the cars. I knew this ride was my favorite, but as we left the station my anxiety started to climb; as did the train as it went barreling up the track to a high point of 105 feet.

There is no time to wonder what’s next, because soon, you’re plunging downward at a 95-degree angle, ready or not. As you whip through the ride, there’s all the beautiful things that make up a Cedar Point coaster: airtime, unique twists, great theming and views of the lake. (And, unfortunately if you’re sitting next to me, mild hearing loss from all the screaming.)

I may not be much of a coaster person, but from the time we go up the track to the 70 mile per hour relaunch through the tunnel in the middle of the ride to the abrupt stop at the end, I have only one thing to say when it’s over: Ride On.

For more information about Cedar Point, visit cedarpoint.com

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