I love to travel to other places. I don't think that makes me unusual. It's pretty normal. We all enjoy the experience of traveling to a new place and exploring their special places.
When my kids were young, we regularly took sojourns to nearby cities. When we'd go, we would visit their zoos and museums, and at other attractions as they were available. Often this included parks and monuments.
As my kids got older, these trips just stopped happening. They were replaced by sports and school and friends and music. The usual stuff. But still my wife and I regularly visited New York City, looking forward each time to a visit to an unusual museum or new park.
On one of these trips I found myself looking at an Edward Hopper painting in the Whitney Museum. (Though I was also taking pictures out the window of a beautiful sunset and amazing view.) And I thought to myself, “Boy I love coming to New York City so I can see amazing art in a beautiful space.” Or words to that effect. I started to ask a related question about Cincinnati, like “why doesn't Cincinnati have this?”
The answer is, of course, that Cincinnati DOES have this. We have a lovely art museum, in a beautiful park, located at one of the highest points in the city of seven hills.
In that moment I realized that the reason I love traveling to other cities is that I arrive in those other cities as a tourist. I don't worry about my errands and obligations. I set aside time to visit sites that spark my imagination and creativity. I simply choose to see it differently. While in New York City I could still read my email and write articles but I don't.
I also realized that I could experience my own city differently if I approached it as a tourist. If I took the time to visit my city without being weighed down by work and chores, I might feel a bit differently about Cincinnati.
This is part of the inspiration for my 2025 Stupid Arbitrary Goal: to visit and do an activity in every Cincinnati Park. (There are over 80 of them!)
But it also inspired a recent trip to the Cincinnati Art Museum where I found a different Edward Hopper painting, Sun on Prospect Street, which I could stare at for hours. And I could stare at it without the hassle of flying to New York City. And pretty much everything is better if it doesn't involve LaGuardia Airport.
I need to make time to visit the Taft Museum, which is just down the street from my church. I've lived in Cincinnati over 30 years and I've never gone there.
It's time to visit Cincinnati as a tourist.