47. CINCINNATI FLOWER SHOW & CINCINNATI MAY FESTIVAL

Cincinnati, Ohio

4/24/2010

Shame on you, Patricia! We cut you some slack back when you put the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Botanical Garden in one entry because they’re both museums and right across the street from each other. However, the Cincinnati Flower Show and the Cincinnati May Festival are two completely different events at two completely different times (April and May) that have no connection whatsoever (the May Festival is a series of classical music concerts). In fact, the Cincinnati Flower Show isn’t even really in Cincinnati – it’s about twenty minutes north in Symmes Township. So how can you justify combining these two events into one? Was “1002 Places (Many of Which are Actually Events and not Really Places, You Know, Like, Technically) to See Before You Die” not a catchy enough title? Ok, Patricia. We’ll play your sick, sick game. But one rule: When you cheat and put two places in one entry, we get to pick just one and cross it off our list. Ah ha! The Cincinnati Flower Show runs through Laura’s birthday. Happy birthday, honey. Let’s look at some flowers.

As mentioned above, the Cincinnati Flower Show is actually in Symmes Township. If you don’t know what a township is you shouldn’t have fallen asleep in my government class last week. I think it helped the ambience of the show taking place in a more suburban environment than if it had been smack in the middle of a huge city. I understand that the show was originally in Cincinnati proper, and only recently moved. I’d be interested to hear how that has affected the show.

First of all, we were very impressed with the organization of the event. It was clear that not only had Symmes Township shut down for this event, but nobody seemed to mind. In fact, the place was teeming with local volunteers who were very friendly and helpful. Parking at huge events like this can be a nightmare, but everything was clearly planned by the township to run as smoothly as possible. I got the distinct impression that this community was taking great pride in having the honor of hosting the show – it was a very contagious attitude.

The show itself was interesting, although much smaller than we imagined. The Cincinnati Flower Show is the only flower show in North America approved by the British Horticultural Society, and the proof is in the quality of the displays rather than the quantity. I suppose we should have expected that. If this show is so prestigious only the best of the best are going to be able to get in. I guess we just assumed it would be larger nonetheless. All of the displays were contained within two large tents. It didn’t take long to see everything. Most of the rest of the grounds were dedicated to your typical festival hawkers – but for the most part they were selling gardening stuff, so at least it was relevant to the event.

This particular day was a part of “Children’s Weekend.” There was a tent set up with activities and events for children. Daniel was a little too young for the hands-on activities, but he was fascinated by the alpacas, cows and sheep in the petting zoo – although he was a little wary. He much preferred the chickens.

We really did like the children’s area. There were a lot of activities and crafts – all of which were free. Daniel did get a little flower in a basket, which is now safely planted in our patio. There was no “ice cream man” trying to guilt parents into buying things. I can imagine that a parent of a four-year old would really appreciate that.

All in all, we enjoyed the show. Both Laura and I had to admit that we’re just not going to get that excited about a flower show – so there was no way it was going to change our lives. But it was an enjoyable afternoon in a casual atmosphere, where it was obvious the people involved cared about what they were doing and what an event like this can do for their community.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to try to bake a birthday cake. Anyone know how to turn on the oven?