We awoke this morning with Great American Ball Park just outside our window.

Our morning excursion took us to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

As a proud RPI graduate, I felt required to get a good photo of the Roebling Bridge while I was in Cincinnati, and the view from the Freedom’s Eternal Flame Terrace provided the opportunity I needed.

We only had an hour and a half at the Center, and it wasn’t long enough. I knew a lot of the information, but the Center put it in context, and that made a big difference in being able to feel what had happened over the years. The Center doesn’t just talk about slavery; it also has exhibits on what colonization and settlement did to Indians, as well as quite a bit of space given to women’s rights (or the lack thereof). The exhibit on “modern slavery” (human trafficking) was chilling, too. I would have liked to have seen the slave pen and explored the implicit bias material, but there just wasn’t enough time.

After lunch, we took a quick walk along the waterfront; the Reds were hosting the Brewers and the area was busy with people hurrying to the game. We could hear the crowd singing the national anthem when we walked past the ballpark; I was startled when they shot off fireworks at “the rockets’ red glare”.

Then we went to the Cincinnati Art Museum for a slightly longer visit. I spent most of my time on the second floor in the American and European art rooms (they also have good collections of ancient art, Asian and Islamic art, and they devote a lot of the first floor to art created in or related to Cincinnati). Two of my favorite pieces were “Hell Ain’t Half Full” by Ned Cartledge and “Night Writer” by R.M. Fischer, but there were many others I enjoyed, too.

And then it was time to take the bus back to the ship and sail away.