Family Friendly Cincinnati

MarianneT 23 November 2009 Family Friendly Events & Activities 150 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

Image courtesy of www.DaytonDailyNews.com

One of our favorite family traditions – a newer one for us as we’ve only lived in Lebanon for a few years – is to spend the Friday evening after Thanksgiving in downtown Lebanon enjoying the Annual Christmas Tree Lighting from 6:30 pm -8:oo pm.

Unlike the much larger and far more popular Historic Christmas Festival and Horse Drawn Carriage Parade (Saturday, December 5, 1:00 pm & 7:00 pm), the Annual Christmas Tree Lighting is a smaller event, making it a nice way to enjoy a bit of old-fashioned Christmas in Historic Downtown Lebanon without the large crowds.

After the tree – adorned with hand-made decorations by art students from Lebanon schools –  is illuminated, we line up to visit Santa in City Hall and then sip some hot chocolate while we wait for a ride in the horse drawn carriage.  The ride is free but the hot chocolate is $1.00 – or at least it was last year.

All the shops that line Broadway are open late that evening as well and usually offer some great deals on unique gifts.

If you’ve  got a house filled with Thanksgiving guests, this is a nice way to get the kids out and about for an evening of family fun and – if everyone behaves (as I always remind my bunch) – a yummy frozen custard from Whit’s.

I’ll be there - look for the mom bundled up like the Michelin Man (I hate to be cold!) with three kids who just want to pet the horses.  Stop and say hi if you see me!