Columbus Parent Magazine

Nothing says summer tradition like a family road trip. Whether it’s in a station wagon filled with kids playing license plate bingo or a minivan with passengers debating which DVD to watch next, summer road trips have always been a great way for the family to get out and experience the country.

Cincinnati: Amidst the gently rolling hills along the Ohio River, Cincinnati USA spreads from the southwestern corner of Ohio into Northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana. The city is located about mid-point on the shoreline of the 981-mile long Ohio River. John Filson, one of the first settlers in the Ohio Valley community, named it Losantiville, meaning a town opposite the mouth of the Licking River. In 1790, General Arthur St. Clair, renamed it Cincinnati in honor of the Society of Cincinnati, an organization of Revolutionary War officers.

Cleveland: Cleveland, located in the Eastern Standard Time Zone (EST) in the state of Ohio, is on the southern shore of Lake Erie, part of the Great Lakes Region, the country’s largest fresh water resource. The region extends 100 miles along the Lake Erie shoreline and more than 40 miles inland. General Moses Cleaveland founded the City of Cleveland in 1796. The name changed to its current spelling in 1831 when the “a” was dropped in order to fit the city’s name on a newspaper masthead. Originally a frontier village, Cleveland grew into a manufacturing and business center for Northern Ohio.

Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh was founded in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of the British statesman, Sir William Pitt. Pittsburgh is noted for bridges of all types throughout the city and is commonly known as the “The City of Bridges” or “The Bridge Capital” of the U.S. Pittsburgh is the nation’s busiest inland port, providing access to the extensive 9,000 mile U.S. inland waterway system.

Chicago: Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837. Its location at the site of a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed aided the city’s rapid growth. Today, Chicago is a major transportation hub, as well as a business, financial, and cultural center in the Midwest. Chicago offers major league sports, the shopping of the Magnificent Mile, a thriving arts culture, the modern offerings of the Millennium Park and Chicago-style pizza.