Erlanger, KY Outdoor Activities

Tucked away near the banks of the Ohio River stands the other Sin City. Or at least it used to be, during the days when bootlegging formed a powerful underground economy. When a group of teachers and history buffs needed money for school service projects in Central America, they decided to raise funds by starting tours that explored this seamy history, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. A few years and many local accolades later, knowledgeable guides continue expounding upon the town’s rich history of mobsters, gamblers, and ladies of the night.

Tours stroll down Newport blocks littered with buildings once occupied by speakeasies, brothels, and the site of Al Capone’s failed early restaurant career, Al Calzone. Along the way, guides tie the rich past to the rise of the modern-day gaming industry and Newport’s connections to famous crime figures.

Shielded from the elements, customers at Glowgolf traverse the course’s 18 holes of indoor miniature golf amid an extraterrestrial neon glow. Vivid murals of jungle and underwater scenes adorn the course’s walls, with giraffes, zebras, and otherworldly creatures serenely coexisting. The course itself brims with potted plants and decorative treasure chests along with traditional mini-golf obstacles such as loop-the-loop ramps and water traps filled with live sharks.

In order to claim their tickets, fans will be redirected to the Cincinnati Reds' online ticketing site for Groupies, where they must choose their preferred game and pay additional fees (see below for details). Choose from the following games against the Milwaukee Brewers:

Founded by a group of friends who created the acclaimed Newport Gangster Tour as a fundraiser in 2008, American Legacy Tours blossomed into a full-fledged tour company two years later. Participants choose from seven distinct tours that traverse cities as guides share fascinating and sometimes seedy history. The Queen City Underground Tour ventures beneath the city’s streets into a hidden burial vault and long-forgotten tunnels, and the Newport Gangster Tour delves into a scandalous past by visiting the sites of former brothels and speakeasies. Elsewhere, on the Haunted Covington Tour, guests feed their thirst for fright and their hunger for candy handouts from amiable apparitions.

With 10 national championships to their name and another 76 conference titles to boot, the Cincinnati Bearcats boast a proud tradition that dates back more than a century. Although they’ve had wild success in multiple sports, their basketball program—which won back-to-back NCAA Championships in 1961 and 1962—is truly the athletic department’s crown jewel. Before embarking on a professional career that earned him a spot among the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, Oscar Robertson cut his hard-court skills for the Bearcats, for whom he averaged a staggering 33.8 points per game in his three-year career. In more recent hoops history, Kenyon Martin, the No. 1 pick in the 2000 NBA draft, brought fans to their feet by swatting opponents’ shots away and placing a whoopee cushion on every seat.

Imagine standing on the courthouse steps where dozens of Cincinnatians were slain during a riot in 1884. Or looking down an unlit tunnel burrowed to sustain the black-market trade of alcohol during the Prohibition. The guides behind Queen City History & Education Ltd. illuminate both the highs and lows of Over-the-Rhine’s and downtown’s history through walking tours designed by local attorney and real-estate agent Michael Morgan, author of Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King. They also host lectures and educational seminars that promote the preservation of Cincinnati’s historical structures. To further strengthen that goal, the company donates a percentage of it proceeds to the Brewery District CURC, a nonprofit that supports the redevelopment of Over-the-Rhine. Additionally, the foundation works to preserve the area’s architectural and cultural brewing heritage by placing a bubbling cauldron on every corner.