“It is a scavenger hunt, but not the kind people think of when you think of running through the streets and grabbing this or grabbing that. I describe it as a walk with riddles. It’s a scavenger hunt, but it’s also a discovery. So, you’re going into neighborhoods you may have never been in before, or going in one’s that you know, but seeing it in a new way and learning fun facts,” said Kathy Witt, author of “Cincinnati Scavenger.”
Witt said the book is a challenging, memory-making way to explore the city and uncover its mystery. The book includes 300 riddles and clues, which are spread throughout 19 different neighborhoods.
“For example, Aurora, Indiana is in the book. I tried to cover Metro Cincinnati. So, it’s the whole viewing area. The clues are all written in rhymes, and it’s all rhyming verse. Once you get the hang of it and spot the first one, they are pretty easy to identify. It’s fun to see where you can spot everything. In Aurora, there are cute little shops, restaurants, and parks, and if you’ve never been, it really is such a great outing. So, it’s those kinds of neighborhoods, all over,” Witt said.
She said the neighborhoods featured in the book had to be walkable, safe and they had to have things to see and do. A few of the neighborhoods included in the book are Mount Adams, Over-the-Rhine and the Montgomery Heritage District. Northern Kentucky neighborhoods include Bellevue, Mainstrasse, Fort Thomas and Latonia. In Southeast Indiana, the book explores Lawrenceburg and Aurora.
“If you arrive in that town proper, you’re going to start spotting the clues,” Witt said. “The book itself is spiral bound, so it’s meant to be used and carried with you. So, you can flip the pages and write in it. With ‘Cincinnati Scavenger, I have fun-branded pens that you can use to go with it and check things off as you go along.”
All of the clues are outside, hidden in plain sight, so you can find them walking down the street — such as a Civil War canon, or Spiderman, and the perfect place to take a selfie with Shakespeare. Also, readers will be taken to places they can pop in and visit, too, such as sipping a tropical margarita at a Mexican sports bar and playing vintage arcade games at an antiques and collectibles shop.
“If you wander into Lawrenceburg, you are going to spot a giant, green dinosaur. In downtown, if you’re in the Central Business District, there’s a mural depicting a scene from the movie “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.” In Latonia, there is a great coffee shop there that is also an antique shop. We are doing an event on Nov. 4 for the book at the coffee shop, The Roost. It’s neat because every time you go in, there’s a different mix of merchandise in the shop, and everything in the shop is for sale, including couches, chairs, and whatever,” she said.
In Ludlow, Ky., for example, there’s a lot of railroad history, and the clues reflect upon the history.
“The challenge with this book was the entire thing had to be written in rhyming verse. So, it’s all iambic tetrameter, four lines, eight beats per line, and each verse had to give a little bit of insight to what the clue was, and a fun fact, or tidbit of history of the area, or the clue site, so there was a lot to pack in — in only four lines, and they all had to rhyme,” Witt said
The book will appeal to families, couples, students, historians, and anyone looking for a fun way to spend time together, create memories, and learn about the history of Cincinnati. Neighborhood by neighborhood, readers will uncover Cincinnati’s landmarks as they find out more about each community’s charm and what makes it unique.
“I hope readers discover what’s in their own backyard…I hope that people will go into these different communities and see that they really are their own little part of the story of Cincinnati,” Witt said.
On Nov. 4, Witt will also be at a mini book fair event at The Roost in Latonia.
Witt is an award-winning travel and lifestyle writer, syndicated travel and travel goods columnist, and the author of several books, including “Secret Cincinnati: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure” and the novel, “The Secret of the Belles.”
She is currently writing a travel book focused on her home state of Kentucky, called “Perfect Day Kentucky,” which is due out in the spring of 2024. She currently resides in Burlington she grew up in Latonia.
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Follow the author and learn more about upcoming “Cincinnati Scavenger” events at facebook.com/SecretCincinnatiNKY or connect with her online at kathywitt.com.
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