BY GEORGE KOEHLER

Many times living in Ohio can feel very repetitive or even bland. During the summer this gets a little easier as seasonal activities open up. Yet in the winter around Cincinnati, the number of things to do for fun seems to be limited. Ohio also doesn’t have the best weather to go out and play in the snow, yet feels cold enough to be. I’m hoping that by writing this article about some of the things to do around Ohio during the winter time will help to make everyone’s time a little better.

If you’re looking for something during the day to go out and do, get a group of friends and head out to an area that you don’t go to a lot. If it’s a little bit of a drive that’s okay, it probably means that this place will feel relatively new to you. Find a store or strip mall around that area that would look nice to go to, and go explore the new places. I have found many fun places doing this, like a place with a $6 charge for unlimited pizza, salads, mac and cheese, drinks, desserts and more.

If you’re looking for something to do during the night with a group of friends, maybe a date, whoever you want. Head to Summit Park, just past the Kenwood mall, and go try the shops and restaurants there. Or you could head up the tower and take cool pictures posing with the clear glass elevator, high up balcony, or play around with the angles of the camera. One cool effect I’ve used is put the camera at the level of a person’s feet, but a little bit out so you aren’t touching theirs. Then point the camera up at the person with a tower behind them or however you want the background to look. This will give a really cool effect to your photos and I have taken many that I like at Summit park using all of the features around the park.

Another fun thing to do during the night is head to Clifton or downtown. In Clifton, walking around the main square is fun and getting food, just the environment in Clifton is a lot more alive at night. When I head downtown, walking the streets with lots of traffic from restaurants makes for another alive environment, while walking down to Smale park is also fun and going to look out on the river.

If it’s before 9pm, head over to the Kenwood mall and maybe go try to shop in a store you haven’t gone in before or try a new food place if you haven’t before. A new sushi bar is being added to the food court there soon.

If you have a passion for snowboarding, skiing, or even tubing in the snow, I would highly recommend Perfect North. While the conditions there won’t match what you’ll find on a mountain of real snow, for a ski mountain 40 minutes away in Indiana (19074 Perfect Pl Ln, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025), the conditions are great. I have a huge passion for snowboarding and love going to Perfect North whenever I can find time to.

I hope this article has given some ideas about what to do living in Ohio during the winters without snow. If you have any other ideas or comments about things to do in Ohio during this time, feel free to comment below.