Description: I grew up about an hour from downtown Cincinnati. We rarely came into the city as a family. I could probably count how many times we came downtown on one of my hands. In my head, I grew up envisioning it to be dirty, nasty, and scary.

From the time I got married until my husband was transferred, we went to Cincinnati on occasion, but it was typically for a Reds game. We never really made it to the Fountain.

So when my husband decided we should go to Cincinnati for his birthday I smiled, said okay, but at the same time was wondering why in the world he would want to stay in downtown Cincinnati as opposed to staying across the river in Covington. As much as it pains me to say this, my husband was right.

We were lucky enough to stay across the street from Fountain Square, which was great fun for me to people watch. On Saturday afternoon we went over to the area to hang out, look around and take pictures. The square was set up for Fountain Day so there were 2 tents and also umbrellas set up with some of the tables.

I saw the banner that announced the Saturday being Fountain Day and shared this with my friends. We all looked at each other and shrugged, but later found out that Fountain Day is when they turn the fountain on, so that the Lady of the Fountain has water that sprays from her hands. There was also a concert as part of the celebration.

There are several other events that go on throughout the year. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have gone to the website www.myfountainsquare.com when we started planning this trip to have more info.

Along with the Fountain, there are a lot of tables set up where people can sit and talk with friends. A few of the tables have checkerboard painted on them. I didn't see checkers, but found out from the website that you can check out checkers or chess pieces from the parking garage . There are also public restrooms.

There is also a water wall memorial-esque tribute with a poem of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. At night, there are lights below the flowing water, which was very pretty. During warm months, there are water spouts for children to play in. (Note, this is fresh water, no chlorine, so no harm if they drink the water.)

When we were there there was a police officer with his horse named Alex, a beautiful, huge dark brown horse, who the officer told us is the biggest police horse that they have. The officer was taking children on horse rides, which was a lot of fun to watch.

Across the street from the Square is a huge LED tv display, which gave the area a big city feel.

In winter months there is an ice rink to skate on. $2.50 for admission and $2.50 for skate rental. The website is updated with rink status.

I posted a picture of the rules, but must advise that I don't think people follow the rule of not feeding the pigeons. The pigeons here are the fattest, largest pigeons I have ever seen. They are almost as big as small chickens.

There is also a parking garage that I found to be pretty reasonable -- $1 for the first hour, then $2 additional dollars for each additional hour. After 7 hours, the price is capped at $15. Evenings and weekends (up to 8 hours on the weekend) are $4. Take your ticket with you because there are pay stations that you pay the parking before you get back to your car. This didn't bother us, but a banker rolled his eyes when describing it to us. Maybe fun for a day or two, but not so fun each day.

If you live in Cincinnati, I highly recommend you utilize Fountain Square. Go online, find events and enjoy the cheap, if not free entertainment. If you are planning on visiting Cincinnati, definitely make this a stop on your to do list. Close