This is why I LOVE Smale park, Cincinnati, Ohio

These photos speak all about Smale Riverfront Park. Carousel, splash pads, river walks, play areas for the entire family, rose garden, picnic areas, slides, rock climbing and lots of photo ops.

We started at carousel ride because my kids love it and one ride is never enough. Then we stopped at "sing the Queen city" mural for a quick photo session and took a long stroll on the suspension bridge.

Next stop splash pad.

And then walked down the stairs to the park.

These play areas are fantastic and they are spread throughout the park. I love the giant piano and the pig and the swings and the rose garden. Oh, I love almost everything about this park. 

Don't miss this park if you are visiting Cincinnati.

Small and cute Rose garden.

I love these picnic benches on train tracks. Do they move? I don't know. But I tried to move them :)

Thanks, Cincinnati. For not being a disappointment. Hope to visit again. 

Topiary Park, Columbus, Ohio

Columbus topiary garden made it to the list of '5 of the world's fascinating topiary gardens'. I remember seeing the original painting by George Seurat during my visit to Chicago Art Museum  and I was really exited to visit this garden. 

After reading a ton of positive reviews online, I decided to visit this garden as it was only a couple of miles detour on our way home. Boy was I disappointed!!! This should probably make into the list of places "not to visit in Columbus"

The concept of topiary garden of a painting is amazing. It was rather entertaining as my kids and I tried to compare original painting with the topiaries in the garden. The park itself is small and is located in the heart of Columbus downtown. Street parking is available and is free during weekends. There is a small trail that goes around the park and few picnic benches. There is not much shade in the park either.

The sad part is lack of maintenance. There is a small pond in the middle of the park and it is outright disgusting. Metal frame that is used to shape the topiaries is exposed. It bothers me to see such a great place completely out of shape. While the park attracts lot of visitors, I think it would be a good idea to charge a couple of dollars as entry fee if that helps with the park's maintenance. I bet no one would like to see such hard work going to waste.