Things to Do in Cincinnati in December

December's cold works in your favor - the steam rising from brew kettles creates this atmospheric fog, and tasting rooms feel cozy instead of crowded. The 19th-century brick breweries along Rhinegeist and Taft's Ale House radiate heat from their operations. Perfect timing since summer's beer garden crowds have vanished. But the beer is better - winter seasonal releases like barrel-aged stouts reach their peak.

December evenings were made for museum hopping. The Art Museum stays open until 8 PM on Thursdays, and you'll share the Cincinnati Wing with maybe twelve other people. The building's 1933 Art Deco details look memorable under winter's low-angle light streaming through the skylights. Plus, their holiday exhibits - usually ornate Nativity scenes from the 1400s - only happen this month.

December transforms Ohio's oldest public market into a different experience. Summer's peach stands become winter's braised meat vendors, and the indoor vendors - Eckerlin's Meats, Dean's Mediterranean - pump out heat and memorable aromas. The goetta (Cincinnati's signature pork-and-oats breakfast meat) tastes better when you can see your breath outside.

December's early darkness - astronomical twilight ends by 6:30 PM - makes the 1873 observatory usable for evening programs. The 1845 telescope works better in cold air, less atmospheric distortion. On clear nights, you can see Jupiter's moons and the Orion Nebula through the same lens that discovered Pluto. The observatory's copper dome creaks in winter wind, adding to the 19th-century atmosphere.