LAY OF THE LAND

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A-to-Z Guide to Cincinnati:
"The Best Place to Live in North America"

Outlying counties enrich Tristate life

While Hamilton County and Northern Kentucky form the hub of the Tristate, the nearby Ohio and Indiana counties provide plenty of history and entertainment for the region.

In Ohio, Butler, Warren and Clermont, settled in the late 1700s and early 1800s, have a combined population of more than a half million people.

Southwestern Ohio

Warren County is the home of Paramount's Kings Island, a top Midwest theme park about 25 miles north of Cincinnati on Interstate 71. It features The Beast, the world's longest wooden roller coaster. Across the interstate is the ATP tennis stadium, host to a major men's professional tennis tournament, and the Golf Course at Kings Island, host to a Senior PGA event.

The countryside is filled with small cities and villages. Waynesville, which calls itself The Antiques Capital of the Midwest, was founded in 1797. The community is known for its fall Ohio Sauerkraut Festival and Christmas events.

Lebanon, the county seat, is the home of the old Golden Lamb Inn, a former stagecoach stop that is now a restaurant and inn.

Butler County is the home of Miami University, in the city of Oxford. The campus is filled with brick and ivy. Even the new buildings look old-fashioned.

Hamilton, a Great Miami River city of about 60,000 and the county seat, offers a stained-glass monument to Butler County's soldiers, sailors and pioneers. The building, a museum open to the public, was erected about 1900 to honor local heroes. It is filled with war memorabilia, including a tiny signaling cannon from the Civil War.

Clermont County, on the Ohio River, is a growing suburban community. In the east, near Mount Carmel, the Eastgate Mall and satellite stores dominate Ohio 32. Farther east, the road becomes the James Rhodes Appalachian Highway, and
runs past small towns and farms.

In southern Clermont, at Point Pleasant, volunteers have restored the U.S. Grant Birthplace.

Southeastern Indiana

Hyatt's Grand Victoria II started operating Oct. 4 out of Rising Sun, 40 miles southwest of Cincinnati. About 9,000 people tried their luck on the first day. For reservations, call 1-800-GRAND-11.

Permanent facilities, including a 200-room hotel, a 138,000-square-foot entertainment pavilion and an 18-hole golf course, should open by late 1997.

The Argosy Casino Lawrenceburg, owned Argosy Gaming Co., planned to open in November about 25 miles southeast of Cincinnati.

An older riverboat, formerly the Casino St. Charles, will serve as the temporary home for Argosy Casino. The company is building a 408-foot, $36 million riverboat in Louisiana for its permanent facility, which should open about a year after the temporary boat opens.

Argosy's permanent site will include a 300-room hotel; and four-
story pavilion with restaurants, banquet rooms, a sports bar and entertainment lounge.

Lawrenceburg is also home to a Seagram's distillery.