Cincinnati’s Oktoberfest, known as Zinzinnati, is truly legendary. The biggest Oktoberfest in the U.S., Zinzinnati, is held every year between Walnut and Elm Streets in downtown Cincinnati and draws from Southwest Ohio’s German heritage.

Before he became an iconic Hollywood director, Steven Spielberg was a Cincinnati native, born in The Queen City before moving to Phoenix as a child.

Cincinnati natives like chili. A lot. Cincinnati’s famous chain restaurant, Skyline Chili, has been serving up a signature brand of chili (thinner and sweeter, with recipes for Cincinnati chili often including nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, or even chocolate) atop hot dogs and spaghetti since 1949.

Though many claim Cincinnati is the original home of the game of cornhole, others aren’t sure. But Cincinnati has inarguably become the game’s private home.

Cincinnati Music Hall is known for its chandeliers, concerts by world-renowned artists, and beautifully restored seating. It’s also known for hosting slightly fewer savory guests: ghosts! Featured on Syfy’s Ghost Hunters and believed to be haunted by paranormal experts and mediums alike (especially the Cincinnati Research & Paranormal Studies Team), Cincinnati Music Hall is regularly touted as one of the area’s most “haunted” sites.

Cincinnati is just a hop, skip, and a jump from Kentucky, which was a slave state in the 19th century. Slaves frequently used Cincinnati as a stop on the Underground Railroad – a network of safe houses and routes to ferry slaves out of Southern states to freedom – on their way to Canada, where they could be truly free.