Find Freewheelin’ Family Fun in Florence
When it comes to great vacations, it’s all in the family in Florence. Think of this Northern Kentucky charmer as the place where your nostalgia for a good old-fashioned family getaway is rewarded with outings to a Frontier League baseball game, state park and an outdoor viewing area to watch airplanes take off and land.
But there are also modern pursuits like escape rooms, go-karts and a trampoline park. You’ll know you’re in the right place when you spot the iconic red-and-white striped “Florence Y’all” water tower, welcoming you and your crew to a bounty of thrills.
Sleuth your way out of Sherlock’s Escape Room. Rev up the action at Florence’s indoor Full Throttle Adrenaline Park, zooming up to 40 mph (25 mph for juniors) in state-of-the art go-karts. Spin, flip and leap to your heart’s content at DEFY trampoline park, where you can tap into your inner gladiator for a Battle Beams challenge or tackle the Ninja Obstacle Course.
Recreation & Sports
When it comes to the outdoors, Burlington’s England–Idlewild Park & Dog Park is a 300-acre playground with woodlands, wetlands and stocked fishing ponds, plus a 24-hole Championship Disc Golf Course that’s been rated No. 9 in the country.
Cheer on the Florence Y’alls, a professional independent baseball league member, in a stadium where every seat is a good one and the atmosphere is one of non-stop fun. We’re talking a Kids Zone, giveaways, food and drink specials, post-game fireworks and concerts, plus theme nights celebrating superheroes and princesses.
Putt-putt among Kentucky landmarks – including the “Florence Y’all” water tower – at World of Golf’s 18-hole mini-golf course. And grab the best seat in the house to watch all the airfield activity at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport from its picnic-and-play-area.
Epic Family Attractions
Florence likes its fun in epic proportions, like the 2,000-pound bison roaming about Big Bone Lick State Historic Site, where a Megafauna diorama pit with life-size mastodon and sloth depict a day-in-the-prehistoric life. Inside the museum, displays on Ordovician geology, Native American history and more trace the story of Big Bone Lick and how it intersects with President Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (of Corps of Discovery Expedition fame) and became the birthplace of American paleontology.
Equally mammoth is Williamstown’s Ark Encounter, featuring a full-scale replica of Noah’s Ark, built to biblical blueprint specifications right down to the last cubit. A whopping 510 feet long, 85 feet wide and 51 feet high, it has three decks of exhibits, including the living quarters of Noah’s family. The ark is an easy jaunt from Florence and has enough activities to fill a full day, with Ararat Ridge Zoo, where kids can ride a camel, plus zip lines, an aerial course, children’s playground, virtual reality experience and more.
A country drive from Florence is the Rabbit Hash General Store, in operation for more than 190 years. It is the heart and soul of the tiny town of Rabbit Hash, owned lock, stock and general store by the Rabbit Hash Historical Society. Rabbit Hash is also famous for having a canine mayor – currently a French bulldog named Wilbur.
Poke among a hodgepodge of treasures for the perfect souvenir: antiques, collectibles and Kentucky-made goods, including Bybee Pottery, brooms made at Berea College, Mom Blackman’s Creamed Pull Candy, Windstone Farms Blackberry Jam and Saponi Soaps.
In much the same way the general store is a slice of Americana, Florence is that slice of nostalgia on an action-packed family getaway. Plan yours at meetnky.com/cities/florence.