fundraiser, have exploded in popularity, bringing hundreds of residents and visitors to the neighborhood on Saturday mornings, often reintroducing them to an area they have avoided for decades. After the tour, I walked a few blocks northwest to 160-year-old Findlay Market, a lively, colorful space, with dozens of vendors that attract suburbanites to the city with sausages and soaps, fruits and flowers. As an out-of-towner with no access to refrigeration, I was limited in what I could buy (no Queen City brats for me), so I settled on a small jar of honey and some chocolates. My husband and kids -- who had spent the morning at the terrific Cincinnati Museum Center, home to the Duke Energy Children's Museum and the Museum of Natural History and Science -- picked me up and we headed back to 12th and Vine streets for lunch, at the new Taste of Belgium, for sweet, dense waffles (with or without fried chicken), Belgian meatballs and other treats. Saturday afternoon: art in the park After lunch, we headed to Eden Park, the 63-acre public space just east of downtown atop Mount Adams, the tony, hip neighborhood that sits about 400 feet above the Ohio River. More than a dozen bars and restaurants are tucked among the neighborhood's curvy roads, many with terrific views of the city. But we didn't come up here to eat. The park is home to a variety of attractions, including the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Krohn Conservatory, Playhouse in the Park, Seasongood Pavilion, hiking trails and more. Our destination: the art museum, which, like Cleveland's, offers free admission -- a key consideration, given that my kids had been through two museums in the morning, and I wasn't sure how long they would last in a third. But last they did, thanks in part to a kid-friendly scavenger hunt that led us through nearly a dozen galleries looking for, among other works, an elaborately carved maple bed, a Meissen porcelain tea set and a Tiffany lamp. The highlight here, however, wasn't the search but the Soundsuits, elaborate costume creations by Chicago-based artist Nick Cave. The Soundsuits -- apparently they generate a lot of noise when they're worn -- are made of recycled fabrics, buttons, scavenged toys, sequins, vintage hats, pipe cleaners and lots more. Sad to say, the Cave exhibit has moved on (to the Boise Art Museum in Idaho). But the Cincinnati museum has lots coming up this summer, including an exhibit on pioneering African-American painter Henry Ossawa Tanner and "The Art of Sound: Four Centuries of Musical Instruments." After the art museum tour, we drove back downtown, checked into our new hotel (this time the classy Cincinnatian, built in 1882), then headed out for one more activity. I had promised my daughters a downtown retail rendezvous, so we walked around the corner to Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's. Yes, Cincinnati still has two downtown department stores (three, if you count nearby T.J. Maxx), while Cleveland has none. It doesn't hurt, certainly, that Macy's is based in downtown Cincinnati. And city officials have provided financial incentives to keep Saks happy. Whatever the reasons, downtown retail in Cincinnati is alive and well -- as proved by the multiple bags we carried back to our hotel late Saturday afternoon.