Covington, KY Part 3 with Molly Wellman

📜HISTORY & HIDDEN GEMS TOUR💎 featuring Molly Wellmann

Brought to you by Richter & Phillips Jewelers and The BMW Store Cincinnati

Bill and Morgan Witlow are two of my favorite people in the Service Industry. I met Bill years ago when I was opening  “Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar” and Bill was helping to open Wiseguy’s on Mainstrasse. Since then Bill has gone on to build some of my favorite establishments in Covington. 

Henry Wenzel was a prominent and well-respected business man in Covington, Ky during the mid 1800’s. He manufactured and bottled mineral water. His Business was called “The Covington Bottling Works” and was located in his building called “Wenzel Hall” located down Tobacco Alley right off Madison Ave. Besides his mineral water, he also contracted bottled soft drinks, lager beer, and wine. Henry was German born. He was married to Bertha (Wagner) Wenzel. Together they had five children, Wilhelmina (Minnie) Hugo, Bertha, Julia and Carl. Wilhelmina was a music teacher and Bertha was a sales girl at Coppins (now Hotel Covington) They lived on 4th Street between Russel and Washington.

Henry Wenzel died on April 10,1876. He was standing on the corner of 4th and Scott streets in front of Hermance’s Drug store at about 8pm when he suffered a stroke and collapsed. Bystanders carried him in to the drug store and summoned the doctor. However, he died before the Doctor arrived.

After Henry Wenzel died, the building was sold and used as a pickle factory. On the 3rd floor of Wenzel Hall were the meeting rooms for “the Colored international order and Odd Fellows”. In the early 1900’s, the first floor of the building was a steam dye company.

Today, Wenzel Hall has been transformed in to a hotel called “The Pickle Factory” and also to “Wenzel Whiskey”. Wenzel Whiskey is one of my favorite places in Cincinnati. It is a Whisky Blending experience and a must if you love whiskey. Bill and Griffin are the masterminds in guiding you through the process of blending your own personal bottle of whiskey. We visit another of Bill and Morgan Witlow’s restaurants and their newest one called “Opal” that opened the beginning of October. Opal is on the rooftop of the six story Republic Bank Building at Sixth and Madison . There is an indoor dinning room with windows all around and an outdoor lounge with panoramic views. It is so beautiful and the food and cocktails are spectacular! The Republic Bank Building that Opal tops was built in 1904. It was designed by Henry Hake. It was one of Covington’s tallest buildings at the time. The building was built for the Farmers and Traders Bank, and then was the First National Bank once they merged with Farmers and Traders Bank.

After Opal we make our way down Madison to 7th street to visit Rich’s Proper Food and Drink, another amazing establishment of Bill and Morgan Witlow. Rich’s has one of the best whiskey and bourbon selections in the area- and the food is a fusion of American pub meets Southern Cajun, it’s so good! You can’t miss Rich’s because of the huge neon sign that can be seen blocks away, Rich’s was once a jewelry store owned by master jeweler H. Rich Shullman. He opened his store on November 17, 1944. Rich’s was one of our 100 jewelry stores in the metro area that carried Cincinnati-based Gruen Watches. Greun sponsored the making of Rich’s Ionic Neon Sign. Rich’s slogan Was “Honest dealing with keeping the faith of the public.”

Make a point to visit all of these exciting places that makes Covington so vibrant ! 

Cheers,
Molly Wellman

Savings in the City 10/31

The Pub – Rookwood
Tuesday Burger Special: $12 Grippo Smash Burger
Cincinnati Ballet
First Class FREE
The Flock
Happy Hour Specials
Kopan
Half Priced Sake on Saturdays
Logan A/C and Heat Services
HVAC Replacement Fall Savings
Hoxworth Blood Center
FREE Cincinnati Cyclones Donor Jersey
Shiners on the Levee
10% Off Holiday Parties
Moerlein Lager House
$25 Everything Cincy Pregame Fest Tailgate Package

Savings & Deals in the City (9/19)

Woodhouse Day Spa’s
Fall Seasonal Services
Lori’s Roadhouse
Membership Perks and Discounts
Hoxworth Blood Center
Free Bearcats Sweatshirt for Blood Donors
Hofbräuhaus Newport Brewery & Restaurant
25% Off for 1 Year Anniversary!
Brewing Heritage Trail
20% Off all Tickets
Greater Cincinnati Restaurant Week
3 Course Meal Deals
SS Tiki Boat
$100 Off Any Large Boat Tour

Savings & Deals in the City (8/8)

21c Museum Hotel Cincinnati
Free Month of Dis-Loyalty and Bigger Discounts
Newport Syndicate
BOGO Murder Mystery Dinner
Ohio Weddings
FREE Ticket with Code: every23
Junebug Jewelry Designs
15% Off National Black Business Month Special
513 IV
15% Off for New Customers
Café Alma
50% Off Sleepy Hour
Five Iron Golf
20% Off Events Booked Before September
MediMorph
$150 Lip Flip
Montgomery Inn
$10.99 Wagyu Wednesday
LouVino
1/2 Priced Bottles on Wednesdays 

Savings & Deals in the City (7/24)

Moerlein Lager House

Exclusive 10% Off Barbie Party Discount

Ohio Weddings
FREE Ticket with Code: every

Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra 
20% Off Adult Tickets

Dave & Buster’s
Food For Play: Donate and Receive Unlimited Video Game Play

Brewing Heritage Trail
Happy Hour Tours: $10 Off Every Wednesday

SS Tiki Tours
Lasts Minute $100 Deals

Restore Hyper Wellness
Free Hydrafacial or Oxygen Facial

MediMorph
25% Off ALL Skincare & Nutrafol Retail Products

Cock & Bull Public House
$10 Lunch Specials

Gold Star
FREE Cheese Coney

Jobs in the City (7/18)

Best Point

Positions Hiring For: Early Childhood Assistant Teacher
Whether you are an experienced professional or just starting your career, we have opportunities for you to grow and develop your skills. We offer a supportive and collaborative work environment, ongoing training and career development, and a comprehensive benefits package. If you are looking for a challenging and rewarding career helping impact the lives of children and clients in the Greater Cincinnati area, we encourage you to apply today. Join our team and make a difference in the lives of those we serve. Apply now to experience the benefits and rewards of joining the Best Point Education & Behavioral Health team.

Click Here to Apply.
Lindner Center of HOPE

Positions Hiring For: Job Fair
We embrace the many talents, skills, and experiences our employees bring to Lindner Center of HOPE. Everyone is encouraged to use their unique gifts to express ideas, make meaningful contributions to our programs and genuine connections with patients and family, as well as strengthen donor, referrer and community relations. At Lindner Center of HOPE, you’ll have the opportunity for a consistently rewarding career, working for an organization that shares your desire and ability to make a demonstrable difference in the lives of people living with mental illness.

Click Here to Sign Up.
Pink Ribbon Good

Positions Hiring For: Transportation Specialist
Transport clients to and from appointments in a safe, timely manner while supporting the PRG mission of balancing the fear and uncertainty that breast cancer and other women’s reproductive cancers bring to individuals and families by providing direct services, education and support.

Click Here to Apply.
Lebanon Peddlers Mall

Positions Hiring For: Cashier/Customer Service
Peddlers Mall is a family-owned and operated chain of flea markets NOW with 18 locations across KY, IN, OH, & now WV. Peddlers Mall has been in business for over 25 years and specializes in second-hand (vintage, antique, repurposed, thrifted) and new merchandise.

Click Here to Apply.
Woodhouse Day Spa’s

Positions Hiring For: Spa Concierge, Licensed Massage Therapist
At The Woodhouse, the “why” of what we do drives us. It is the reason we do what we do. Our “why” is simple: to create exceptional experiences. These experiences are not just created for the benefit of our guests, but also for our team members, vendors, business partners, and even our friends, families and loved ones. Although we are here to be of service to our guests, we also believe in creating an exceptional experience for our team, and for them to create and create exceptional experiences for each other. Nuturing a positive, respectful, and professional environment is part of our team culture and is critically important.

Click Here to Apply.
Tin Roof

Positions Hiring For: Security
Tin Roof, A Live Music Joint, is about giving musicians a place to play and a place to hang when they aren’t on stage. The tasty food, fun, eclectic environment, community of Regulars and friendly Crew have established the Roof as the place to be for musicians and non-musicians alike. Over the years, our stages have hosted the famous, the should have been famous, and everyone in between.

To apply email infocincinnati@tinroofbars.com
Camp Joy

Positions Hiring For: Experiential Educator
We are seeking a passionate and dynamic Experiential Educator to join our Outdoor School Program (OSP) team this fall! As an Experiential Educator, you will play a vital role in developing and delivering high-quality, innovative, and mission-centered programs. Your primary focus will be on Outdoor School Programs, but you will also have the opportunity to engage in a variety of roles, including teacher, actor, ropes technician, customer service provider, and office employee. This is a year-round position with a diverse range of responsibilities and activities. 

Click Here to Apply.

Savings & Deals in the City (7/11)

Ault Park
$10 Off Summer Sips Tickets + FREE Summer Music Fest 7/20
Cincinnati Music Festival
No Ticket Service Charge
Woodhouse Day Spa’s
Summer Seasonal Services
Fowling Warehouse
12 Cent High Noon
MediMorph
25% Off ALL Skincare & Nutrafol Retail Products
Hoxworth
Donate and Receive a $10 eGift Card
325 Auto Spa
Everyday Detail Deals
StretchLab
$199/month Summer Saver Membership
MadTree
20% Off Gift Cards
St. Vincent de Paul NKY
$10 Off Christmas in July Coupon 

Hilltop History

Cincinnati has some amazing views from its hilltops that surround the basin where Over-the-Rhine and downtown are located. On top of the hills are beautiful little parks. Two of my favorites are Fairview Park and Bellevue Park in Clifton Heights, which are within walking distance, with a classic Clifton saloon halfway between… perfect to stop in for a refresher.

I met my friends from BMW Store and Everything Cincy at Fairview Park, which also happens to be my backyard. It was a hazy day, but you could still take in the beautiful view. Fairview is located between Warner and Klotter St, and Ravine Street to the east. There is a one-way mile-long, tree-lined road that winds through the park with the entrance at 501 McMillian Street and ends at Ravine Street just below Warner.The land where Fairview sits was once called Brighton Hill when it was owned by Col. John Riddle. He was the blacksmith at Ft. Washington and at one time one of the largest landowners in the city. After his death, the southwest part of the hill was used as a quarry, and the meadow on the east side was a large vegetable garden. The produce was hauled down the hill to be sold in the downtown markets. By the 1850s, the land was subdivided into lots to be sold. Isaac J. Miller, who was a prominent lawyer and politician, purchased three lots on the newly built Fairview Ave. His house is still there! Miller helped build up the community of Fairview Heights. He, along with other prominent men of the city, helped to have the Fairview incline built at the end of Fairview Ave from McMicken Street and connected to a crosstown streetcar by way of McMillian. This connected the Millcreek valley to Clifton. The Fairview incline was the last incline to be built out of all five inclines in the city. It was built in 1894 with second-hand machinery salvaged from the rebuilding of the Bellevue incline.Almost all of the inclines had some kind of entertainment house at the top of the hills. Mt. Adams had the Highland House, Mt. Auburn had The Lookout House, the Elm Street incline had Bellevue House, and Price Hill had The Price Hill House. Fairview, however, didn’t have a big entertainment house, but it did have a small saloon and wine garden located on the Miller property on the hillside. You can still see the entrance to the wine cellar that supplied the saloon from the road in the park.

After taking in the views at Fairview, make your way east down Warner St. When you hit Clifton Ave, slip on into Murphy’s Pub for a cold one. Chances are, if you went to the University of Cincinnati, you’ve had a drink at Murphy’s. Originally, in 1938, the building that Murphy’s is in was a place called Virgil Hann’s Cafe. In 1958, Charles Mahoney opened Mahoney’s Pub until 1969 when two local men by the name of Mr. Bailey and an Irish man named Mr. Murphy took it over. Apparently, Mr. Murphy went back to Ireland and was never heard from again, so they named the bar after him. Murphy’s has always had cold beer and great music on their little stage in the back room. I remember when I was 17 in 1989, seeing the band Nirvana at Murphy’s. This was before they became big, and the show was like 2 or 3 bucks to get in. It was freakin’ EPIC!!! My friends and I all had fake IDs from the photo place on the corner of McMillan and Ohio, IYKYK. Today, students still flock down to Murphy’s, and on St. Patrick’s Day, it’s absolutely insane there!After having a drink and reminiscing about the good old days, we make our way down Warner to Ohio St and make a right. A little way down is the entrance to Bellevue Park and another beautiful view of Downtown Cincinnati.

In the early 1830s, the place near where Bellevue Hill is was a little village called Jerusalem. In 1876, an incline was built from the end of Elm Street up to the summit of Bellevue, which connected Downtown to Clifton, Burnet Woods, and the zoo. Along with the incline, the Bellevue House was built. The Bellevue House was a large entertainment venue with a dance hall, billiard rooms and ballrooms, a beer hall, and a beer garden. They only served Moerlein beer, which made sense seeing that the Brewery was down the hill from the incline on Elm and Christian Morelein himself lived on Ohio Street at the top. It featured a huge octagon tower with wrap-around verandas to take in the view. The whole structure seemed to float over the cliffside. The building was designed by famous architect James W. McLaughlin. Going up to the Bellevue House was special. Families would dress in their Sunday best, men would bring their best girl, they would eat German food, and sing and dance to nostalgic German songs. The best orchestras would play at the Bellevue. They would go through at least 100 kegs of beer a day! The Bellevue was a Sunday playground of gorgeousness to break up the monotony of the workweek in German-American lives. It must have been so much fun. Unfortunately, the Bellevue House, along with other hilltop entertainment venues, closed in the late 1880s, mostly due to blue laws prohibiting the selling of alcohol on Sundays. The building was turned into a car house for streetcars until 1901 when the whole structure burned to the ground. The Elm Street incline lasted until 1927 and then closed. In the 1940s, the Cincinnati Park Board purchased the land from the Cincinnati Railway Company for a city park. Irwin M. Krohn was the parks chairman at the time and proposed maybe building another beer hall on the site, but that fell through. In the 1950s, the beautiful modern canopy structures were built by Carl Freund. We still get to enjoy them today along with the magnificent view! We are so lucky to live in such a jewel of a city with such a rich history that can be admired from the hilltops!

Written by: Molly Wellmann

Savings & Deals in the City (6/27)

Cincinnati Music Festival
No Ticket Service Charge
Rich’s Proper Food and Drink
$1 Oyster Wednesday
Longworth-Anderson Series

BOGO 1/2 Off Tickets
Shiners on the Levee

.75 Wing Mondays
On the Rhine Eatery

20% Off Summer Food and Wine Tasting
Five Iron Golf

50% Off Appetizers and Golf
The Summit Hotel

Summer Concert Package

Creative Events in Cincy Parks

The Queen City is known for hosting some of the best events that bring people together to have fun and enjoy all the wonderful things that this area has to offer. The surrounding neighborhoods put on a variety of events as well that are family friendly and for people of all ages. Whether you live here or are just visiting, without a doubt you’ll always find something new to check out and get involved in.


Through the Cincinnati Parks Department you can find endless information on awesome events that are outdoors. The beautiful parks offer events like movie nights, themed festivals, markets, concerts and more! Making it the perfect opportunity to explore new things this summer!

https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cincyparks/

Rockin’ The Roebling
Every Thursday on the lawn near the Roebling Bridge at Smale Park is live music with refreshments and food vendors from 6pm – 10pm. The event is free to get in and is great for the entire family to visit the park with the incredible view of the Ohio River. There are activities and designated playgrounds for the kiddos to be entertained while listening to music in the background.

https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cincyparks/visit-a-park/parks-events-calendar/rockin-the-roebling1/

Free Movies
On the lawn at Ziegler Park next to the old School of Performing Arts School that’s now apartments are free movie showings every Wednesday night that start at 9pm. This Summer Cinema series was originally at Washington Park but recently relocated. Both parks have lots of events to choose from and are within walking distance from each other. Ziegler Park extends across the street where there is a nice playground and pool to swim in. Make an entire day out of visiting these parks and finish the night with a good movie!
https://zieglerpark.org/series/cinema/

Story Walks
Spend your mornings in the alluring California Woods taking magical walks with stories of fairies in the forest! Through the the months of June and July from 7am – 8am enjoy hiking and reading while exploring the woods of wonder.

https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cincyparks/visit-a-park/parks-events-calendar/story-walk-stella-fairy-of-the-forest/

Jazz Music
Each night on Mondays you can catch live jazz music by incredible local musicians in Washington Park right by the magnificent Music Hall! The event is free and located on the Park Porch where there is a bar with craft beers and wine.
https://washingtonpark.org/series/jazz-at-the-park-2/

Play in the Park
At the Kennedy Heights Park are amazing performances by local musicians and actors that are
interactive a great alternative art program to get involved in! This event is on Wednesdays from 6:30pm – 8pm through June and July.
https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cincyparks/visit-a-park/parks-events-calendar/play-in-the-park/

These are just a few of the awesome events that are held in the many outstanding parks of Cincinnati, so stay tuned for more to come and don’t miss out on them all!

Written by: Christen Collins