GOING ON FAITH EXPEDITION!

Television Sitcom aficionados may recognize this view, if they recall the popular show "WKRP in Cincinnati", and this area is where the Going on Faith tourism conference (www.gofconference.com)  was held a while back.   

 

The conference hotel goes by the moniker "Cincinnati Airport Marriott" (www.marriott.com), even though its location is actually in Hebron, which is just across the Ohio River, in Kentucky.  

Besides having beautifully manicured grounds and spotless interiors, I was pleased to see that my room included a copy of a Gideon Bible.  These Bibles are available free of charge to lodging properties, with the expenses involved in putting them there, being paid by memorials of donors and volunteer members of the organization (www.gideons.org).  It is only logical that the Going on Faith organizers would want a hotel that supplied Gideon Bibles in each room, considering the conference promotes travel to attractions of interest, to faith-based travelers, across the USA, and around the globe.  

At a Going on Faith conference, dozens of tables are set up in a large ball room, and on one side of the table, sit representatives (called "buyers")of an organization interested in faith-based travel (such as churches, youth groups, mission organizations, affinity travel groups, etc.)  On the other side of the table sits representatives from CVB's (Convention and Visitor Bureaus) of cities that want to attract faith-based travelers, as well as representatives from hotels, restaurants, and obviously faith-based tourist attractions (called sellers or vendors).  When these people visit, it is called "The Marketplace", and the visits last only six minutes, at which time the "sellers" move to their next appointment with a "buyer".  It is sometimes compared to "speed dating" social events, and accomplishes the goal of getting out the message of a business to a niche market, in a very efficient manner.  

The vendor for the IMAX Entertainment Complex in Branson (www.bransonimax.com), had a modern version of a photo booth, where the person stood in front of a camera, which would count down to a flash photograph.  Then you put your email address into the machine, and your photo would be sent to you, along with the date and name of the conference.  Of course, I wanted a souvenir photo!

The registration fee for the conference includes an evening meal, and for the 2025 conference, that evening meal was aboard BB Riverboats, during a cruise on the Ohio River.  Being on the water is always a highlight for me on any travel excursion, and this was no exception!

While we were on the cruise, the Cinci Region tourism bureau had cloth bags available for us as souvenirs, and we could write down our name for the artist, and she would spray paints our name onto one side of the bag.  When I asked the artist if I could take her picture with the bag, I did not realize I was also inadvertently capturing a photo of me, in the mirror behind her!

Planning a conference with so many moving parts, with such a variety of activities, a variety of attendees, is a major logistical challenge.  However, the staff members of the Group Travel Family (www.GroupTravelFamily.com) pictured below (Janine, Ben, Jennifer, and Cassandra), have honed their skills, so that the conference runs amazingly well.  They deserve a standing ovation of praise and thanks!

The breakfast meal is also included in the registration fee, and various vendors sponsor a meal, to help keep the cost down for attendees.  I was delighted with the choices available at the breakfast meal sponsored by The Great Passion Play (www.greatpassionplay.org), which takes place in my home state of Arkansas.  Besides having very nutritious choices, each place setting had an individual packet of hand sanitizer, which I very much appreciated.  

One of the days of the conference included a bus trip to Williamstown, Kentucky, which is the site a very popular attraction called The Ark Encounter (www.arkencounter.com).  The photo of me standing in front of the water feature of The Ark, would not have been possible when I visited this attraction over almost a decade ago (see my blog dated April 6, 2017, titled "Ark Encounter Expedition").  Since that time, numerous upgrades and additions have been made to the Ark Encounter attraction.  One of those additions is called "Forty Days of Christian Music", which we were able to attend on the evening our group was there.  

 

The photo below of me at the bottom of the ark with silhouettes of Biblical characters was also not possible in 2017, because this photo prop had not yet been created!

After the conference was over (thanks to the efforts of the staff and membership of www.visitcincy.com), those attendees who were available, also had the opportunity to visit another educational attraction, also built by the Answers in Genesis group (www.answersingenesis.org).  We visited The Creation Museum, in Petersburg, Kentucky.  A quilt on display there illustrated the 7 C's of history, as outlined in the Bible.  The events are Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross, and Consummation.  It is appropriate that these would be illustrated via an amazing quilt art piece, since Kentucky is the home of the American Quilt Museum, in Paducah.  These C's trace a timeline from a perfect beginning to the fulfillment of God's plan, providing a way to understand biblical history and the foundation of the Christian message.  

Below is one of many displays of prehistoric creatures at the museum.  

This skeleton was behind glass, and took up a huge area of the museum.  The placards tell where the skeleton was found, and how it was preserved, so that it could be displayed at the museum.  

The interior of the museum is in a "walk through" format, beginning with creation, and proceeding through the other six "C's" of history, described in the previous paragraphs.  

Besides examples of land animals, the museum also has a large aquarium, enjoyed especially by little children. 

A large water feature has been added to the original! Creation Museum complex, which provides opportunities to learn the names of various plants in this habitat, as well as the possibility of an enjoyable stroll, with numerous photo opportunities.  
 

 

Our group also went to The American Sign Museum (www.americansignmuseum.com), in Cincinnati.  We had a very entertaining and knowledgeable guide there, named Alex, that told us the history of signs, going back over one hundred years, all the way up through the electric light bulb, neon, and now LED signs.  

If you google famous eateries in Cincinnati, the three pictured below will consistently be the result.  So when they are all located together, it is called a "Trifecta", which accounts for the three horse statues at their entrance.  Our group had the blessing of sampling all three, when we took our seats inside LaRosa's Pizzeria, because our hostesses also carried in the famous Skyline Chili for us to sample. For those unfamiliar with a dish called "Cincinnati Chili", be advised that it has spices in it that are not normally associated with chili, such as nutmeg, cinnamon, and cocoa.  For dessert, we had ice cream from the famous regional ice cream chain based in Cincinnati, Ohio, called Graeter's.  

 

 The following day, we had the joy of touring the  amazing Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, Kentucky (www.covcathedral.com).  The project began in 1894, and is a monument that add to the art and architecture of the community it serves.  Many visitors recognize similarities between this cathedral, and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  

On the other side of the Ohio River, we toured The Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains.  It is completely different style of architecture.

This cathedral has a replica of The Pieta, by Michaeangelo.  I was delighted to get to study this replica, because when I saw the original at the Vatican decades ago, on a tour of Italy with my father, I did not fully appreciate the masterpiece that was in front of me. 

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After the cathedral tours, we had a delightful dining experience at the Hofbraus Haus, complete with live music, Bavarian-themed decor and menu.  

Our guide mentioned that there was on-going maintenance always occuring at the cathedral, which reminded me of one of my First Place 4 Health (www.FirstPlace4Health.com) memory verses that says, "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  Philippians 1:6   Just as a cathedral requires upkeep, so our spiritual temples"aka, our bodies) require constant preventive maintenance and cleaning.  

This trip to "Cincy Region" gave me "Miles of Smiles"!  Tricia