I have lived in Cincinnati my entire life and only recently did I learn about Young’s Jersey Dairy. Okay, so technically Young’s Jersey Dairy falls into the Dayton realm, but it’s close enough and apparently not a secret location, so I am still somewhat shocked I had not heard of it. As someone who prides herself on having a pretty solid working knowledge of this area of the world, of course once it was mentioned, I had to take my girls to check it out.
We went on a whim, one chilly Saturday morning. It ended up being a great day to go because pretty much everything was operating (they offer several activities) and it wasn’t crazy crowded. I am not a huge fan of insane crowds, so I am not sure I personally would have had as much fun if it had been packed, but the girls sure would have!
We started off checking out the slide (oh the memories this sparked in me!) and the little tractor pulled train. There was also a batting cage, driving range and putt-putt golf. The kiddie corral was not open when we were there, but it looks like fun. After playing for a while, we headed in to try out the homemade, fresh ice cream. The restaurant (there are actually two on site) and ice cream parlor were hopping! Makes me wonder how insane it must get when the whole place is busy. The ice cream line moved quickly though and soon we were all sitting and enjoying the very rich ice cream. Even my sweets loving oldest couldn’t finish it all.
After our ice cream break, we headed back outside to check out the dairy, itself. This is when we discovered what was the girl’s favorite part… hands down. And that was the old tractors and the giant tires that the kid’s could climb on. We played here for at least an hour.
At the barn, you can go in and see the dairy cows and feed or pet the goats. The girls were not as crazy about this part and really just wanted to go back outside and play again… so that was what we did. I do recommend taking some time sampling the homemade cheeses in the dairy store. There are a ton of delicious options (cheese curds anyone?) and silly souvenirs for you to take with you when you leave. You can also buy the ice cream.
It was an easy day trip for us to take and I look forward to taking the girls again at some point in the future. We even capped the day off with a stop at the Cincinnati Premier Outlets on the way home and checked summer shoes for the girls off of our to-do list, so they day was a win for Mom as well!
