Pittsburgh Great Time in a Great Town

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We're combining three trips to Pittsburgh for this blog entry. We're so glad that our son's job transfer gave us this opportunity. The most recent trip was for our grand daughter's 4th birthday. Pittsburgh is a great town. You can forget the image of smokestacks and smog; it is really beautiful and nicely contained. Getting around by foot, train, or other public transportation is simple. On a previous trip we traveled up Mt. Washington on the Monongahela Incline - a cool way to get around in this very hilly city where three rivers - the Susquehanna, the Monongahela, and the Ohio come together. There are tons of parks (probably because few of the slanted backyards can accommodate a play set). There are three professional sports teams The Pirates, The Steelers and the Penguins hockey team, several museums (many endowed by Andrew Carnegie), good restaurants, and tons of performing arts opportunities. On our most recent trip we visited the Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh is Andy's home town) and found it both fascinating and mystifying. The commercial "Pop" art is fun and familiar, the screened repetitions of celebs like Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Jackie Kennedy, Elvis, and James Dean are worth the price of admission. But the "death and disaster" series are disturbing - especially noting that one (with a wretched theme) sold at Christie's in NY the week prior for $75,000,000. The Warhol has a cafe, bar, and gift shop among its spacious six floors. We liked that the museum remains open until 10 am on Fridays. Vivian liked the silver clouds. From the Warhol Museum we walked over to PNC Stadium and enjoyed the hub bub as fans arrived (many by walking over the Roberto Clemente Bridge) for a 7pm game (the Pirates won). This stadium has several restaurants that look out into the field. We were told of great eats not normally associated with ballparks - pass the Sushi and the Pinot Noir! We ate pub food at Atria's Restaurant, a sports bar which nicely veered from the adult menu to please a 4 year old’s taste. There are other Atria's around town. On the subject of food, Primanti Bros serves a unique Pittsburgh entrée - a sandwich with meat which is then piled high with coleslaw, fries, and topped off with cheese. We have also had great meals at Andora in suburban Sewickley. Continuing with the attractions, a trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo presented a nice collection of lions and tigers and bears as well as other large cats, elephants, zebras, and monkeys. There are also several playgrounds, a petting zoo, a deer park, an aquarium, and very nifty new Water's Edge exhibit which is nearly completed at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Last year we enjoyed Kennywood Park, an old style amusement park with awesome roller coasters, and the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum where we took a ride to a warehouse full of ghostly trolleys, trains and busses about to be refurbished by a band of loyal volunteers. We also enjoyed the Pittsburgh Children's Museum on a previous trip. Getting to Pittsburgh is interesting - some of our in-laws arrived by Amtrak (via Penn Station and the Long Island Rail Road), we flew in via South West with a stop in Baltimore long enough to have crab cakes at Phillips Seafood Restaurant's airport location, others flew from Long Island on Jet Blue. On two occasions we arrived by RV - once on our way to and once on our way from Lexington. The Pittsburgh Airport is great - Clinique, Nine West, and other great shops help while away the layover. This was our first try with Hertz Magellan in our rental car - WOW! We caught on fast and even took wrong turns on purpose to see if the lady with the voice could re-calibrate and catch up - she did!

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Photos

Roberto Clemente Bridge
Pittsburgh Pirates fans stream across the Monagahela to get to PNC Park. Before the game it's like a street fest with vendors, fun outdoor dining, and entertainment.

Andy Warhol Museum
Tom, Vivian, and Wes at the Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA

The Warhol Silver Clouds
Vivian and Wes loved how these helium-filled silver "clouds" invited playfulness as they floated around the otherwise empty gallery.

Pittsburgh Zoo
There is a little Petting Zoo of farm animals at the Pittsburgh Zoo. The aquarium and newly opened Water's Edge exhibit with an underwater tunnel to view polar bears, sea lions, otters, and soon to come walrus is especially fun for all ages.