Steel City
Our latest adventure was to the amazing city of Pittsburgh, PA. Flying out of Chicago-Midway, we found very cheap flights, and couldn’t pass up the chance to head to Pittsburgh for a long weekend. I have always wanted to explore this city. When I was a kid I kid I got my first mini helmet out of the quarter machine, and it just so happened to be a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet. Ever since then the Steelers became my second favorite team (behind the Packers, of course). I also had heard that Pittsburgh was a lot like Milwaukee; both were developed because of industrialization, they still had that blue collar city feel, and the downtown area was mixed with a lot of old developments as well as new buildings.
When we arrived we checked into our hotel and dropped our gear off and headed out. Because we love beer and are almost always looking for our next bite to eat, we headed to Church Brew Works. This place was pretty awesome. We talked to the manager about how the place came to be, he told us that 20 years ago, the owner was looking for a place to brew beer and start a restaurant. He discovered the church, which was proposed to be demolished and turned into the parking lot. The owner of Church Brew Works approached the diocese and reached a deal to preserve the building and change it from a House of the Lord to the House of Brews. If you are visiting Pittsburgh Church Brew Works is a must stop. After dinner we made a quick stop at Arsenal Cider Co. If you like Cider’s it’s a must stop but otherwise……Meh.
The rest of the night was a bit of a surprise, but if anyone knows my lady, it wasn’t really a surprise, as this happens on most trips. We were visiting a few bars in the Lawrenceville area, had a stop at New Amsterdam, then onto Roundabout Brewery. Roundabout was very small and very packed, as it should be because the beer was amazing. While we were there we were talking about what to do next, and thought about heading back to the hotel, so we could rest up for tomorrow. We eventually found somewhere to sit at Roundabout and were having small talk. Of course, we got on to the subject of our new president (side note; Not a fan, if you like his ideals and what he is doing so far, maybe this blog isn’t for you. It is meant to show how amazing this gift of life is, we should appreciate everyone in this life, respect nature, and not live by your wallet, but by peace, love, and appreciation; rant over). Anyways, we then over heard to gents, next to us talking about the same subject. Amanda turned to them and said “we are talking about the same thing.” The rest is history; we hung out with Eric and Larry the rest of the night. They showed us more places to explore in Lawrenceville, drank more beers, and ended up staying out and having a blast. The night ended up with Amanda stealing a baguette (didn’t really steal it, but drunk Jake thought she did), and then back to our hotel.
Waking up was a bit rough, but we downed some continental breakfast and headed out in the morning to explore. It ended up being a day of museums. We headed to the Andy Warhol Museum, which was awesome, the guy had a unique mind, and you should go see for yourself. After the Warhol museum we walked to see the Mr. Rogers memorial by Heinz Field, which was creepy to say the least. We then headed to the Mattress Factory and Randyland, which I will elaborate on later in this blog. Then a short Uber ride we were at Bicycle Heaven, to see some of the rarest bicycles out there. The rest of the day was filled with eating and drinking. We headed to the famous Primanti Bro’s. These sandwiches were insane, it is your choice of meat pilled with coleslaw and fries on Italian bread, and it went so well with my Iron City Beer. After the food, we headed to the incline. Two of the oldest inclines in the US are located in Pittsburgh. It is essentially a small trolley that makes it way up the hill. They were mainly used back in the day for works to get to and from work, as a walk up the high hills surrounding the city would take forever. Once up top, we took in the view. It is voted one of the best views in America to view a city. It falls right behind Kery Park in Seattle, which is another amazing view. After a few photos we made our way to Summit Bar. Summit bar was great; they have specialty drinks as well as tasty taps. We met some cool bartenders and ended up staying there the rest of the night. The night ended with late night pizza at the hotel.
Our last full day consisted of walking around the Strip District. It was nothing special, but is probably a lot better in the summer. We were a short walk from the Heinz History Museum, and ventured there. There you can see Mr. Rogers’ set, and many more awesome exhibits. Museum’s are cool but can be information overload. That’s why we made our way to the bar. The area to explore was the Stadium District, where we had a few perogies and beers at various bars, and had more beer and dinner at Southern Tier’s new Pittsburgh’s location. Then somehow we found ourselves back at Summit Bar. We really enjoyed that place and met a cool bartended, Mike. The night ended with more drinks and summit then a Lyft back home.
We did a lot in three days in Pittsburgh, and I feel that it is an easy city to explore in three days if you are exploring the entire day. The people were amazing, welcoming, and proud of their city, which always makes me want to revisit a city. Meeting people in a city they are proud of is one of the greatest parts of traveling.
Pittsburgh Must Do’s:
1. Visit Randyland and The Mattress Factory: These two places in Pittsburgh were probably my favorite part of the trip. First, Mattress Factory is a museum of several buildings all filled with different artists. The museum also does a lot for their community around them. The art exhibits are all very unique, and a must see. (www.matress.org).
Right up the block is Randyland. Randyland was built by Randy Gilson, one of the most amazing people I had the chance to meet in my life, and will never forget that. He is an all around amazing person and is trying to spread, joy, happiness, and acceptance to everyone he encounters. He is a man with an amazing outlook and great laugh. NICE! Here are some videos about Randy and Randyland.
1. I am fortunate enough to have an amazing travel partner on most of the trips I take. I think the best thing about it, is her favorite part of the trips are meeting others. We have met a lot of people on our past trips and it is generally because Amanda ends up starting a conversation. I think it is a great way to learn about the city you are visiting. So wherever you are, talk to the people around you.
2. I have never made museums a big part of my vacation. They were never a priority, but Pittsburgh changed my mind on that. We visited the Mattress Factory, Andy Warhol Museum, Bicycle Heaven and Heinz History Museum. I had a blast, it was information overload, but seeing history in front of you is pretty awesome. There are several other museums around Pittsburgh, and I suggest checking them out.
3. Visit in the winter. Although nice weather and sunny skies are amazing, don’t be scared of winter in the city. We were able to fly round trip to Pitt for super cheap. So bundle up and get out and explore. Go see a football game or hockey game if the team happens to be in town.
Meh’s of Pittsburgh:
1. Make note that the Airport is about 20 minutes from the city. They really don’t make it easy to get to and from the airport. There is no train or light rail. So your options are a Taxi/Lyft/Uber, renting a car or transportation provided by hotels. Not all hotels offer this service. This is probably the one time I would not recommend an Airbnb, because you will be spending a good amount of money getting to and from the airport. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Greentree, although it was not right downtown, they provided transport to different sports of the city, as well as transportation to and from the airport.
2. I won’t lie, the public transportation kind of sucked. Maybe we did not study it enough, but the buses were not running often, and the light rail that is there is strictly built for getting people from the city to the southern suburbs, there is no real point to the light rail if you are going to be in and around the city.
3. Station Square, nice hotels, but a lot of chain restaurants, pretty basic and boring. No need to spend time there.
4. Stadium tours for PNC Park and Heinz field would have been cool to see. There are no Heinz Field tours in the winter, and PNC Park only offers two tours on Monday and two on Friday. Would have been nice to see one, but that’s a negative to visiting in the winter.
Overall the city is incredible, the views are amazing, and the people make the city something to be proud of. Thanks for the good time Pitt!