Page 9 - Indulge August/September 2016
P. 9
RITTY CITY NO MORE By Patrick O’Donnell weekenders
The ‘Burgh. Steel City. City of Champions. at heart, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is a
City of Bridges. must — especially if you have fond memories of
To paraphrase Shakespeare, Pittsburgh is a rose the city’s own Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.
by any other name. Just don’t call it the Smoky City
— that moniker died along with the coal-fired mills Patrons of the arts will want to visit the
Cultural District to take in shows by the Pittsburgh
that once made the city the center of the American Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre,
steel industry. Pittsburgh Opera and more. “We have seven
theaters within a two-block radius,” Davis says.
Technology, medicine and start-ups drive the
economy now, and redevelopment projects have put Need to get outdoors? Canoe or kayak on any
a shine on what, for many years, was a diamond in of the three rivers (for the less athletically inclined,
the rough. Today, Pittsburgh gleams in sunlight that The Gateway Clipper line offers fantastic tours).
once struggled to cut through smog so thick the Bike trails are everywhere, and you can rent bikes
city needed streetlights during the day. and watercraft right in the city. “Fun fact — you
can ride your bike from Pittsburgh to Washington,
Pittsburgh is about a five-and-a-half hour drive D.C., on the Allegheny Passage!” says Davis.
from The Lehigh Valley. “We are a six-hour drive or
two-hour flight for 60 percent of the population of At least one of your sightseeing excursions
North America,” says Craig Davis, president and should be to the Duquesne Incline, which opened
CEO of Visit Pittsburgh. in 1877 to carry residents to their homes on
Coal Hill, later renamed Mount Washington. The
Probably the first thing a visitor will notice observation deck, 400 feet above the three rivers,
is the bridges. Lots and lots of bridges. Because offers a fantastic view of the city — visit at sunrise
it’s situated at the confluence of three rivers or sunset for amazing pictures.
(the Allegheny, Ohio, and Monongahela), Pittsburgh
has more bridges — 446, to be exact — than any By now, you should have worked up an appetite.
other American city or region. It even tops Venice! For authentic ’Burgh grub, visit the original
Primanti Brothers in the Strip District, where
If you’re arriving from Pittsburgh International sandwiches are topped with coleslaw and french
Airport, to the south, you’ll drive right through what fries. Legend has it they were created as easy,
Davis calls the city’s “front door” — The Fort Pitt one-handed meals for the truckers who delivered
Tunnel — and over one of the most famous of its day and night to the Strip’s businesses. Afterward,
bridges: The Fort Pitt Bridge, seen in a number of take a stroll through the neighborhood and visit the
TV shows and films. many shops and produce markets.
From there, it’s just a short trip to more If an overstuffed sandwich isn’t your thing, fear
attractions than you can shake a hockey stick at: not. Last year, the Zagat restaurant guide named
“You wouldn’t come to Pittsburgh without taking in Pittsburgh its top food city. From dishes like miso-
some sort of game – like the Pirates, Penguins or poached apple to jamón croquetas with leek-ash
Steelers,” says Davis. aïoli, the city’s culinary side has come a long
way from the diet John Wayne’s Pittsburgh-born
Animal lovers will want to visit the National character in “The Quiet Man” said he was fed:
Aviary (it’s the country’s largest) on the North Side “Steel, and pig-iron furnaces so hot a man forgets
and The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium in the his fear of hell.”
Highland Park section.
Finally, when it’s time to sleep, there’s a
Then there’s the four Carnegie Museums: art, plethora of hotels in and around the city. “We’ve
natural history, science and The Andy Warhol had more than 6,000 new rooms open up in the
Museum. If that’s not enough, there’s the Frick Art last year,” Davis says.
and Historical Center, Heinz History Center, Fort
Pitt Museum, the Clemente Museum, the Mattress That’s important, because with so many
Factory (an art museum), the August Wilson things to see and do in this city, you’re going to
Center/African American Cultural Center … the need your rest.
list goes on. If you have children, or you’re a child
The ‘Burgh. Steel City. City of Champions. at heart, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is a
City of Bridges. must — especially if you have fond memories of
To paraphrase Shakespeare, Pittsburgh is a rose the city’s own Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.
by any other name. Just don’t call it the Smoky City
— that moniker died along with the coal-fired mills Patrons of the arts will want to visit the
Cultural District to take in shows by the Pittsburgh
that once made the city the center of the American Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre,
steel industry. Pittsburgh Opera and more. “We have seven
theaters within a two-block radius,” Davis says.
Technology, medicine and start-ups drive the
economy now, and redevelopment projects have put Need to get outdoors? Canoe or kayak on any
a shine on what, for many years, was a diamond in of the three rivers (for the less athletically inclined,
the rough. Today, Pittsburgh gleams in sunlight that The Gateway Clipper line offers fantastic tours).
once struggled to cut through smog so thick the Bike trails are everywhere, and you can rent bikes
city needed streetlights during the day. and watercraft right in the city. “Fun fact — you
can ride your bike from Pittsburgh to Washington,
Pittsburgh is about a five-and-a-half hour drive D.C., on the Allegheny Passage!” says Davis.
from The Lehigh Valley. “We are a six-hour drive or
two-hour flight for 60 percent of the population of At least one of your sightseeing excursions
North America,” says Craig Davis, president and should be to the Duquesne Incline, which opened
CEO of Visit Pittsburgh. in 1877 to carry residents to their homes on
Coal Hill, later renamed Mount Washington. The
Probably the first thing a visitor will notice observation deck, 400 feet above the three rivers,
is the bridges. Lots and lots of bridges. Because offers a fantastic view of the city — visit at sunrise
it’s situated at the confluence of three rivers or sunset for amazing pictures.
(the Allegheny, Ohio, and Monongahela), Pittsburgh
has more bridges — 446, to be exact — than any By now, you should have worked up an appetite.
other American city or region. It even tops Venice! For authentic ’Burgh grub, visit the original
Primanti Brothers in the Strip District, where
If you’re arriving from Pittsburgh International sandwiches are topped with coleslaw and french
Airport, to the south, you’ll drive right through what fries. Legend has it they were created as easy,
Davis calls the city’s “front door” — The Fort Pitt one-handed meals for the truckers who delivered
Tunnel — and over one of the most famous of its day and night to the Strip’s businesses. Afterward,
bridges: The Fort Pitt Bridge, seen in a number of take a stroll through the neighborhood and visit the
TV shows and films. many shops and produce markets.
From there, it’s just a short trip to more If an overstuffed sandwich isn’t your thing, fear
attractions than you can shake a hockey stick at: not. Last year, the Zagat restaurant guide named
“You wouldn’t come to Pittsburgh without taking in Pittsburgh its top food city. From dishes like miso-
some sort of game – like the Pirates, Penguins or poached apple to jamón croquetas with leek-ash
Steelers,” says Davis. aïoli, the city’s culinary side has come a long
way from the diet John Wayne’s Pittsburgh-born
Animal lovers will want to visit the National character in “The Quiet Man” said he was fed:
Aviary (it’s the country’s largest) on the North Side “Steel, and pig-iron furnaces so hot a man forgets
and The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium in the his fear of hell.”
Highland Park section.
Finally, when it’s time to sleep, there’s a
Then there’s the four Carnegie Museums: art, plethora of hotels in and around the city. “We’ve
natural history, science and The Andy Warhol had more than 6,000 new rooms open up in the
Museum. If that’s not enough, there’s the Frick Art last year,” Davis says.
and Historical Center, Heinz History Center, Fort
Pitt Museum, the Clemente Museum, the Mattress That’s important, because with so many
Factory (an art museum), the August Wilson things to see and do in this city, you’re going to
Center/African American Cultural Center … the need your rest.
list goes on. If you have children, or you’re a child
