Pittsburgh - a surprising rust belt city

I (Paul) hadn't been to Pittsburgh since I was a teenager, other than a stop at Kennywood in 2014 where I didn't go in to the city. So I planned a view days to visit some of the attractions in the city, and yes, to ride some roller coasters. :)

On my first day, I landed in the afternoon, picked up a rental car, checked into my hotel, and went straight to Kennywood amusement park, arriving by 3pm. The park closed at 8pm, so I had about 5 hours. It wasn't too crowded probably because of the threat of rain, so it was plenty of time to ride everything. Steel Curtain was a new credit for me, and I also made sure to get some rides on some of my faves including Phantoms Revenge, Racer, and the historic Old Mill. I closed out the night getting in line for Steel Curtain a minute before the park closed, so I got an excellent sunset double-ride on the last trains of the day. On the way back to my hotel I decided to stop for ice cream, and saw Page's on google maps, so I headed that direction. There was a huge line - it ended up taking 35 minutes! The ice cream was good, but nothing ground-breaking. 

Steel Curtain towering above the park.

In line for the final rides of the night.

Kennywood is a charming park.

The line at Page's - it wrapped around the building.

The next day was my whirlwind super-packed day of "let's try to do everything in Pittsburgh in one day," which was mostly successful. I started early, and drove to a viewpoint on the appropriately named Grandview Ave to see downtown. It was a misty morning, and the views of the city were dramatic. I grabbed a coffee at Big Dog in the Southside neighborhood, then went to the Phipps conservatory and gardens shortly after opening at 9:30am. This was a nice historic botanical garden with some modern additions. I then briefly walked through the Carnegie Melon campus before visiting the Carnegie library and reading some local roller coaster books. 

Great views to start the morning.

The main entrance of the conservatory.

Carnegie Melon campus.

Carnegie Library.

Some local coaster history books!

My next stop was the Carnegie museum next door, which had a huge collection of art and natural history exhibits. The building itself was also very impressive, including murals that lined the staircase atriums. There was a Greek festival across the street but the lines were long, so I just took a brief peek at the interior of St Nicholas Greek orthodox church, walked by U.Pitt's Cathedral of Learning, then walked back to my car. 

Checking out the art in the museum.

They had modern pieces...

...and ancient pieces.

One of the murals in the main staircase hall.

They had a huge mineral and rock collection.

The dinosaur hall.

An exhibit about Siwa in Egypt, which I visited in 2003.

The murals were impressive.

The architecture hall, which had a temporary exhibit with this big screen.

Inside the orthodox church.

The cathedral of learning.

With a conservatory, campus, library, museum, and church under my belt you might thing I was done for the day. But no, I was just getting started! I drove to Garfield neighborhood, where I picked up some wings to go from Wings over Pittsburgh, and took them to Two Frays brewing. I sat outside to enjoy my lunch. I then stopped at the Center for Postnatural history just down the street, and then briefly drove through part of Allegheny Cemetery.

The Garfield neighborhood is cute.

Homes in Garfield.

Beer tasters for lunch.

Yes, that's an obese mouse.

The cemetary.

My first stop after lunch was the National Aviary, which was absolutely packed with people. I still enjoyed seeing all of the bird exhibits. In many of them, there is no separation between you and the birds, you're basically walking through their habitats. I think walked to the nearby Mattress Factory, a modern art museum split between three building spread across a block. The next stop was Randyland, which was a super random building and yard totally covered with found object art. The neighborhood (Mexican War Streets) was really cool and I walked a round a bit, including a stop at City of Asylum bookstore and some tea at Yinz.

An Andean condor at the aviary.

Hey, what are you looking at?!

Beautiful colors on this bird.

A bike and a statue in the park.

Getting some sun on a nice day.

The "Mexican War Streets" neighborhood had lots of random art.

View toward downtown.

Exhibit in the Mattress Factory.

Another interesting exhibit.

These were rugs showing immigrant experiences.

Such a cute and colorful neighborhood.

Randyland was... quixotic.

The front of Randyland.

I walked by the house where George Ferris (inventor of the ferris wheel) was born.

View toward downtown.

I had yet *more* things to do, starting with the bicycle museum. It was absolutely packed with things, really more of a giant hoarder's bike dream rather than a real museum. Really fascinating though. I then drove to the Duquesne Incline for the famous postcard views of the city. I parked at the bottom, rode up, took in the view for a bit, and rode back down. On the way back to my hotel (which was in the suburbs) my final stop of the day was for dinner at Mullets, on a cute street in downtown Mt. Lebanon. That wrapped up an exhausting day of doing a huge number of Pittsburgh's tourist attractions.

The Bicycle Museum.

Peewee's bike, used in the movie.

The Duquesne incline.

View of the mixing waters of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers.

There's that postcard view!

The rest of my trip was in the downtown area, taking in the architecture, exploring the main streets, stopping in two more museums (the Heinz and the Warhol) and going to a baseball game. I'll let the pictures do the talking!

The next day

Coffee in little city

View on river

Dropped off rental car

Heinz Museum

Warhol Museum

Downtown Sewickley - my last stop with a rental car.

View of the Ohio River.

Racer train in the Heinz museum.

It's an impressive adapted building.

Yes they have ketchup.

And Mr. Rogers!

Exhibit on the ferris wheel.

An old trolley!

Downtown has a ton of historic buildings.

A cool dome.

The Warhol museum.

An interactive room in the Warhol museum.

More cool architecture.

Some eyeball chairs.

Roller skating on Market Square.

Reflection of architecture.

Sunset lighting for the win.

There's a whole street of historic bank buildings.

Sunlight highlighting details.

Pittsburgh has a lot of alleys that are full of character.

Architectural details.

"Space Bar" was a cool cocktail bar.

This was a Korean-inspired cocktail! 

I mostly avoided the rain - but this was a downpour while the sun was still out.

Time for some baseball.

Stadium views are unmatched.

Yes, these are pierogies racing.

Pittsburgh is a delightful place to visit. The architecture and neighborhoods are surprising, the hills make for unique views, and there are several world-class museums. Add it to your travel list!