1 City
2 Days
15 Restaurants
10 Bakeries
2 Ice cream shops
2 Chocolate shops
1 Drink place
Saturday, September 4th, 2010
Quickly checked in at the Marriott Pittsburgh City Center and headed through downtown.
But my first district to explore was not in this sprawling downtown.
It is the stretch of Penn Avenue between 11th and 33rd Streets termed The Strip.
This area dates back to the 1800s when it was the hub of activity for produce sellers and wholesalers. Today only 20% of them survive with the gap (over)filled by hordes of tourists.
Wholey is an institution with a focus on fresh fish.
DeLuca’s is consistently rated best breakfast as verified by a 45 minute wait at noon.
Banana Split Hot Sundae: banana pancakes topped with blueberries, strawberries, ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Breakfast? Dessert? Who cares?!
Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. is all Italian with the aisle of olive oil and building length cheese counter just giving a glimmer of their vast offerings.
The Strip is a foodie paradise with eateries that evolved to satisfy those truck drivers who had little time but big need for nourishment. Today many of those survive supplemented by eateries catering to tourists. I did an honorable job evaluating many of them!
There was the Seaweed & Zo Song Roll and Apple Mele.
A Pizzette at Sunseri’s outside cart and then Almond Cornmeal from Enrico’s Biscotti.
Crickets from a Mexican market and Crème Brulee Truffle from Mon Aimee Chocolat.
Chock full of them Blueberry Muffin and succelent Crab from Benkovitz Seafoods.
There were 2 street vendors with bakery and further down The Strip a 1920s ice cream parlor.
This shows The Strip's SW to NE angled orientation north of downtown.
Pittsburgh Public Market had just opened off of Smallman Street.
Smallman parallels Penn and handles the overfull of needed businesses.
Made my way back downtown to appreciate its myriad of districts.
Pittsburgh is a dynamic city built on the past with reflections of laborers and riches. Men such as Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon made their fortunes in this city.
The architecture was a vivid mix conveying the decades.
In the Shopping District I took a break from building gazing to traipse through Brooks Brothers, Saks, Lord & Taylor and Macy’s.
Relaxing Market Square.
The striking PPG complex was an amazing and mesmerizing visual. It utilizes their own product of black glass. Imagine 360 degrees of this.
Alcoa is another building showcasing their product- aluminum. UPMC- steel.
Sunday, September 5th, 2010
A ten year streak of not being sick came to an end at 2AM.
At 2PM I had to get out and it took a full 50 minutes to arouse enough energy to get dressed and out of the room.
Duquesne Incline has been bringing passengers to the top of Mt. Washington since 1877.
From this perspective you can see how Pittsburgh sits at the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers.
Grandview Blvd. follows the ridge of Mt. Washington and has several pads for...
...views like this.
Having eaten only a banana all day and certainly dehydrated a dish of Nonfat French Vanilla Frozen Yogurt tasted better than it probably was.
In 1870 Monongahela Incline began to bring steel workers to the mills along the river below.
Station Square is a complex of shops and dining centered around the old 1870s terminal.
It had the obligatory Hard Rock, Buca’s, Bar Louie and Joe’s Crab Shack. Kids have fun splashing in a riverside fountain.
Used in many tourist areas, Wisconsinites will fondly associate WWII DUKWs with the Wisconsin Dells.
Just Ducky Tours provides a fun adventure of the streets and waterways of the City of Bridges.
Monday, September 6th, 2010
At 7AM The Strip was not the usual mob scene.
And there was not the standard hour + line at Primanti Bros..
This allowed me to sit at the counter and have the cook also act as my server.
This 24 hour 80 year old legend started as an outlet for truck drivers to have a full meal. Instead of a sandwich, fries and coleslaw you get it all in one package. That's turkey and cheese at the bottom.
Walking east the Hill District started out as nice and quickly transformed to...um...not nice.
It was an hour walk to reach the University of Pittsburgh undulating with the terrain.
Oakland is a business district fueled by neighboring U of Pitt, Carnegie Mellon University and Carlow University.
Pamela’s Diner is a popular retro place by PITT.
They are renowned for their crepe thin Hotcakes. I had mine stuffed with bananas and strawberries.
The half hour walk back downtown went through Uptown. Series of once magnificent homes sat in despair.
Did you know Fred Rogers was from Pittsburgh?
