Pittsburgh
Attractions
Nightlife
The South Side
Tons of nightlife.
Inexpensive to expensive restaurants. Coffeehouses, art galleries, rock
and jazz
clubs, concert venues and lots of other live
entertainment. This is an old working class
neighborhood that
thrives at night. Park around Carson Street and18th Street to find a good
starting point.
Check out a free City Paper to catch a
favorite local band! Further down Carson Street, you’ll find
the
new South Side Works. Built on a former steel mill sight, this new complex
of theaters
restaurants and shops draws a lot of
visitors.
Station Square
Shops, bars, and a variety of
restaurants in a revamped P&LE railroad center. It houses the Hard
Rock Café and other nationally recognized fun chains. Drive or walk
across the Smithfield Street
Bridge, or you can take the “T.” The
ride ceases to be free once you cross either river. Great
views
of the city and the Mon River are to be found
here.
Shadyside
Upscale/trendy bars, art galleries and
stores in a high end neighborhood. The homes of the great
old
industrialists who made the city the steel center of the world are a
Victorian Age enthusiast’s
treasure chest. Slide over to nearby
Point Breeze and visit Clayton, the home of Henry Clay Frick.
It
houses many pieces of his eclectic art collection and offers a great trip
back to the age of the
industrialists. Unlike the Frick in NYC,
it’s much more a expertly maintained historic home than a
museum.
The Strip District
This old merchants’
wholesale area is an easy walk from downtown. Daytime shoppers will find
tons of deals from street merchants, ethnic food markets,
bakeries, produce markets and some of
Pittsburgh’s favorite
foods. Primanti Brothers restaurant has world famous all-inclusive
sandwiches, while Wholey’s and Benkovitz’s seafood counters offer the
other favorite of the locals,
a deep fried fish sandwich. Don’t
forget to add the hot sauce. Dance clubs and bars come alive at
night
The Cultural District
The heart of downtown
offers one of the country’s most compact fine arts areas. This is a home
to
cabarets, stage shows and most importantly one of the world’s
great symphony orchestras. You’ll
find the Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra second to none. Restaurants and night spots, although
not present in great quantity, are interspersed
throughout.
Oakland
Oakland is Pittsburgh’s medical and
educational center. It is home to both the University of
Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. The Carnegie Library,
Music Hall, Art and History
Museum sits adjacent to Schenley
Park, where the Phipps Conservatory is just a short walk into
this huge and well kept green space. Typical to any student populated
area of the county,
inexpensive ethnic and pedestrian fare
establishments abound.
Squirrel Hill
This was identified as
Pittsburgh’s Jewish community for years. It’s now much more ethnically
eclectic, and offers stores, various ethnic restaurants, delis and
some better vegetarian places.
Frick Park is
adjacent.
Sports
NHL Hockey, NFL football and Major
League Baseball take place in walk-to venues from the
downtown
area. The baseball field, PNC Park, may be the best in either league.
Division one
college basketball is abundant as
well.
Unique to the “Burgh”
The Inclines
Two of
these climb to Mount Washington. There, you’ll get the greatest view of a
major American
city available. World travelers may argue for
Monmarte, but where else can you see the
confluence of two rivers
form a new one? The Seine and the what did you say? You can also see
all of Point State Park from the overlooks as it touches all 3
rivers.
Bar Food
Ask any Pittsburgher!! The best
cheap, unwholesome, utterly filling and delicious food is to be
found in almost every bar in western Pennsylvania. Great big fried
fish sandwiches purchased at
the local bars have long been a
Friday night tradition. For take-out, never call your order in.
Waiting at the bar is worth the trip here. Have a big, cheap (still a
buck some places), draft beer
and listen to our native tongue,
“Pittsburghese,” being spoken .
“Wing Nights” at the local bars are
becoming family affairs. Out-of-towners will find the friendly
clientele more than willing to assist in offering directions around
town, or to help choose the best
menu item. Believe it or not,
locals have fierce loyalties to their favorite watering holes and
accompanying specialties.
Friday night football
Locals
pack the high school fields every Friday in the fall for one of Western
Pennsylvania’s most
revered traditions. Some of the NFL’s great
got their start here, like Joe Namath, Joe Montana,
Johnny Unitas
and Dan Marino to name a few. Saturday afternoons offer some great smaller
college games. Duquesne University plays its Mid-Atlantic
Conference games on the uptown
campus, while Robert Morris
University plays their Northeast Conference games at their new on
campus facility in nearby Moon Township. If you take in an RMU game,
be sure to stick around for
halftime where one of the country’s
zaniest marching bands will have you dancing in (or on) your
seat.
Other Don’t Miss Attractions
The Fort Pitt
Blockhouse and Museum in Point State Park
The National Aviary on the
North Side.
Tours like the “Just Ducky” amphibian/land excursion
The
Gateway Clipper Fleet
The Carnegie Science Center
History and
Landmark Society Tours
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