On
the first morning I awoke in Pittsburgh I felt well rested and eager to get out
and see the city. The weather was even better than the previous day and we were
looking forward to spending the day out in the fifty-degree sunshine. I put on
a velour sweat suit and I was rearing to go.
I
had a few things I knew we were going to do this day but the order kept
changing. I sort of wanted to wing it as best we could. So I decided to start
with the activity that I knew would take the longest, a riverboat cruise.
When
I visit a major city I like to always make sure I get the lay of the land no
matter how long I am in town for. Sometimes that’s on a bus, just walking, but
more often than not it is on a boat. You get to see a city in a whole new light
that you don’t get on land. You get to see all of the buildings that make up
the skyline and parts of the city you may not get to. On a nice day there are
few things that can top this.
The
river cruise I choose was the Getaway Clippers sightseeing tour. It was an hour
long and the first boat was leaving soon after I finished breakfast. The timing
couldn’t have worked out any better.
The
boat filled up pretty quickly but I pushed and made sure I got great seats up
top so I would have a great view and get to take the pictures I wanted. The
tour was very informative telling the history of Pittsburgh and of course
pointing out all that we were seeing. I felt like a sponge absorbing as much as
I could.
I
feel like these pictures captured how truly beautiful Pittsburgh is. It is more
gorgeous than I imagined. I don’t know what I was thinking, I new there weren’t
all steel mills or anything, but I didn’t know about all of the bridges and
mountains. They certainly popped out in my photos under that bright blue
perfect sky. I feel like they look photo shopped they are so good. My favorite
bridge is the yellow one with the round top known as the West End Bridge. I
feel like no matter where I went I could find it in my eye line. Something
about it was always drawing my attention.
I learned on my cruise that Pittsburgh is known as “The City of Bridges”
because it has 446 bridges. That’s more than there is in Venice, Italy- a city
that is only accessible by water!
This
tour was one of the best I have taken and I got to see literally every angle of
this city. All of the famous buildings were glistening that day and I was
pumped to move on to our next activity which I was eager to see because it is
something that you can only do in Pittsburgh, take a ride on an incline.
An
incline, there are two remaining here, doubles as a mode of transportation and
tourist attraction. They are unique to Pittsburgh as cable cars are to San
Francisco or streetcars in New Orleans. Both of which I had tried with more
success in New Orleans than San Francisco but that was due to fear.
The
very helpful crew at the Gateway Clipper told me that the Monongahela Incline
was the closest and easiest to walk to. The other incline, the Duquesne Incline
was further down but had restaurants when you reached the top. Since I had no
preference and was just looking to experience it I went for the one that I
could walk to.
The
Monongahela Incline is the longest running incline and has been around since 1870.
It is located in Station Square and is a national historic landmark. Originally
this was only a mode of transportation and as a way to get to the top of Mount
Washington. Mount Washington looms proudly over Pittsburgh and is largely the
reason you drive through so many tunnels to get anywhere in the city.
I
was able to get a great view of the incline climbing up Mount Washington from
the river cruise. But is a whole other thing to ride one. An incline is
essentially a cable car that goes dialogically up the mountain, not straight up
and down. It reminds me of the terrifying elevator ride I took to get to the
top of the Eiffel Tower.
About
five people fit in each car of the incline and there were a few cars so to
speak. The ride is $2.50 a way and needs to be paid in exact change.
I
felt some hesitation when I climbed in but the ride was pretty steady. It was
scary to look out of the window and see the pulley system working so hard to
get us to the top. The view was great but when we got out on the top of Mount
Washington there were no words.
There
was an extended path that reached out over the city. The panoramic view was
unbeatable. You can’t believe how high up you are and how seemingly fast you
got there. You can walk into that town and explore. I just stood there taking
it all in and then took a ride back down. So far I had two activities checked
off.
Next
we were off to see my neighbor, Mister Rodgers. Fred Rodgers was a TV legend
when I was growing up. “Mister Rodgers Neighborhood” on PBS was a staple in
every household. Each day he would begin by changing his sweater and shoes.
Then we were off to King Friday’s world for a story. Fred Rodgers made a home
in Pittsburgh and in his honor they created the “Tribute to Children” which is
a giant statue of him overlooking the river. I had read about this moons ago,
it was probably the first thing that ever made me want to go to Pittsburgh.
The
statute has no exact address but is located directly across from Heinz Field.
That is what I told my cabbie and we found it right away. You can tell because
there is a semi brick wall in a circle that surrounds the statute.
I
was so excited to get here. Its not that I was such a Fred Rodgers fan but he
is just such apart of American culture. Plus you cannot see it anyplace else.
The statue casts Fred bending down tying his shoelace. This statute gets a lot
of flack for the material it is made out of. It makes him look lumpy but I
still thought it was impressive. I was lucky to have someone walk by while I
was there so I could get a photo of the three of us (my mom, me, and Fred).
Then it was time to say goodbye.
The
last thing I did in Pittsburgh was hit up the casino. I don’t care about
gambling but it is a popular attraction and something for us to do at night.
Rivers Casino is a moderately sized casino featuring slots, poker, and all of
the usual table games. They had beverages at a station and even a gift shop. As
a migraine patient it is not always an ideal situation for me with the flashing
lights and cigarette smoke but I was good for a couple of hours. That’s all we
needed. I didn’t win big money but I sure felt like I was on a winning
vacation.
The
only attraction that I wanted to see that I didn’t was the Allegheny County
Jail. It was closed for tours on the day I was sightseeing. I heard that this
is where they filmed “Silence of the Lambs” when Jodie Foster goes to see
Anthony Hopkins behind the glass. That is one of my ultimate favorite movies. I
would have liked to get that photo. This building is a historic landmark and
one of the oldest in the city. I would have liked to see in from the inside.
But I did see it from the outside. That would have to be good enough and it was
as I had completed all of my “must-dos” for this trip.
For
More Information:
Up
next is For the City of Bridges: Pittsburgh
Part
III- Pittsburgh Eats
Great Photos, Great Trip & Great Company..
ReplyDeleteMiss my cows..lol