Outdoor Activities

One of the things we miss most about Pittsburgh (and drone on about in nausea-inducing detail) is the incredible access to nature for a city of its size. In fact, there are quite a few things you can do without leaving town at all - and a few you may want to check out beyond the city limits.

You can hike for miles in Frick Park. It's only a few blocks from our Pittsburgh house and is purported to have some of the best mountain biking in PA. It's named for Henry Clay Frick, erstwhile strike-breaking industrialist, who bequeathed it and a maintenance endowment to the city.

Closer to museums and activities is Schenley Park - another large, beautiful park with nice trails and fewer dogs. From there you can see Phipps Conservatory, Carnegie Mellon and drive into Oakland. When you do, you may want to check out the outdoor carousel at Schenley Plaza. The park has little food stands and seating, and is a nice place to take a break after visiting the Carnegie art or natural history museums or the library.

Looking at Schenley Plaza now, it's hard to remember that a few years ago, it was an ugly parking lot that we would trudge across to get to the good trucks (an oddly legal form of food service in Pittsburgh) serving graduate-student-priced food. The trucks are gone now - along with the low priced food - but Pittsburgh has an extra park instead of a parking lot. Just the kind of happy thing that can happen in a shrinking city.

If you're feeling adventurous you can kayak through downtown Pittsburgh - we once took a history tour by kayak. Or you may care to bike/jog/roller blade on the jail trail through downtown. And, if wooden roller-coasters that double as national historic monuments are your thing, you should definitely visit kennywood - complete with George-Washington-slept-here markers.

Finally - we almost held the festivities at Hartwood Acres - which would have been beautiful, too.

Museums

Across the street from your hotel (presumably, the Hampton Inn downtown) is the history center. You can walk through Pittsburgh's immigrant neighborhoods or learn about famous Steeler's games. If you want to delve even further back, try the Fort Pitt museum, located on the site of Pittsburgh's historic (and namesake) Fort Pitt.

Pittsburgh's modern history includes Andy Warhol - you can get your modern art fix checking out his pieces or go to the mattress factory - it's fun, and you're allowed to touch stuff.

The Carnegie Science Center is another fun destination - and right next door, you can find the UPMC Sports Works, where you can race Jackie Joyner-Kersee, design a roller coaster and swing on this contraption
as one unnamed wedding guest did.

And now for the bad news. Pittsburgh is known for its dinosaurs - Andrew Carnegie was an avid collector, and more recent dinosaurs adorn parts of the city.

but

the dinosaurs are being repaired - and don't return until November. We're so sorry. In the meantime, there are other cool things to see at the natural history museum - and our friend Joann is a docent there! If that's not enough - then end scene of Flashdance is rumored to have been filmed there.

Finally, you may want to check out the children's museum or Phipp's conservatory - it's across the street from Carnegie Mellon and a cute cafe overlooking Schenley Park.

Invitation Smudging

Did you know that you shouldn't run paper through a laser printer twice? It's true, and the proof is apparently all over the response cards and hotel information.

You're probably wondering why. I'm hoping S will provide a more detailed explanation based on her printing industry experience in an exciting upcoming post. From what I can gather, the laser process generates enough heat to remove previous laser printing. When you choose double-sided printing, the second side uses a slightly different process. We did not do this, hence the smudging.

The more important issue to address here are the details rendered illegible by this laser quirk.

Hence:

k & s have set aside a block of rooms for their out of town guests. to reserve your room, you may either call the hotel directly at 412-288-4350 or call 1-800-HAMPTON it is important to refer to the group code “schmlloyd wedding” when making reservations reservations must be made no later than september 28, 2007

Hampton Inn & Suites Pittsburgh-Downtown 1247 Smallman Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15222 From Pittsburgh International Airport - PA 60 South, merge onto US 22/30 East. US 22/30 East becomes I-279 North. Drive through Ft. Pitt Tunnels - Take the Ft. Duquesne Blvd Exit 6C- toward Convention Center/Strip District. Take the ramp toward Convention Center/Strip District. Stay straight to go onto 10th ST BYP. 10th SY BYP becomes 11th Street. Turn left onto Smallman Street and the hotel is on the right. From 376 West/76 West/Monroeville - Take I-376 West/22 West through Squirrel Hill Tunnels. Take the Grant Street Exit - Exit 1C- on the left. Turn slight right onto Grant St. Grant St becomes Liberty Avenue. Turn left onto 11th St. Turn right onto Smallman Street. Cross Streets - Liberty and Smallman Street.

Places to Eat..

We hope you have time to see some sites while you're in town - at the very least, you'll need to eat. So, here's a list of places to go while you're in town.

RESTAURANTS

Pittsburgh is not, in my opinion, much of a food town. But - there are a few exceptions - and fun places that you need to see.

Foremost among these is the Church Brew Works - a restored church with a in-house brewery prominently situated where the altar used to be. The food is great, I'm told the beer is, too, and it's a great place to eat while you're in town. You'll need to drive to get there, but, you can go straight up Liberty Ave away from the city. (And, our friend Robert is a chef there, too!)

Kaya is a fun, Caribbean/Island restaurant close to the Hampton Inn.

We love Sweet Basil & La Filipiniana (Lawrenceville). Going to the Lawrenceville location is important - they grow their herbs in their own little garden. When the weather's nice, you can sit there, too.

To be fair...we don't even really like Primanti Brother’s - however - it's a Pittsburgh favorite, as this may illustrate. And, the original store is in the Strip District, just a few blocks from the hotel.

Finally - if you can, you really should eat some pizza in Pittsburgh. I can't, and it's a crying shame. So have a few pieces for me.

S's favorite is Village pizza in Shadyside - a little hole in the wall place without a website. I'm pretty sure she grabs a white pizza there every time I'm out of town.

In any case, here are some of our eating thoughts for Pittsburgh.

National Aviary in the News

So - the national aviary has been in the news a bit lately.

Chicago Sun Times had a nice write-up. (Thanks, Amy!)

New York Times mentions the aviary as part of a Pittsburgh travel profile.

Finally - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had a mini-blurb on their front page. Here's a screen shot.




We can't wait to see you there - you all know how much we love our little city - and we can't wait to share that with all of you!

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog. We'll mostly use the blog format to update people on details about the wedding, as well as things to do in Pittsburgh.

So, here are the basics:

Pittsburgh: October 27, 2007
4:00 PM Ceremony at the First Unitarian Universalist Church
6:00 PM Reception at the National Aviary

Hotel Block:
Hampton Inn Pittsburgh Downtown
"SchmLloyd Wedding"
(412) 288-4350