I’ve dragged Isabel on a number of road trips to see Toronto sports teams play (and lose) in foreign cities. From the glamorous and obvious (Boston, Chicago) to the less obvious and less glamorous (Columbus, Ohio). Earlier this month we set our sights on a city that likely falls somewhere in the middle of that spectrum: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
I visited the city less than a year ago with some coworkers, and found it charming – in a gritty, working class kind of way – adequately primed to live up to it’s New Portland billing. But my first trip was more about sports and drinking (and drinking sports), so we really didn’t see much more of the city than two stadiums and probably a dozen bars. So with the Jays visiting, I figured it was a good enough reason to visit the city proper with Isabel.
So we piled in the car, loaded up on snacks (sadly no homemade jerky) and in about five hours we made it to our Airbnb in the city’s East Liberty neighborhood. As is the norm with our trips, we try to plan the important stuff (i.e. where we will eat our 6-square meals a day), and this weekend was no different. Although PGH is hardly New York or Chicago, there was still plenty to do and eat. Here were some of the highlights:
PNC Park
Everyone you ask about PNC Park will tell you the same thing: it’s a beautiful place to see a game. Intimate atmosphere, great sightlines, and amazing location right by the water. For the two games we saw, we sat in the left field bleachers, with a small but vocal contingent of traveling Jays fans. We saw them win and we saw them lose, but had fun both days.
Allegheny Cemetery
Located in the wooded hillside neighbourhood of Lawrenceville, high above the Allegheny River, this historic burial ground (the 6th oldest rural cemetery in the US) is a beautiful place to go for a stroll. Plenty of deer call the grounds home and it offers ample opportunity for some beautiful pictures.
Andy Warhol Museum
Warhol is perhaps the city’s most famous son, and this seven floor museum is a fitting tribute to his life work. From the early days as a commercial artist, to his exploration in avant-garde filmmaking, the exhibit left Isabel and I inspired beyond expectations.
Bar Marco
We had a few nice meals in PGH, but the one that left the strongest impression on me was at Bar Marco, a small, modern room in the Strip District. It’s a bit unlike us to “brunch” (we both generally hate that) but the breakfast we had here was superb.