Posted on 02/04/2010 5:24:34 PM PST by mozarky2
It's a long story, so I'll spare the details, but I have a "must take" trip to Pittsburgh the first week in March (I know; not the optimum time for a visit). My wife and I will be picking up my 2-1/2 year old great-grandson and squiring him around the area. Any and all advice is appreciated; museums, food, places to avoid, etc. Thanks again, Freepers!
Walk the Strip District....buy him a Stillerz jersey then go to PrImanti’s!
Buy a candyland game to play at the hotel. Make sure the little guy never gets plumby.
>>Danny’s Hoagies.
I double, and triple that suggestion. I’ve actually walked in and bought 11 whole Italian Hoagies, and had them cook one. The other ten came back to California. :)
Nobody in my family goes to Pittsburgh without getting a hoagie. I think they’re cooked in the same black pans that they used in the 60’s.
>>...I designed the mushroom overlooks...
Did you really? I love those things. What year did they go in? Wasn’t it around the time the Bridge To Nowhere was finished? My one sister has always been terrified of those overlooks, particularly now that time is taking its toll on the concrete. We’ve been up there many times and I’ve never gotten her out on one of those things. :) I’ve been on the one across from St. Mary’s Of The Mount many many times. Our family has a long history up there in Mt Washington, though we’re spread across the country now.
I did manage to get Sis to go on the incline once. Har har har!!! She’ll never do that again.
Had my first one at Danny’s in 1967.
It made a lifetime impression.
Just a suggestion — stay at the Radisson in Greentree.
Close enough to the city to get anywhere relatively easily. If you’re main concern is entertaining the kid, definitely try the Children’s Museum, the Carnegie Science Center, and the zoo. If you’re looking for yourself, stroll around Station Square on the Southside, or Squirrel Hill. But do it in the daytime. I’ll probably be flamed for this, but Pittsburgh isn’t exactly the most happening place, especially after football season. Just try to soak up the atmosphere, wherever you go. You’ll be struck by the beauty of the rivers. Wait and see.
I’d guess that’s about when I had mine. I turned 8 in the summer of 1967, and I recall everyone in our family (except for my dad) being crazy about Danny’s Hoagies. We’d eat them there in the parking lot and try to watch the movie next door at the drive in theater. We lived in Brookline, and it was a real treat to drive out to South Park and see the buffalo.
There was a pizza parlor down the street from Danny’s called Beetos, or something like that. That was our favorite pizza, though hoagies were always the number one food if you had the opportunity.
I went to that Drive-in!
Remember I said it was ‘67? The movie I saw (with a *very special* young lady) was “Bonnie and Clyde” with Beatty and Dunaway.
I remember the smell of the hoagies more than I do her perfume!
If you’re taking a small child, the zoo is always a great destination. Early March maybe a little chilly, but if it’s a sunny day, it’s well worth it.
Also, the Carnegie Science Center is always fun for bad weather.
As others suggested, the inclines and Primanti’s are a must! Most Primanti’s now have a scaled down menu for the kids, too.
The Carnegie Science Center or the Carnegie Museum of Natural History would be great. What kid doesn’t love dinosaurs? The Carnegie has one of the world’s best dinosaur collections, and it was recently rehabbed.
Stop into just about any tavern in the area and enjoy a delicious hand-breaded fish sandwich.
And while driving, remember that three lefts DO NOT make a right. And when stopped at a red light and the oncoming car wants to make a left, he will likely cut in front of you as soon as the light changes. It’s actually a courtesy extended due to the narrow streets. So go ahead and wave that guy on in front of you, and feel magnanimous.
The chicks in Port Vue are way easy, but usually “big boned”.
OMG! Do any of yinz Pittsburghers remember the Beto’s Pizza that used to be in Oakland, on Forbes Avenue, during the early 1970’s? It was located between the Pitt and CMU campuses, right next to a very colorful “Hari Krishna” house. Beto’s made hand-tossed pizza, but in a square (rectangular) shape. The crust was to die for, and as kids, we used find the neighbors a bit odd...like a trip to the zoo!
I think the Betos we went to back then was on Banksville Road.
Yes I worked for GWS under Bill Swain and it took us a year to design them in 1968 for Pgh. Parks Dept. Bob Zurn was the structural and he put in more Pittsburgh steel and engineering that anything you have ever seen. The shape is perfectly safe,but we were aware that people would be so frightened that “little old ladies of both sexes” may hesitate to go on them. The square one is less so. My family tells me that they are favorites for wedding parties. They made some cosmetic repairs to the concrete a few years ago.
When I think of Port Vue all I recall is Jimmy’s hot dog stand. Is it still there? Did anyone ever discover their secret recipe for their sauce?
Don’t know I was just there in the late 70’s for the chicks.
Here's a view of the platform across from St Mary's, looking out from the sidewalk on a rainy and freezing day in November 2005. The steel may be sound, but the concrete didn't inspire confidence in my sister. :)
One funny thing to note, just like a bridge tends to freeze before the roads, these platforms freeze before the sidewalks. I unsuspectingly walked out on it and nearly slipped on the ice. It was frozen at the edges and wet in the center, above the column.
ROFL!
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