I guess the title is pretty self-explanatory. No, the Pirates are not playing at home, but that would have been good. I like cool buildings, old and new. Offbeat museums, shops & used bookstores. I’ll also read with interest restaurant recommendations, and I wonder if there are any local specialties foodwise. Thanks!
Try the City Paper for things to do. Eat at Primanti’s , but be warned that the ‘cheesesteak’ is a really a hamburger (dunno why they call it a cheesesteak)…try the roast beef or the angus steak. And get it with the egg.
Check out the Warhol Museum.
You might try the Heinz History Center; it’s an interestingly heterogeneous mixture of local history and various regional obsessions; the H.J. Heinz Company, which is also headquartered in Pittsburgh, has a charmingly peculiar display of their corporate history explaining how the pickle is the Most Important Vegetable In The Universe! The museum itself is housed in an old ice plant, which is pretty interesting itself from an architectural standpoint, if you like that sort of thing.
For a nice elevated view of the city, ride one of the inclines. The Monongahela Incline is just across from Station Square. While you’re there, you could also check out Just Ducky Tours, which takes you all around the downtown area, land and water, in a WWII amphibious vehicle. If there’s a cooler way to tour a city, I don’t know about it.
Having done my internship there, I second the Heinz. There’s an old trolley car in the lobby you can enter, a Conestoga wagon, all kinds of neat things. The Points in Time exhibit ends with a dedication to sports in Pittsburgh-there’s even a black and gold Steelers-themed priest’s stole, which belonged to the pastor at the parish I grew up in. There’s a car from one of the roller coasters at Kennywood, and one of Mister Roger’s sweaters and a pair of his sneakers!
Damn, looking at that website, now I want to go back!
Don’t go riding around on a motorcycle without a helmet.