Mexican War Streets Fantasies: Mullen Visits!

Oddly, the person who has visited me from Boston the most is also the person who has not yet had a real, honest-to-goodness Pittsburgh weekend. She'd come in for business trips, usually one-nighters good for dinner and drinks, and for my mom's funeral, which, well, wasn't the most fun reason to be in Pittsburgh. So, finally(!), Mullen came to town for her first official Pittsburgh weekend.

After taking her to breakfast at Coca Cafe and Wildcard and an adventure through the Strip where we bought assorted goods (beer, t-shirts, turkey carcass, artwork, donuts - you know, the usual), I brought her to the Mexican War Streets. Primarily because I knew she'd fall in love with the neighborhood. (And not so secretly because I truly believe this girl would flourish in Pittsburgh).

I wanted to walk from Downtown to the War Streets so we could pass Mullens. For obvious reasons.


Our walk took us through Allegheny Commons and North Park before hitting the War Streets. It was a beautifully mild Saturday afternoon - perfect for a long walk. Earlier in the week, I had attended an apartment-warming party in the War Streets. Just walking into the entryway of the building - not even the amazing apartment itself - gave me serious apartment envy. The War Streets are quickly creeping up my list of neighborhoods I want to investigate when it comes time to buy a home. The area is lovely. It is full of color. The Monterey Pub is awesome and perfectly neighborhoody. I knew Mullen would fall in love with it, and we started making (fantasy) plans for buying and flipping a house in the area. At first, I wanted to take Mullen past the Mattress Factory and show her the sunken garden, but the lightbulb went off over my head and I changed our route to get to Randyland.

We were taking pictures of the mural on the side of the building when Randy himself came out of nowhere in a faded Pitt sweatshirt welcoming us into his backyard, where the bulk of his creations reside. I'd never been past the gate to the backyard before, so this seemed like a really special occasion. What follows are pictures from outside and inside the backyard of Randyland.







After we made our way out of Randyland and down the street toward the Monterey Pub, I pointed out the firehouse catty-corner from Randyland. It's for sale. And it's hard to figure out a way that my life could continue without that somehow ending up in my possession one day. (So, if any of you want to chip in and buy me a firehouse in the War Streets: go. for. it.)

BY THE WAY.
This is my 100th post on Everything Better Pittsburgh.
Thank you for reading! I've been having a blast coming up with adventures and writing about my one true love. Here's to another 100 things to say about Pittsburgh.