Afternoon on the North Side

On the same afternoon that I had my first iceball from Gus and Yiayia's, Corey and I spent some time just meandering about through the Mini Maker Faire, through the park, through the War Streets and and through Deustchtown. It was mostly done on a whim (we had planned to attend the Maker Faire, but only checked out the stuff outside), and it was quite the enjoyable whim to be retold with photos.

Have you ever seen this fountain near the Children's Museum? I don't think I had ever noticed it before. I work in an office with a (baller) view of the PPG fountain, and this one kind of puts it to shame. It wouldn't be able to double as the location for a skating rink though, that is for sure. (Ouch.)

Part of my excitement about going to the Mini Maker Faire, was the possibility of lunch from a food truck. And we had options of hot dogs (Franktuary), grilled cheese (Oh My Grill), or pierogies (PGH Pierogi Truck). We both went with grilled cheese (finally - after wanting a taste of Oh My Grill since summer's food truck round-up). Help keep food trucks in Pittsburgh a growing trend - check out Pittsburgh Mobile Food's site for information on how to get involved or for announcements of awesome food truck events.

The Mini Maker Faire was pretty interesting, for the little of it we ended up seeing. (We had to decide to pay to get into the Children's Museum or stay outside where it appeared free. We chose to keep it cheap.) We spent the most time learning about a couple projects going on at HackPGH.

Small version of a lighting project JackPGH will soon be displaying at their location.

After checking out the Faire, we walked on over the to park.

And then we walked through the War Streets. (Someone please buy me a house in the War Streets.)

Finally, we walked down the main drag in Deutschtown to check out if the Priory Bakery was still open. On our way to find out, Corey spotted this gem of a t-shirt hanging in the window of the neighborhood Goodwill. After doubling over in laughter on the other side of the street for a good three minutes, I immediately made the decision to purchase it. (Of course I did. Not even my dad was surprised when I showed him the picture below later that evening.)

In other news, the bakery was open and I bought some cookies. They were delicious.

Thanks for a lovely afternoon, North Side. Hope to be seeing you again soon.

PGH Beautiful: Dinos, May 2012

Guys! I have been finding excellent dinos around town. I think one of my goals this summer is to go on dino expeditions around Pittsburgh by bike and by foot. I know where a lot of the statue dinos are located around town, I just need to make a plan to go snap pictures of them. I also want to keep my eyes out for cool dino graffiti or signage or anything. (Mental note: Look to see if there is a book that connects PGH and dinos. There very well should be considering the Carnegie Museum and all!) I am going to just go with the whole "dino obsession" phase I am clearly entering into right now. It's nearly summer, and that's when I feel most like a kid stuck in an adult's world.

So! Here are some dinos I saw:

Dino outside of the Carnegie Science Center near the North Shore bike trail. Those are molecules or genes or something science-y like that?

I may have shown this already, but I'm being too lazy to go back and check. I found this guy hanging in The Park House in Deutschtown way back when football was still on the TV.

And here is a special dino brought to you by Mr. Andrew Mulkerin. Thanks, Andy!

If you've got a dino you'd like to share, or want to send me on a wild goose chase searching for one, send me an email: everythingbetterpgh@gmail.com

Oh and if you're interested, there's this. Looking forward to reading that before the end of the year...

The World's Heroes and Pittsburgh's Oldest Bar

This winter has been a tricky thing. Earlier in the fall a Post Gazette article warned of a brutally awful winter season, but so far, we've had two really cold days and just a smattering of snow. Since the unofficial start of winter (which I just always place as December 1), I've only had to commute to work by bus twice (stupid smattering of snow!). In my book, this is an awesome alternative to some winters past. Keep the mildness and beautiful days coming!

This past Saturday was that perfect mild and beautiful day. After meeting Corey in the Strip at 21st Street Coffee and Tea (yum to the latte and yum to the much-needed-by-that-point blueberry muffin), we rode our bikes through the Strip, into downtown, and across the Warhol Bridge. Fittingly, our destination was the Warhol Museum, where we would take in the Alex Ross exhibit Heroes and Villians on its LAST DAY.


No photos were allowed inside, which is really a shame, because there were some pretty amazing paintings, treasures from his childhood (superhero figures made of construction paper!), and my new favorite superhero. Plastic Man!


Corey educated me on what we were seeing in the exhibit, which I much appreciated. I had no idea the world of comics could be so intensely beautiful. Unfortunately, we caught it on the last day it was in town. Otherwise, I would totally recommend everyone go.

After the exhibit, we rode a little deeper into the North Side to Deutschtown. On our last visit, the Park House hadn't opened for the evening yet. So we'd had this place on our minds for a month or so.

We stopped in, had a few beers, watched some football, and ate a bunch of peanuts.


Maybe this mildness in the early winter is lulling me into a trap. Come Late February when there is two feet of snow piled up outside and it doesn't ever seem like we'll see green again, I'll be looking back fondly on the early January day when I biked around all day in tights and a light hoodie.

60 and Sunny at November's End: Biking to Deutschtown

When I saw the Thanksgiving weekend forecast, I almost jumped for joy. We'd been having the rainiest week. I'd already biked to or from work three times in a downpour. The chilly, "man I think this rain might actually be little ice chips" kinda rain. It was gross. And I was grumpy.

But 60 and sunny? That is something I am never grumpy about. That is perfect adventuring weather. And, so, on Friday afternoon, Carrie, Corey and I hopped on our bikes and made our way to the North Side. We got to the beginning of Deutschtown's business district and locked up our bikes, ready to explore some new streets.

Facts to Know about Deutschtown:

• Its proper neighborhood name is "East Allegheny"
• It's actually pronounced "Dutchtown" (wow, do I feel dumb...)

Deutschtown's main street, East Ohio, was pretty bustling for a holiday weekend afternoon. We were disappointed to find that the Park House wouldn't be opening until 6 p.m., as we had planned on eating there after our walk. But, we pushed onward and found some pretty great stuff.

In addition to t-shirts, I might have to start collecting awesomely artistic Pittsburgh postcards.

There were a string of photography shops crowded together on East Ohio. Apparently, the Museum of Photographic History is located in Deutschtown. This place sounds awesome, and definitely warrants a repeat trip to the neighborhood.

We crossed down onto a residential street to get a better feel for the neighborhood's residents and stumbled upon a gated garden across from a beautiful building with the label of Pittsburgh's Grand Hall.


The Grand Hall is a reception hall/event location that looks absolutely beautiful inside. I can't think of a better place for a reception than something called "Pittsburgh's Grand Hall."

Evidence of Pittsburgh's smoggy past: One house clean, one house still holding onto the grime.

I really, truly enjoy window decorations like these. They are so charming and honest.

Two very big and enthusiastic thumbs up for Priory Fine Pastries and the delicious treats we procured.

This cat. Pretty much the best.

When our adventures in Deutschtown were over, we got back on our bikes and coasted down W North Ave to the War Streets for beers and dinner at the Monterey Pub. More and more I'm convinced that in a few years I'm going to be ready to buy a home and the North Side is seriously looking better and better to me all the time. Which is crazy to think because I do love living in the East End, as it is very convenient to my current sensibilities. But, someday in the not-too-distant future, I am seriously going to start looking into real estate in the War Streets. And then start planning for the awesome front porch I absolutely must one day have.