Kennywood's Open (For Terror and Fun)

Here is an equation: Halloween + Kennywood = Awesome.

Every October, Kennywood transforms from a bright and sunny amusement park into a spooky and spectacular haunted playground. Ghouls, zombies, and other terrifying beings traipse throughout the park, waiting for the perfect moment to scare the crap out of you. Pavilions and green spaces are turned into haunted houses. Walking through the smoke-filled tunnel to enter the park gets you ready to enter what seems like another world. You recognize Kennywood, but there's something unsettling about walking around the park in the near-dark with screams of terror in the background mixed with the joyous screams of someone experiencing the double-dip on the Jack Rabbit for the first time.

Mike and I made our way to Kennywood for Fright Nights on a beautiful Sunday night. The sky was already turning from redish-pink to black while we waited to buy tickets and enter the park. By the time we were in, dark had settled on the park and we were both ready to ride some coasters and experience a few frights.

Ski-lift going into the park.

The photo above is a fairly accurate representation of how creepy it was to walk around certain parts of the park. Creatures wandered through the smoke, and at times you couldn't tell if a creeper or a yinzer was stumbling toward you.

Noah's Ark transformed into a haunted pirate ship.

We ended our night by riding the Jack Rabbit.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but this one needs just one: FUN.

The news this year is that Kennywood is opening up during the holiday season for a Christmas light show. Normally I am not one to enjoy Christmas-themed things (Call me Scrooge if you want; I just prefer weird things like Halloween!), but this one could pull me in for a visit. It's hard to say no to Kennywood.

Adventuresome Art: The Mattress Factory

When Marlana last visited Pittsburgh earlier in 2011, we went on a walk through the Mexican War Streets in the North Side. We passed by the Mattress Factory on that walk and momentarily explored the grounds outside, but did not have the time to go in and explore the installation art inside. For her return visit, I knew I wanted to take her back to the North Side and wander around the Mattress Factory for a bit.


We arrived just before 1 p.m., which is when the museum opens on Sundays, so we had some time to walk around the garden and take some photos.



Once inside, we went right to my favorite pieces, and probably the two that the Mattress Factory is most well known for: Yayoi Kusama's "Infinity Dots Mirrored Room" and "Repetitive Vision."






I would attempt to summarize our visit in words, but I would never do the Mattress Factory justice in writing. Instead, here are some photos I took, which may give you an idea of the interesting and unexpected nature of the installation art within.

This piece was kind of crazy and a little bit terrifying. I thought it would give me nightmares, but I have managed to sleep through the nights (mostly).

What I can't figure out about the Mattress Factory and the Mexican War Streets is basically the conundrum about the chicken and the egg. Did the Mattress Factory inspire the neighborhood to bubble over with color and art or did the neighborhood cultivate its character before the Mattress Factory came to be? Whatever the answer, this is one of my favorite parts of Pittsburgh to take people and one of my favorite parts of the city to explore on my own.

MOUSETRAP! - The Board Game Comes to Life

A couple Saturdays ago, my friend Chris and I drove down to the Carnegie Science Center to check out the "life-size" version of the Mousetrap board game. Chris is a member of the Carnegie Museums, so we didn't have to pay admission, which was great because - honestly - this was a bit of a letdown.

First, when I originally heard about the event, I thought it was some grand structure to crawl around in, like an adult-size Chuck-E-Cheese. I dont know why I thought that, but that's how my brain works. So I think I was already a little letdown by the event before it even started, knowing my feet would be firmly planted on the ground througout.

Second, it seemed a little haphazard, a little unorganized, and a little...anticlimactic. Especially when the mousetrap faltered in one of its first few chain reactions.

Overall, I'm still happy I went down to the North Shore to see the mousetrap in action. It's definitely not something you see every day, and there was definitely a lot of hard work that went into building something like that from scratch.

Like Hearts Are Coming Out of My Head - The Children's Museum

Some of my friends think I'm like the guy in Big. Tom Hanks's character. I can't comment, because I've never seen it. Though my friend Carrie tried to enthusiastically explain it to me once. This comparison is so very lost on me.

But, I guess in a way I am a kid in a late 20-something's body. I love goofy things. I love fun. I like being active and growing up seems like a really terrible idea. Tonight, in early August, my mouth dropped when I walked into Michaels and was greeted with so many Halloween decorations and goodies. I picked up three Halloween sticker books for $1 each. This basically made my day.

Okay, maybe I am the guy in Big.

So when we ran out of birds to see at the aviary, we crossed the street and found The Children's Museum. Now, I really dislike kids. I understand we need them to keep the human species alive, but I really don't understand them. But, because I'm just a kid in an adult body, I love things like The Children's Museum. I would learn any dry subject in the world if you make a game or toy out of it.

One of my favorite Pittsburgh facts is that Mr. Roger's Neighborhood was filmed here. So entering the museum and walking straight into a Mr. Roger's Neighborhood exhibit was pretty amazing.

Note to self: Do things and love things that will make me feel like hearts are coming out of my head. This is the best thing ever said. Ever.

This light exhibit was great. We had to wait for a bunch of kids to clear out, but once we did, we got to play around. Above is a shot of Lindsay and me. Below is a shot of me appearing to do an awesome congo line - all by myself.

The children's museum was definitely worth a visit. Probably won't need to go back for a while (like, maybe ever or until I find a child I need to do something with), but I'm really glad it's there. I like that kids in Pittsburgh have a place to go and have hearts come out of their heads.

For the Birds: The National Aviary

Last weekend, my great awesome amazing friend Lindsay flew down to Pittsburgh from Boston for what amounted to 24 hours. But it was 24 hours to catch up, giggle, make snarky comments, and explore a bit of my city. Sunday it was hot, so we wanted some indoor activities. Having already taken her to the Carnegie Museum on her last visit, I thought of the Aviary (and then after that, the Children's Museum). So we drove the comically too-big-for-little-Lindsay SUV she had rented down to the North Side and I made my first-ever entrance into the National Aviary.

My buddy for the day, Lindsay. Who is tiny, like this bird.

We walked in and were confronted by this guy, just walking around like he owned the place.

PENGUINS! Oh, my. How I now want a penguin.

Also, it's hard to see, but this penguin's name is Owen. Adorable.

Why, hello!

Flamingos.

I think I was most excited to find this turtle. He was sitting in the corner like he was being punished.

This was the scariest bird I have ever seen. This is the bird you do not want to run into in a dark alley.

I found it kind of odd that the bald eagles enclosure had the marker letting the Aviary patrons know that this is the spot of a former penitentiary? Odd. Yes.

Oh, hey! There's a picture of me. With this very tall bird. I'm a very tall girl, but this is a very tall bird.

While we were watching the penguins receive their 1:00 feeding, Sidney was in super swimmer mode right next to us. This only made me want a penguin more. When I am rich (I'll never be rich), I am going to have a penguin and an awesome swimming pool we can hang out in.

The Aviary was a little smaller than I had hoped, and that meant we went through the whole thing in a lot less time that we had planned on. So, being that we were right across the street, we decided we'd go to the Children's Museum. Without a child, but you know - completely normal for to 20-somethings to do. More to come on that adventure later.