30 Before 30: The Frick Art Museum (and Cars! and Plants!)

This is the first of two posts this week that brings me back to past. In one day I revisited two places that I first experienced on field trips - one in middle school and one in college. Though it may seem odd, I have not always been this PGH-obsessed. I am a born Pittsburgher, but I was quick to flee as soon as possible after getting a couple degrees from Pitt. In my youth (youthier youth; in my mind I'm forever in my youth), I did not appreciate Pittsburgh. Which is a shame, but I really missed out on some dynamic things. At least I'm appreciating them now.

Saturday afternoon Allie and I visited the grounds of Clayton, Henry Clay Frick's estate in Point Breeze. Though you have to pay to tour the house (which was part of my field trip in middle school), the art museum, the carriage house, and the gardens were free admission. So that's what we explored. No photos were permitted in the museum or carriage house. The art wasn't really my thing (I tend toward the modern and contemporary stuff), but the cars were awesome. Cars aren't my thing; we've covered this fact before. I could have easily seen myself behind the wheel of a couple of the smaller little roadsters. If you have a spare hour or so, it's worth a trip to Frick to see the cars and then wander around the gardens.

This is a playhouse. I wouldn't mind it as a real house.

The greenhouse and outdoor garden were abundant with growth. We figure that they use the produce at the Cafe. We didn't stop for anything at the Cafe while we were there, but I wouldn't mind trying out their tea service sometime in the not too distant future.

These are monster tomato plants. I don't think I've ever seen tomato plants this tall.

Tons of basil.

On the grounds of the Frick, a pet cemetery.

Eventually, I'll take the tour of the house again. But when looking for some free activities on a Saturday afternoon, the Frick provides three very different options.

PGH CHEAP: Spending Little to Stay Cool

My. It's been hot, huh? As has been the case in most places across the U.S., Pittsburgh has been riding a heat wave. I'm writing this on Sunday, and our high is only expected to be 89 degrees. As Eric said while we walked back toward our apartment building this morning, "I never thought I'd be excited about temps in the high 80s."

I try not to complain about the heat. But Saturday it was brutal. I spent as much time as I could tolerate in my apartment reading and writing, but eventually I needed to seek out ways to beat the heat. So I made a list of inexpensive ways to cool off around town and set off by bike to the Carnegie Museum.

If this heat keeps up throughout July and August, I think I'll be using my Museum membership more and more for quick spells in air conditioning. I only had an hour to kill before I was expected at the pool, so I decided to check out the coolest exhibits I could think of.

First I spent a good chunk of time walking around in the cool darkness of the Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems.

Glow in the dark rocks!

As might be expected, the orange gems and minerals were my favorite.

Gemstone dino!

The second stop on my visit was the most obvious choice of all:

Yes. To beat the heat, I spent some time pretending I was in the Arctic. Genius, I know.

On a day when it feels like it's over 100 degrees outside, it was easy to feel incredible jealousy of this scene.

Just in case on one of my wintertime Canada journeys I need to know how to build a shelter out of snow, I watched this video about building snowhouses.

Jealous of how cool these dogs must be feeling in the snow.

After the museum I pedaled over to the Highland Park pool for a few hours of swimming and sunning. Entry also free; Pittsburgh pool passes are a beautiful thing. I passed out on my couch for a couple hours before meeting up with Ross to walk down to 36th and Butler for a pop-up beer garden, Tapped. We had a whiskey drink from Wigle Whiskey and an IPA from Full Pint. Cost $10. I had a hot dog from the Franktuary. Cost $3. It was all the money I'd spent all day, and I felt good about staying cool while keeping costs low. 

These pop-up beer gardens will be going on throughout the summer, and I will be making an effort to go to many of them. Such a nice (and relatively cheap) way to spend a hot summer night.

An Evening at the Museum: April 2012

I bought myself a membership to the Carnegie Museums at the beginning of 2012. So of course I haven't used it at all yet. Realizing that one day while biking past the Art and Natural History museums, I decided to make an effort to go as soon as possible. (As well as more often.)

One of the first treats I encountered on my visit was a display of art from 5th and 6th graders around the area. That's where I found Justin's Paranormal Records and Investigations. (Which I absolutely loved.)

Here is a lovely room.

Woah! It's a tiny room! (Speaking of "tiny," I'm writing this while watching Tiny Furniture and, holy crap, I hate this movie. Sorry, I know she is so cool right now, but ugh, this is unbearable.)

One of the main exhibits was Maya Lin. I loved the combination of geography and sculpture. The photo above is from her outline of our three rivers made with pins.

Maya Lin runs through May 13.

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.

Night at the (Bike) Museum: An Unexpected Tour of Bicycle Heaven

A couple weekend ago, Neighbours, played the Get Hip Recordings holiday party, held in the Get Hip offices in a nondescript building on the North Side. As Zack and I were navigating the dark streets and trying to get the GPS to figure out where the hell we were, Carrie sent me a message letting me know that Get Hip was in the same building as Bicycle Heaven, a place that was on my "must see!" list since its opening earlier in 2011. (In typical Allison fashion, I had yet to cross it off.) After rocking out to Neighbs and drinking a few beers, Carrie snuck me out the back door of Get Hip so we could explore. Really had no idea what to expect, or who we would run into.


We tiptoed around, not really sure if we were allowed to be where we were or not. There were bikes upon bikes upon bikes upon bikes. Seriously. So. Many. Bikes. We ran into a guy as we started down the stairs to the main showrooms and he turned out to be Craig Morrow, the owner of Bicycle Heaven, who was more than happy to take us on an impromptu mini-tour of the place.




Sadly, because it was dark (and because we were a little drunk), Craig wasn't up for letting us test-ride any of the really odd bikes, but said to come back and give a few of these very different kinds of bikes a go. I will definitely be back.

Sorry, Carrie. This photo was too awesome not to post!

Going into the night, I never thought I'd end up in the middle of Pittsburgh's new bike museum, but that is one of the greatest parts of living in Pittsburgh. You never really know where your nights are going to take you, but one seemingly odd location being home to two awesome local businesses? That seems pretty standard, and good reasoning for such a fun Saturday night.

The Twelve Days of a Pittsburgh Christmas: Membership to the Carnegie Museums

For the next twelve days, I've prepared a wish list of awesome Pittsburgh things I'd love to find under my tree.

On the first day of a Pittsburgh Christmas, I'd love a membership to the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

When winter hits, my willingness to spend my entire day outside starts to wane. But I don't want to give up on having adventures throughout the cold months. That's why a membership to the Carnegie Museums would be perfect. Indoor adventures, varied and wonderful.

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.