If you've ever heard that Pittsburgh is the Pitts, there's absolutely no truth to it. This gem of a city is pretty and scenic, clean and tidy, even hip and cool, and thriving with life. Located at the convergence of three rivers, it's filled with elegant bridges, 46 total, many of them painted a bright golden color. There are also world-class museums, charming neighborhoods, grand mansions, funky art galleries and coffee shops, and dramatic skyscrapers. The downtown is compact but the skyscrapers seem as high as those in New York and when you look up the effect is dramatic. We were also struck by the whimsy of the architecture. Castle turrets topped one skyscraper—no wonder the new Batman was filmed here.
It's also a city of green hills, leafy trees, and meticulously landscaped public spaces. We spotted flowers along the freeway, and planter baskets overflowing with color hanging from lampposts. And, most important (to locals), it's a city of sports teams. Two major stadiums, where the Pirates and Steelers play, front the river and offer striking skyline views.
Pittsburgh experienced a downturn in the 1980s when the last of the steel mills within the city limits shut down, but this city of 300,000 has come back strong.
Budget
We're doing this trip on $200 a day and here's a look at how much we spent on day one.
Breakfast: free at hotel
Parking: $2
Lunch: $20.94 (three sandwiches at Primanti Bros.)
Snack: $7.53 (one sundae and candy at Klavon's Ice Cream Parlor)
Parking: $1
Museum admission: $30 (Andy Warhol)
Dinner: $45.50 (Rose Tea Cafe)
Hotel: $117.44 (Best Western Parkway Center Inn: large hotel with quick and easy access to downtown. Free breakfast, evening cocktails, parking and airport shuttle are big pluses.)
Total: $224.41 (Argh! We went over, but tomorrow should be a less expensive day)
Highlights
Here's a look at everything we did today. Unfortunately, our day started late because we slept in after our delayed flight brought us into Pittsburgh at midnight the night before. But we still managed to see (and eat) a lot.
1) Headwaters Ohio River
We're following the full length of the Ohio River over the next 10 days, and so our first stop was the headwaters. From where we're standing in this photo, you can see where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers come together to form the Ohio.
2) Primanti Bros.
Sandwiches stuffed with meat, cheese, cole slaw and...french fries? Yes, hand-cut fries, and it was absolutely delicious. Because we're on a budget, we ordered three for the four of us and that was plenty. The sandwiches are monster-size and you can barely get your mouth around them. This is a local chain but we visited the first location on 18th in the Strip District.
3) Klavon's Ice Cream Parlor
After lunch we walked a mile down Penn Ave to this old-fashioned soda fountain that dates back to 1923. Everything is original including the 20-foot-long marble counter where you can sit on a stool and sip a phosphate.
We split a turtle sundae with chocolate and vanilla ice cream, caramel, hot fudge, nuts, amaretto whipped-cream and two cherries. Our family was literally fighting over every bite.
Notice the dollop of whipped cream on my daughter's chin.
For kids, Klavon's is better than Christmas. The selection of candy is overwhelming and everything costs about 5 to 25 cents. For adults, the candy counter is a walk back in time. You'll find everything candy buttons and Lemonheads to Neccos and Jujyfruits.
We let the kids pick out one candy each. They spent at least 20 minutes deciding.
This is what happens when you allow your child to eat Fun Dip.
The kids also wanted ice cream cones but we decided that they'd had enough sugar for one day.
4) Andy Warhol Museum
I've always been intrigued by the life of the late artist Andy Warhol and I love his brightly colored artwork. And so when I found out that admission was half-off at the Andy Warhol Museum on Friday nights, I decided that we must go. Warhol grew up in Pittsburgh and six stories of galleries are filled with exhibits about Warhol's life and some 500 of his works. This might not seem like a kid attraction but my children loved the gigantic soup can, the wall painted with cows and the famous silver cloud room where you get to throw giant balloons filled with helium into the air.
5) Andy Warhol Bridge
After dinner we took a walk across the Andy Warhol Bridge. Most of the downtown bridges are yellow to match the city's official colors of black and gold.
The bridges are made from steel that was locally produced.
Pittsburgh is often called "The City of Bridges."
My daughter got mad and decided to sit down because....
my son and I were acting crazy.
6) Rose Tea Cafe
This tiny restaurant in the Squirrel Hill district dishes up Taiwanese cuisine—and the food must be authentic because everyone eating there was speaking Mandarin. The stir-fries are fresh, spicy and packed with flavor. I devoured my chicken curry and my kids slurped up a bowl of chicken noodle soup. We especially loved the frothy milk tea drinks filled with gooey tapioca balls and served in Mason jars with brightly colored straws. The kids ordered yogurt smoothies, which were tart and sweet and slushy like a Slurpee.
What's up next? Tomorrow we're driving to Ashland, KY. We'll be following the route that hugs the Ohio River. Feel free to suggest places where we should stop along the way in the comments.
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