Pittsburgh! (the first of many visits, I think)

Driving into Pittsburgh from the north, you have no idea that you’re getting close to a big city.  The hills are heavily forested and it seems as if you are out in the country.  Then you go over a hill and there it is!

I don’t think I have ever been to Pittsburgh before.  I expected it to be like the other river cities that I know - Louisville, Cincinnati, St. Louis.  But Pittsburgh is a little different.  The surrounding hills, for one thing.  All around Pittsburgh there are hills with what looks like another world up on top of them. One of these days we’re going to take one of the funiculars up there!  And there is the curiously interesting mix of old buildings interspersed with the new, all of it closely related to the rock and minerals in the land.

We really didn’t know what we were doing when we got to Pittsburgh (which is frequently abbreviated to PGH, I think to remind you of the H that comes after the “burg”), and got a little lost, as usual. 

The first “destination” that we found was something called “Station Square”, which is collection of restaurants (like the Hard Rock Cafe) and shops on the riverfront.  It is something of a tourist place, with boat tours, bicycle rentals, and those funiculars.  John tells me that they are called “inclines”, but I prefer funicular.

We did some touristy stuff.

This is the “Clinton Furnace”, Pittsburgh’s first successful blast furnace for making pig iron.  A sign says that “operations began near here, 1859, using Connellsville coke as fuel.  The furnace’s technology initiated a new era, leading to more advanced furnaces capable of producing huge amounts of iron and resulting in the modern blast furnace.  Clinton Furnace played an important role in establishing Pittsburgh’s dominance in iron and steel making.  Operations ended in 1927.”

Here are some more photos from Station Square:

That bridge behind me was the first wire rope suspension bridge to carry a highway across the Monongahela River, built in 1846 by John Roebling.  Here's another photo of it:

The Just Ducky Tour bus/boats:

From Station Square, we set out to find Point Park, which we thought was going to be a big deal, since this is where Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers join to form the Ohio River.

We came across a scary exposed hole, right in downtown PGH.  Luckily John was driving.  (My history with holes is here.)

And we walked across a beautiful part of downtown PGH, right past the PPG (Pittsburgh Plate Glass) and United Steelworkers buildings ...

When we got to Point Park we saw that it is not a big deal, at least not now.  It is mostly an empty field, under construction.

This is the Confluence!

From here we headed over to a part of Pittsburgh known as "Lawrenceville" to meet up with John's work-friend, Jim.  Jim told me that Stephen Foster was the "founder" of Lawrenceville, but I don't believe it.  I know Stephen Foster from the musical drama that plays in my hometown of Bardstown, KY, and Stephen Foster was a poor struggling song writer!  Anyway, Lawrenceville is a most interesting place.  Here are some photos from Lawrenceville:

John and Jim insisted on showing me the Church turned into a bar ...

That's the confessional back behind all the liquor.

John got another "door" photo for his collection ...

And we ended the day at a very fine Thai Restaurant, "pasadee's garden" ...

That's pumpkin curry on the left and "street noodles #2" and shrimp tempura on the right.

We now know enough about PGH that there's a lot more to see and experience.  The next thing on my list is the South Side Market.