The Only Town that is Painted in Team Colors

When I found out a friend of mine was getting married in Pittsburgh I figured we would try and go. So we planned a trip, having never been to Pittsburgh before I didn’t know what to expect. In fact the only thing I knew about Pittsburgh besides the fact that it is in Pennsylvania was what the skyline looked liked from the opening of the movie “Ground Hog’s day” and it was the home town for US Steel. So I asked my friend what there was to do in Pittsburgh, as he was born and raised there I thought he might have some good ideas. Well he didn’t, besides a few museums the only thing to do in town is watch sports. Pittsburgh is crazy for the Penguins, Pirates, and Steelers. Not necessarily in that order. My buddy did suggest taking a cable car ride up one of the mountains surrounding Pittsburgh for the view but that was about it.

So I did what I always do when I am going to a new city. I hit the internet checking Frommer’s online and wikitravel. Sure enough all they said to do was go up the Mountain, look in Museums, and go to the local sports - for the most part. We did find a few other things to see which I will talk about in a few minutes. What is interesting about the city is that all of the sports teams wear the same colors. Yellow and Black. As far as I know this is the only city that can say this. What is more amazing is it seems the town is also painted in these colors. Many of the buildings are dark in color and most of the steel in town is painted yellow. The most obvious of which are the eight million bridges. OK this is an exaggeration but it seems like there are eight million bridges as the city is at a point where three rivers meet. At any rate they are all yellow. So are the fire hydrants.

What really starts to build this illusion is the fact that so many buildings are decorated with local sports gear and so many stores and sidewalk vendors are selling team gear. I can honestly say I have never seen anything like it. It was quite interesting. At one point I told RG she should buy a body art kit and apply the Penguins mascot on her arm for the wedding. She would have fit in great. Every guy was wearing a black suit with a yellow tie and the made periodic updates on the honey game several times during the wedding. So Pittsburgh can easily be described as a sports town.

Now we did find some things to do besides the sports. The first day we found a really neat market street called The Strip District that reminds me a little of Pike’s Market in Seattle. Lots of little shops and a large fresh sea food shop. It was just a short walk from our hotel, Then we walked around the down town. It is a nice downtown though it is pretty empty on the weekend and it can go from a nicely kept street to a pretty run down street and back in a matter of a few blocks. The downtown ends at a pretty nice park, Point State Park, with a huge fountain at the intersection of the rivers that border the city. This park of course overlooks the sports stadiums. The day after the wedding we drove a ways out of town to see a famous Frank Lloyd Wright house called Falling Water that was once featured on the cover of Time magazine. It was pretty cool and defiantly worth the drive.

On the final day before flying out we did go up Mount Washington on the cable car. The cable car was at one time the main form of transportation for the steel workers that lived on the mountain but worked at the mills along the river. Only two or three of them are left. The Duquesne Incline is pretty much right across the river from Point State Park I mentioned before. It was a fun ride up the system is well over a hundred years old. So that can be a little nerve rattling but it seems safe. At the top there is of course a look out, a gift shop, and a museum about the cable cars. It was pretty fun and I think the whole round trip only cost 8 bucks for the two of us. So we had a good time in Pittsburgh for sure. The wedding was on a river boat so we also got a nice cruise up and down the rivers to see the area surrounding the city. There was also an entertainment area at the end of the commuter rail line called Station Square but we didn’t stop in. It looked like a bunch of shops along with a few chain restaurants. So really I think now we have basically seen everything in Pittsburgh.