Johnstown, PA

Sunday we got bored so we got the idea to drive out to Johnstown PA located about and hour and a half east of Pittsburgh in Cambria County. Johnstown is the site of a major flood that happened in 1889. Over 2200 people died in that flood. After several days of heavy rain, the South Fork Dam located up the Conemaugh river gave way. The dam was in a very bad disrepair. The dam was situated on the land of the South Fork Hunting and Fishing club which was owned by many wealthy industrialist during that time (Carnegie, Mellon, Frick). 20 million tons of water came washing down the valley and hit Johnstown, after which much of the debris caught on fire and burned for three days.

Page Dairy Mart South Side

After visiting Sewickley we drove over to the Southside to try some soft serve ice cream at "Page Dairy Mart". It is located under a bridge, literally. Normally it is not somewhere you would stop but we saw on a Rick Sebak special "It's the Neighborhoods" that this place was a icon of the south side and has been around since the late 19th century. It had to be rebuilt after the 1936 flood and again after a gas explosion in 1958. The ice cream was great!

By the way, Rick Sebak is a local Pittsburgh celebrity, producing many made for PBS specials about Pittsburgh and surrounding neighborhoods. Now we have Rick Steves (Jennie's favorite travel guy on PBS), Rick Bayless (Bryan's favorite mexican food guru on PBS) and Rick Sebak (everyone's favorite Pittsburgh expert on PBS).

Sewickley

Saturday we took a drive up to Sewickley PA which is located about 20 minutes northwest of the city. The name Sewickley is thought to be from the Native American word for "sweet water". The borough has a mixture of old Victorian homes and mansions and has a small business district with many antique and boutique shops. We walked around the streets with shopping and drove around a bit to look at some of the neat old homes. We also stopped at Observatory Hill on the way up. Observatory Hill is located on the north side of pittsburgh and has the Allegheny Observatory atop a hill in Riverview park.

Phipps Conservatory

On Easter Sunday we visited Phipps Conservatory located in Oakland within Schenley Park. We walked to the park and the botanical garden. The annual spring flower show was going on and everything was in bloom.

Strip District & Primanti Bros

For lunch on Sunday we decided to stop at the Strip District and attempt a Primanti Bros sandwich. The Primanti Bros located in the Strip District is the original one. They are famous for large sandwiches - pastrami, capicola, etc with cole slaw and french fries in the sandwich! The sandwich is said to have its origins in the city's steel days when blue collar workers needed a hot meal mid-shift that would keep them full all day long. However, the workers had neither the time nor the utensils for such a meal. By combining the sides with the sandwich, a Pittsburgh staple was born. The Strip District is located just north of downtown and in the 19th century was home to many factories and mills. By the early 20th century the Strip District became home to many wholesalers - mostly fresh produce, meat, and poultry dealers.

Carnegie Science Center & Sub

We finally hit up the Carnegie Science Center which was the last remainin museum to see with our Carnegie Museum membership. There was also a decommissioned sub (USS Requin) outside the museum from the 1940's. You could walk through and tour the sub and see what it was like for the men on the sub out at sea. Unfortunately the UPMC sportsworks is under renovations right now but hopefully that will be ready to go for fall so we can check it out then. Below is a picture of us on board the USS Requin!

Duquesne Incline & Mt. Washington

Saturday night we decided to try one of the Pittsburgh inclines for the first time - Duquesne. There are two remaining inclines in Pittsburgh (Duquesne and Monongahela). They are the two oldest remaining continuous inclines in the world. It goes from the Southside neighborhood of Pittsburgh up to Mt. Washington which overlooks downtown. We had dinner at a restaurant at the top which will remain nameless because the food was not that good, it was expensive and we did not actually have a very good view of downtown from our seat, which is why we were going there in the first place. The views of the city were nice however and riding the incline was an experience. Below is a picture of downtown taken from atop Mt. Washington.