PPG

Aug. 31, 2010---Downtown Pittsburgh in the vicinity of Fourth and Market there are six new buildings situated on 5 1/2 acres of land. They appear dark and yet reflect everything around them. All of them have the same pointed features on top.







Carol likes the shiny dinosaur sponsored by PPG. More of their buildings in the background.






Hienz dinosaur is in the middle. See PPG buildings around market square.






Check out the reflection of the cameraman.








The plaza features quite a fountain.







In this picture the pointed features on top can readily be seen.







Kids really enjoy the fountain as the temperature was about 90 degrees.








Station square with a train passing along the Monongahela Rtver. Click on the picture to enlarge it. Dream Manor can be seen on the right. Click the back arrow to return to the blog.

HEINZ MUSEUM

Aug. 30, 2010---Rode the subway to downtown Pittsburgh. Locals refer to these as the T-Train. A large "T" is painted on the buildings where the subway stations are located.

John Heinz History Center is a huge six story building. There were five of the floors open with exibits well positioned throughout.

Goal posts planted in the sidewalk outside the museum are from the old "Three Rivers Stadium". Steelers won about 70% of their home football games in that historic stadium before it was torn down and replaced with the new Heinz stadium.

Horse drawn carriage typical of what was used in the early years to distribute Heinz products. Originally started out by selling horseradish.

Pittsburgh is steel country. It is fitting there would be a stainless steel car on display.

Oil was used by Native Americans for medicinal purposes. It had no commercial value until 1854.

Hope you can read this old advertisement. Crude oil was used for chest, windpipe and lungs, burns and scalds, deafness, sore eyes and apparently anything else that needed treatment.

First oilwell was drilled in Titus, PA.

Sports section in this museum is very large. Many champions in all different sports have come from this area. A large number of famous quarterbacks have come from the surrounding area. Joe Montana, Joe Namath, and Dan Marino to name a few.

There are so many exibits throughout this old warehouse that it is not possible to even provide samples of the many things to see. Part of the old building was originally used for ice storage.

Arnold Palmer is one of the golfing greats that came from around Pittsburgh.

Manufacturing of glass started in Pittsburgh and is still a major industry here today. There was a section dedicated to some of the early glass blowers and the story of how windows were first produced.

Perhaps some of you may remember "Morris" the cat.

Morris was the "spokescat" for 9-Lives cat food, a brand that was owned by the Heinz Company.

Heinz sells products all over the world.

E

veryone has very likely heard of Heinz 57.

SOUTH HILL MALL

Aug. 29, 2010---Started the day with a wonderful buffet brunch in the Grand Concourse of this stately building at Station Square.




Interior is much too grand to show with a couple of photos.








The wooden staircase is hand carved and very unique.






After eating all that we could, the decision was made to ride the light rail (subway) to South Hills Mall located in a community of the same name located on the south side of Mt. Washington. The first part of the trip takes us through a tunnel about 1 mile long to pass under the mountain. Numerous stops are made at all the little towns along the way. The entire ride is about 5 miles one way. Spent several hours shopping. That mostly means looking. However the ladies did come away with new shoes and purses.




Returned to the boat for a brief pause. Keith and Maryann chose to stay in for the evening. Carol and Allen walked to the Amphitheatre on the west end of Station Square. There is a large stage and viewing area surrounded by a high, solid fence. Once inside the fenced area there are several venders selling beer and food.

Tonights concert featured the group Maroon 5 with last years American Idol winner Kris Allen. The opening act was VV Brown, a young woman from London. Having watched American Idol we wanted to see how Kris performs. He put on a great 45 minute show and we really enjoyed it. Wearing down we did not stay long after Maroon 5 began their part of the show without Kris.

There is no seating, standing only! This may be for younger people! Looking around we may well have been the oldest in the audience. Standing on pavement for long periods of time requires more stamina than we had.

THE STRIP

Aug. 28, 2010---Took the subway from Station Square across the Monongahela to downtown Pittsburgh.

Looked for a bus and after some study decided to just let our legs carry us. Walked about 12 long blocks from Wood station up Penn Street to the area commonly known as "The Strip".

The Strip is shoppers delight. Venders have their wares out on the street.

Brother picked up a fine snack at the Popcorn shop.

Eating was a priority for lots of folks as can be seen here on two levels.

Here a shopper is looking at a table covered with items to delight Steeler fans. Funny though because the lady in the pink shirt is a Saints fan.

Parking on the street did not look easy.

Saturday is big on the strip as that is when everything is trucked in fresh. Vegetables, fish, and various meats are readily available. But you can find everything from clothing, shoes, knick knacks, and hats to jewelry.

The light show at Station Square is fun to watch. Changing water patterns with various colored lights is quite spectacular.

Station Square lights seen from the observation deck of the elevator above the boat.

Water spray when there are only white lights shining.

Red lights.

TOURS

Aug. 27, 2010---Took a trolly tour which hauled us to the highest point in Allegheny county. Went up steep hills through the old town that used to be called "Temperance". Many retired coal miners and steel workers live in these hills. The viewing spot is called "the west end overlook". What a great place to look down into the city of Pittsburgh. The point where the three rivers come together is quite obvious from here. Allegheny comes from the left and Monongahela comes from the right flowing into the much wider Ohio River.




In this picture the hospital can be seen in the center. Lower right near the Allegheny is the new "Rivers" casino.






The tour took us to the University of Pittsburgh. The most famous building is the Cathedral of Learning. This 42 story structure is know as the "world's tallest schoolhouse". There are 27 internationally famous rooms in this Gothic place, many of which are designed by architects abroad. They create the cultural periods prior to 1787, the year the University was founded. The University is located in Oakland, PA.





Interior is so large and magnificant it is difficult to capture with our limited cameras.







Old seats in one of the rooms.






Heinz Memorial Chapel is located on campus.








What a spectacular structure!











Most amazing are the 73 foot tall stained glass windows.








Each section of the windows is dedicated to people of importance. An example is George Washington.







Breath taking to say the least.

After the trolly tour we enjoyed more history with a ride on the Ducky. It took us downtown where some of the oldest and newest structures can be seen.




These 1945 vehicles were built for military use to operate on land and water. Primary purpose was to haul personnel and goods from the ships to shore.

Enlarge this photo to see the Dream Manor at Station Square. The taller structure by the boat is an elevator. Getting from the boat to land take the elevator to access the walkway which goes above the railroads. There are many trains passing under the walkway every day. On the other end of the walkway another elevator is taken to get down to street level.




In this picture the elevator can be seen on the left. It is white with three sections of blue glass. The last cars of a train can be seen to the left of the large passenger vessel that hauls people around to see Pittsburgh from the water. Those vessels are the Clipper fleet. Some of the names are: Majestic, Duchess and Princess.

Dream Manor seen from the upper level of the elevator.