Trip to the Sunshine State

Sadly, the approval of my PA nursing license was delayed which means my start date for work was pushed back until July (nothing like a six week vacation).  With some extra time on my hands, I am heading back to Florida to hang with my family.  Sadly there was no direct flight so it was a quick trip through Baltimore before on to Palm Beach!

Over Christmas my sister and I were going to treat my grandmother to a visit to Vizcaya Museum & Gardens.  Because I was at work, Elise was in charge, but after getting very lost they found the building to be closed.  today we tried again and had much better results.  There is not much to look at from the front entrance, but all that changes as soon as you walk around either side of the house. 

The house runs along Biscayne Bay and when the house was fully operational visitors could tie their boats up to the stone barge which coincidentally looks like a boat.  Villa Vizcaya was the estate of James Deering who is best known for founding the John Deer Company.  The property, which is now owned by Miami-Date County, is filled with Italian Renaissance gardens and woodland landscapes.  This house was used as a winter residence from 1916 until he died in 1925. 

Who wouldn't love to have tea next to the mangroves and the water. 
If you look in the background you can see downtown Miami.

Next it was into the house where AC and soft lighting awaited.
But first lets take a picture to prove we finally made it!

We must have picked one of the hottest days of the week to go and visit.  We quickly made our way around the various gardens.  We were both a little surprised at the lack of maintenance.

Much of the architectural detail is done in coral like the walls of this fountain.

The house even comes with its own casino.  Sadly we could not take any interior pictures, but if you want to see how Mr. Deering lived, head over to Vizcaya's website for a virtual tour.

According to Wikipedia, in 2008 the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed Vizcaya as one of America's Eleven Most Endangered Historic Places.  Next time I head to Florida, I would love to make it to Biscayne National Park.

A New Kind of Urban Gardening

Sadly the big move west meant I needed to give up my community plot.  The even bigger bummer was I had already prepped and planted what would have been my 2015 harvest.  Thankfully, I had a bunch of planters in Baltimore so they could be "uprooted" and moved to PGH.   I grabbed a few tomato and pepper plants so we will see if I can get a fire escape garden going this summer.  The only thing holding me back is the rainy/overcast weather.  Seriously, it has rained every days since I have moved.  

Bikes, Beers and Birthday Celebrations with the BF

Well the years keep on coming and today I turned the big 2-8!  Dan (the BF) and I threw out bikes in the car, grabbed some breakfast in the Strip and then headed over to the Three Rivers Trail to check out some of the local hot spots.  First on the list, Bicycle Heaven.  This museum/bike shop has been featured in magazines all across the country and claims to have the largest collection of bikes (and bike parts) in the world.  After wandering around you will find no argument here; seriously this place is HUGE.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g53449-d2707010-i88323553-Bicycle_Heaven-Pittsburgh_Pennsylvania.html

There are literally thousands upon thousands of parts in every color, shape and size.  

Anyone need a fork?

They even have the elusive bike tree!

Pee-wee Herman's Bike From 'Pee-wee's Big Adventure

You can even get your dance on in a black light room filled with brightly painted cassettes!

We continued down the Three Rivers Trail and once we hit Station Square, we hopped off the trail and headed over to the Duquesne Incline.  One of two remaining cable powered inclines, this incline was built in 1877 and provided residents an easy way to get from the top of Mt. Washington to the rivers edge.  The two cars are pulled up a 58% grade by an engine in the upper station.  A little squinty, but I love it anyway!

After some ice cream we flew back down the hill and kept biking along the trail.  Once the clouds started to roll in, we headed back and grabbed dinner at Church Brew Work.  Nothing goes better with bikes and birthdays than craft beers.  In 1999, after a period of reconstruction, the doors St. John the Baptist Church reopened as brewery/restaurant.  Today the beer is brewed on the church altar and the confessional serves as a link between the kitchen and the rest of the building.

http://nymag.com/travel/weekends/pittsburgh/index4.html

All in all another great birthday for the books.

Playing Tourist With the Parentals (Part 2)

Last stop on the Move to Pittsburgh Tour was a quick trip to the North Side to check out Randyland, Pittsburgh's most colorful landmark. In 1995, Randy Gilson purchased the abandoned building and over the years has turned it into a local and national folk art icon. 

On the side of the house there is a great map of all the major landmarks on the North Side; you can even see the street where my old apartment used to be.

There is so much to take in and even harder to take pictures.  You could literally spend hours hanging out, talking with Randy and looking at all the minute details. 

You can take a girl out of Baltimore, but you can't take the Baltimore out of the girl.  

Who doesn't love a few plastic flamingos in the garden?

Or some crabs (okay technically lobsters, but just go with me here)?

Or a raven?

Cannot make it to the North Side any time soon?  

Not a problem because you can take a virtual tour thanks to Google Maps. 

Playing Tourist With the Parentals (Part 1)

Today, after a little more unpacking and a good night's sleep, we decided to play the roll of tourist for a while and headed to the Carnegie Natural History Museum. First up: The Hall of Minerals and Gems.  Although the below picture makes it look like there are an infinite amount of display cases, it is just a good game of smoke and mirrors.  If you look down the pathway you can see my reflection.

Reading up on how fossils are processed in the PaleoLab once they come to the museum.  Had we gone during the week, we would have been able to see them in action.  Doesn't he look studious?

Below we have Dippy the Dinosaur, the unofficial mascot of the museum.  In 1898, Andrew Carnegie, the Pittsburgh Steel tycoon, decided he needed to own the fossils of the "most colossal animal" ever found.  Turns out that claim had been made after finding a single bone and after weeks of searching nothing else was found.  Paleontologists were not discouraged and began to search the surrounding area to see what they could unearth.  Their hard work finally paid off and the bones of this large creature were sent back to Pittsburgh in 130 boxes.  The new species of dinosaur was named Diplodocus carnegii after the man who funded the project.  Because its body was so long, a new room needed to be built in the museum; the new hall and Dippy made their debut in 1907.  To learn more check out his scrapbook.

My parents took a ridiculous picture with a T-Rex with my sister when they were in California so we decided to do the same with the Triceratops.  Doesn't this plant eater look terrifying?

After we left the dinosaur room we ended up in the Hall of Ice Age Animals.  At first I thought this guy was put together from left over bones, but it turns out it is the actual skeleton of an Elk.

That afternoon we all took a nap before heading out to the strip for dinner.  One quintessential Pittsburgh restaurant is Permanti Brothers.  I had taken my mother there before I moved a couple summers ago and she had requested to go back. 

Italian bread, tomatoes, coleslaw, fries, cheese meat and more bread.  One of the strangest things I have come to find about PGH is their obsession with french fries.  Seriously, you can get them on your salad and no one bats an eye.

With a few more hours of day light we hopped in the car and did a mini driving tour.  We headed up to Mt. Washington because it would be a good way to get a birds eye view of the city and give a little context.  This area, originally known as Coal Hill, was the spot where the city's first coal was mined.

Up and Running (Again)

Well I have resurrected the old Pittsburgh blog!  

Here's to a new job, (a kind of) new city and new adventures both on and off the bike.