Pittsburgh
At the end of July, we took a family trip to Pittsburgh. It was a food stop on our way to Chicago years ago, but we’ve always wanted to go back and explore the city.
Every city we visit, we make it a priority to visit local independent bookstores, record shops, coffee shops, parks, a museum, and stationary shops (a new addition). In Pittsburgh, we found some really awesome spots…
Posman Books: Located in the Strip District in The Terminal (a ton of shops and resturants). It’s a slick, modern take on a bookstore — it’s bright and airy with predominately white fixtures, but pops of vibrant color. Every table is packed full of books, blind boxes, puzzles, stickers, playing cards, and more. Maybe one of the best parts of the store is the ice cream counter at the front of the store that serves unique flavors and a wide offering of vegan options.
Riverstone Books: Located in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood. The space is very cozy with different levels and nooks — making you want to pick up a book and find a spot to start reading. All it really needs is a fireplace it complete the ambiance. The light blue shelves add a fun pop of color but they don’t take away from the warm feeling.
Ebisu Life Store: Located in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood. When you step in, you feel transported to Japanese. This Japanese lifestyle store has everything from stuffies, stationary, and toys to kitchenware, food products, and makeup. They even have claw machines to entice the kids. Needless to say, we all went nuts finding little treasures.
Finding things to do with kids on these trips is always a challenge, but the local parks are a great way to get a feel of a neighorhood and to let the kids run free and be as loud as they want. We also try and squeeze in at least one museum — the best way to escape the heat.
The Color Park: Located along the Allegheny River. This park is completely covered in graffiti and art installations. By a chance of luck, there was an art camp happening during our visit. They kindly let us join in, and the kids got to leave their mark with spray paint. It was an awesome experience!
Anderson Playground: We happened across this park when driving around. It was the neighborhood feeling I was looking for. The kids made friends with the neighborhood kids in a manner of minutes.
Heinz Museum: Located near the Strip District. This place reminds me of the Please Touch museum in Philly where you can spend a few hours. It’s an interactive museum packed with local history and other general stuff. The kids loved it! There was a play space on the first floor, an old school bus to run around in, and big building blocks on the third floor. They even got to try and hit targets in the sports section. Plus, kids have free admission!
Exploring the food scene is one of our favorite things, and Pittsburgh didn’t disappoint.
Lola’s Eatery: Located in the Lower Lawrenceville neighborhood right next to the Roberto Clemente Museum. We went on a Saturday and met up with family that happened to be in town at the same time. The decor was very bold and eclectic, but in the best way possible. They have random treasures sprinkled everywhere like an everything bagel light, frosted cake mirrors in the bathroom. As for food, it was some of the best breakfast fare we had in a long time. We got a bunch of stuff to share: bagel with lox, a veggie breakfast sandwich, ube cinnamon roll, and one of each donut they offer. The only bummer was that a few items we really wanted to try weren’t available on the weekend — the Chicken & Ube Waffles was one of the items (more on this later). Despite that, we had an amazing experience.
Novo Asian Food Hall: Located in The Terminal. Asian food is always a hit in our house, so we stopped in because it has a number of food vendors that represent different countries. We got sushi, some Korean fried chicken, and bubble tea.
The PA Market: Located in near the Terminal. This is another food fall but focused on all things Italian. It’s rustic and comfortable with a massive courtyard that hosts their pizza oven.On the first floor there’s a store that sells olives and oils and upstairs is a few restaurants and a bar. We got there before the dinner rush, so the kids got to see the chef prep — they thought it was pretty cool. Of all the things they offered, we ordered a burger and fries, but I’ll admit that it was damn good burger.
