Exploring Pittsburgh

Located in Western Pennsylvania and situated at the confluence of the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, the scenic city of Pittsburgh is a must see in the Northeast.

My husband and I visited the area again just last week during the dog days of summer and there was no dearth of things to do. Unfortunately, we were only staying three days, so we had to pick and choose accordingly.

The Phipps

Because I've loved the Phipps Conservatory in the past, this was one of our first stops.

A beautiful Chihuly sculpture hangs from the dome. 

The Phipps dates back to 1893 and was a gift to the city from Philanthropist Henry Phipps. It is described as one of Pittsburgh's "crown jewels." Visitors are often in awe of the striking botanical displays, many of which change throughout the year. 

The theme for the exhibit when we visited was "Under the Sea."

                         I found this blooming Bromeliad particularly striking.

If you allocate 90 minutes for your visit, you'll likely have plenty of time to see everything and perhaps even grab a bite at Cafe Phipps, which was featured by Food & Wine as one of the "Best Museum Restaurants in the United States."

Insider tip: To avoid the crowds, visit on a Monday or Tuesday.

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, founded by Andrew Carnegie, a wealthy industrialist/philanthropist and proud Pittsburgher, touts an astounding collection of 22 million specimens, 10,000 of which are on view at any given time.

A family favorite, the destination features an array of dinosaurs and mammals, fossils, mummies and more, which are sure to intrigue guests of all ages. The Carnegie Museum of History is noted for housing one of the world's best dinosaur collections and introducing the first ever Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton known as "Dippy" to the public.

The Hall of Gems is particularly fascinating for its dizzying array of rocks and minerals from volcanic rocks to radioactive rocks and those that glow under ultraviolet light. 

I loved this amber collection.

The Carnegie Museum of Art

A piece painted by famous artist Jackson Pollock

The Carnegie Museum of Art, located in the same building as the Museum of Natural History, has 30,000 works of art in its collection, so if this is at the top of your list to see, you may want to get an early start when doors open at 10 a.m.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir: "The Garden in the Rue Cortot, Montmartre

Here you'll find paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings, photographs, film and video. Artists run the gamut from Van Gogh, to Matisse, Picasso, Renoir, Warhol and more.

Claude Monet: The Sea at La Havre, 1868

Approximately 140 plaster casts can be found in the Hall of Architecture and date back to 1907. They represent art all around the world and were in keeping with Carnegie's philosophy of opening up art to the masses who couldn't afford to travel to see the real items.

Detail of a cast of the Pulpit in the Cathedral at Siena, by Niccolo Pisano, 1266 A.D.

Also interesting is the Hall of Sculpture that is modeled after the Parthenon. It features a collection of European and American sculpture from artists like Donatello and Michelangelo. 

Francois Joseph Bosio, Henri IV as a Child, 1822-1845

The Carnegie Museum of Art features approximately 15 exhibitions annually, ensuring that return visitors can usually discover something new.

Insider Tip: The price of admission for the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History is half price on weekdays after 3 p.m.

The Frick 
The Frick Pittsburgh Museums and Gardens is located on 5.5 acres of land in the Point Breeze neighborhood. Here you'll find the house owned by the family. Due to the time factor, we didn't have the opportunity to tour the house known as Clayton, but it sounds like a worthwhile visit if you're interested in original furnishings, collections and artifacts owned by the Carnegie family. 

Also on the grounds is a separate building that houses the antique car collection of the Carnegie family. One of my favorites was the Bantam Roadster made in Butler, Pa. Famous Bantam Roadster owners include Buster Keaton, Al Jolson and Ernest Hemingway. The little car was lauded for being able to travel 60 miles on a gallon of gas.

The Bantam Roadster, circa 1939

The white-and-red number is also very attractive. This 1908 Model 10 dates is named "The Runabout." 

The carriage below, sporting the fringe, was said to be used at resorts in the summer.

I quite liked the bobsled too. It reminds me of the old paintings of families enjoying the winter weather and I am pretty sure it was pressed into service for our frigid Pennsylvania winters.

The Frick Art Collection

Another building on the grounds is The Frick Art Museum, which includes paintings, sculptures and decorative arts from the Renaissance through the 19th century.  The collection includes a number works by artists Peter Paul Rubens and Jean-Francois Millet, among others. Temporary exhibitions cover a wider range of styles.

A bust of Henry Clay Frick, 1922, by Malvina Hoffman

When I visit museums like these, triptychs always catch my eye. Triptychs are carvings on three panels and used as altarpieces.

Bernardo Daddi 1280-1348

This painting, titled "Madonna and Child with Saint Francis and a Saint Bishop; Saints Peter and Paul, the crucifixion, the annunciation." Wow, that's a mouthful! Helen Frick's interest in triptychs like this were influenced by her trips to Europe and The Louvre. This differed from Henry Clay Frick's tastes, which trended more towards landscapes and portraits.

Madonna and Child with Saints, Scenes from the Life of Christ and the Life of the Virgin

Helen, with her mother, Adelaide, purchased this altarpiece in 1922. Helen later reimbursed her mother for the work to acquire it outright. This piece was among some of the first she purchased.

The public can tour the house, the car collection, the art collection and the gardens for free. 

Good Eats

If you want an overall flavor of the 'Burgh, sign up for 'Burgh Bits & Bites, operated by Sylvia McCoy. Sylvia offers tours in Brookline, Lawrenceville, South Side and the Butler County locations of Harmony and Saxonburg. Customized tours are available on request.

Connie Stamoolis hands out samples of the Greek specialties sold in the shop.

One of the small local businesses McCoy highlights on the strip district tour is Stamoolis Brothers Co., which has been in business since 1909 and was started by five brothers who hailed from Greece and made their way to Pittsburgh via New York City. Loyal customers continue to flock to the place with the old-world charm for Greek fare, including imported canned goods, Greek dinners, feta cheese and Kalamata olives. Connie and Catina, who inherited the store from their father Gus, typically greet tour goers with a Greek sampler plate.

The group also makes a stop at Sunseri’s, a bakery and Italian specialty store, where they can indulge in one of the businesses most popular items. “Sunseri’s is known for its monster pepperoni roll, which is cheesy and very delicious,” said McCoy.

Labad’s Mediterranean Café and Grocery is another tour stop and has been with McCoy since the tour’s inception. “It’s a family business that has been making hummus and pita bread for 30 years,” said McCoy.

McCoy advises group members to bring their appetite to indulge in additional fare from salami at Parma Sausage, cinnamon bread at Mancini’s, Biscotti at Enrico Biscotti, donuts at Peace, Love and Little Donuts and chips and salsa at Reyna’s.

If you're in the mood for something a little novel, you also might want to check out Church Brew Works in the Lawrenceville neighborhood. 

The former St. John the Baptist church was built in 1902 and closed in 1993. In 1996, the Church Brew Works opened and has been operating as a brewery and restaurant ever since.

Scenes inside the church-turned eatery.

Menu items include fish, steak, meatloaf, pasta, salads, soups sandwiches and desserts. 

One last suggestion for foodies is a visit to Spork. Everything was excellent from their creative cocktails, to the amuse-bouches, (yes, there was more than one), to the entrees. My elk Bolognese was excellent, as was my husband's lamb saddle. I can't recommend this place enough. 

Elk bolognese

Lamb saddle

When my husband popped the bubble on his cocktail, a rush of smoke came out. I've seen smoked drinks before, but the smoke is usually trapped by a cloche, so the bubble was definitely unique. The drink, which he recommends, was made with burnt honey, lemon, ginger, turmeric, Laphroaig and Johnny Walker scotch and culinary smoke.

Gold Finger cocktail

That's it for now and I haven't even scratched the surface of the many things there are to do in Pittsburgh. Hopefully these few suggestions will pique your interest. Happy travels!

The Breakers: A Magnificent "Summer Getaway" by the Sea in Rhode Island

When it comes to "summer getaways" most of us are happy to retire to a 500-square-foot hotel room, but that certainly wasn't the case with the Gilded Age's rich and famous like the Vanderbilts.

Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to view how the other half lived with a trip to "The Breakers," a luxurious mansion by the sea built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II in 1893.

Today tourists can do the same thanks to the Newport Rhode Island Preservation Society, which purchased the property from the Vanderbilt heirs in 1972. Thousands of people visit the property each year to witness the splendor of a mansion built by a railroad magnate during the Gilded Age.

Exquisite Rooms

Visitors to the property can download an app called "Newport Mansions" for a self-guided tour providing details of each room, a few of which I'll cover here. The tour opens with a view of the Great Hall below, which was inspired by the open-air courtyards of Italy.

The Great Hall inspired by the open-air courtyards of Italy.

Imagine being a child and being permitted to ride your tricycles around the great hall, as the Vanderbilt children often did. It's also said that they slid down the staircase on serving trays. I'd make a bet that most of the 40 servants weren't particularly happy about that.

Beautiful ceilings throughout.

A lighted fountain beneath the Great Hall stairway.

The staircase, fountain and walkways were inspired by the Great Opera House in Paris. Richard Morris Hunt, regarded as one of the best architects back in the day, was responsible for much of the beauty of The Breakers.

The Dining Room where the Vanderbilts entertained.

The Vanderbilts entertained guests in a sprawling dining room, some of whom were members of an "exclusive group" known as The 400 led by Carolyn Schermerhorn Astor. The opulence includes twin chandeliers and 12 wall sconces made with Baccarat crystal. The columns in the room are comprised of alabaster and the ornamentation doesn't end there. On the ceiling is a painting of the goddess Aurora pulled by a team of white horses. 

The Vanderbilt's "summer house" also was equipped with something that was very new back then: electricity. Every light fixture in the dining room was a hybrid of sorts-- fitted for both gas and electric. 

This beautiful ceiling tile depicts a sea theme.

The morning room seen below on the first floor was designed by a Paris decorator. The wall panels in the corner depict Greek goddesses of learning and the arts and were thought to have been decorated with silver leaf. Preservationists with X-ray machines eventually learned that the "silver leaf" was actually platinum.

The Morning Room.

The Music Room.

The Vanderbilts were musical people. Mr. Vanderbilt played the piano and Mrs. Vanderbilt played the violin. Members of the family would often get together to play their respective instruments in this room, which was also used for celebrations, like weddings and debutante balls. 

Mr. Vanderbilt's Room

Upstairs guests can visit the rooms where the Vanderbilts retired for the evening. Below you'll see one of 20 bathrooms in the house.

One of 20 bathrooms throughout the mansion.

What I found interesting is that this particular sink contained four taps, two of which dispensed running salt water, which was considered good for one's health at the time. The marble tub here was so thick that it needed to be filled and drained several times to bath in comfortably.

Mrs. Vanderbilt's Bedroom.

Mrs. Vanderbilt's bedroom and office is seen above. Beside her bed were buttons for her to summon servants. Daily she would review a "carriage book," which was a type of reservation system where guests and members of the family would schedule their mode of transportation for that day so that servants could bring the vehicles to the property at the pre-ordained time.

The Vanderbilts were said to have used their stone and tile porch, which is the outside loggia, as an "open air living room," providing a beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Outside Loggia.

This striking house, used by the Vanderbilts for seven years, was fireproof--constructed of brick, steel and stone. I guess the Vanderbilts knew how to get things done because it was constructed and decorated in a short two years. Good luck getting something like this completed in two years in today's society.

This is just one house on the Newport Mansions tour. Additional mansions include The Elms, The Marble House, Rosecliff, and Chateau-sur-Mer. To learn about these and more, visit the Preservation Society of Newport County at About Us | Newport Mansions.

A Whirlwind Tour of Martha's Vineyard

Over the years, I've heard a lot about Martha's Vineyard, but it took a visit for me to understand more about the island inhabited by notable people like Spike Lee, James Taylor, David Letterman and author David McCullough.

For those who are interested in visiting the area, I can recommend the Beach Breeze Inn in Falmouth as a basecamp. The lovely, well-tended inn is just a short walk from the Surf Drive Beach and is a 10-minute drive to Ferry Parking. It even included a pool, which I would have taken advantage of if the weather wasn't in the 50's in late April.

The Beach Breeze Inn.

The logistics of getting to Martha's Vineyard may seem a bit daunting at first, but it appears that people go through the same ritual every day, judging by the huge parking lot that was filled by the time we arrived there at 9:00 a.m. 

To get to the Steamship Authority which runs the Ferry to Martha's Vineyard, you must first drive to the Palmer Avenue Parking lot, then take a waiting shuttle to Wood's Hole where the Ferry docks. The parking charge varies according to season; we paid $13 in April. The shuttle then takes between 10-15 minutes to get to the Ferry, so if you're meeting up with someone, do keep this in mind.

The ferry to Martha's Vineyard runs up to 20 times a day and is operated by the Steamship Authority.

After a comfortable ferry ride, we arrived in Wood's Hole where we browsed in a few cute little shops. If you choose to visit by car instead, there are several additional attractions you may want to consider, like the Nobska Point Lighthouse and the oldest Aquarium in the United States known as the National Marine Fisheries. If you're on foot and you have time before your ferry departs, there's also the Wood's Hole Historical Museum, which, in addition to helping guests learn more about the area's past, also offers walking tours. 

After visiting Wood's Hole, we walked to Vineyard Haven, which, after a few more blocks, led us to the historic town of Tisberry, where we caught a bus to Oak Bluffs to meet Dolores Borza of Home Grown Tours.

Murdick's Fudge has been in operation since 1887 and has shops in Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven.

The Black Dog General Store in Vineyard Haven.

Borza is a native of the area and has been conducting tours for the past 15 years. Her comfortable bus also includes a lift to be accessible for those with disabilities.

During the three-hour tour, Borza takes guests through all the major towns and areas in Martha's Vineyard, expounding upon the rich history of the area. For those who have yet to visit Martha's Vineyard, it's comprised of the following:

Edgartown

The oldest town on the island is known for its historic charm, colonial architecture and the Edgartown Harbor Lighthouse. During the warmer months, tourists flock to the downtown area for shopping and dining.

Edgartown's Old Whaling Church, built in 1843.

Borza makes a stop at the Morning Glory Farm in Edgarton where visitors can shop for fresh fruits and vegetables, flowers, baked goods and more.

The Morning Glory Farm sells flowers, fruit, vegetables, baked goods and more.

Oak Bluffs

Oak Bluffs is known for its "gingerbread" houses, which originated from the Methodist Campground meeting grounds. During the summer, the downtown area near Circuit Avenue is filled with people visiting boutiques, restaurants, galleries and cafes. The sculpture below greets visitors to Oak Bluffs as they arrive on the island by ferry. Island artist Jay Lagemann has dubbed it, "The Family."

The Family, by artist Jay Lagemann.

This monument in Oak Bluffs near the dock was erected in honor of the Grand Army of the Republic by Charles Strahan, 21st Virginia Regiment.

Vineyard Haven/Tisbury

Vineyard Haven is also known as Tisbury--a fact that confused me a bit. Its busy harbor acts as a commercial center for the island. Like Oak Bluffs, it's known for its shops, restaurants and art galleries.

West Tisbury is known for its farmstands and is home to the Polly Hill Arboretum. 

Blue Fathom Art Gallery in Vineyard Haven.

Did you know that Vineyard Vines originated in Martha's Vineyard?

Chilmark
Chilmark is known for its rolling hills and beautiful views. The quiet town is aptly named because it most certainly could be described as "chill."

Borza's bus stops in Menemsha, a historic fishing village where visitors can enjoy delicious clam chowder and seafood fresh off the boat at the Menemsha Fish Market.

Aquinnah

Aquinnah, formerly known as Gay Head, is located on the western end of the island and is famous for its cliffs and the Gay Head Lighthouse. The area has ties to the Wampanoag Tribe and Borza stops the bus so that passengers can browse the baked goods at Orange Peel Bakery. The bakery is owned by Juli Vanderhoop, a member of the Wampanoag Tribe, who bakes her products in a pizza oven made of fieldstone. She runs the place on the honor system where customers pay for their goods by leaving cash behind.

The Gay Head Cliffs are a national landmark.

The Gay Head Lighthouse can be seen in the distance.

The Orange Peel Bakery is run by Juli Vanderhoop, a member of the Wampanoag Tribe.

Borza, who runs the tours, suggests booking early as we approach the busy season. She also offers Jaws tours. Those who are fans of the movie likely know that it was shot in the area and that the 50th anniversary of the filming is coming up soon, so now it's more relevant than ever.

Homegrown Tours offers a Jaws-centric tour as well.

Borza operates up to four tours a day: two in the morning and two in the afternoon. You can book your tour at her website at https://www.homegrowntoursllc.com/.

That's all for now. More posts on the Cape Cod trip will be coming up in the next several weeks. I hope that this short overview was enough to give you a general idea of what it's like to visit Martha's Vineyard, a lovely, out-of-the-way place that spans 100 square miles and attracts nearly 200,000 during the summer months.