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Vincent’s Pizza Pool

If you’ve ever loved pizza enough to risk drowning, then you’ve been to Vincent’s Pizza Park. Never in my life have I ever felt like i was accruing so much mass at a time like I had at this witch house where they fatten you up and eat you I mean restaurant. Outwardly, it’s a quaint little place right off the road. Nothing spectacular, just your average, run-of-the-mill pizza parlor. You might sit down and order pizza, but do you really know what you’re getting into? No, you don’t. You didn’t even bring your wetsuit. Amateur.

After a significant, yet worthwhile wait, you’ll finally see the finished product. The monster that will arrives at your table looks big enough to bite you back. The sheer volume of cheese is mind boggling. There’s so much pepperoni on top that you could arrest them for loitering. If you dare take the first bite, you’ll notice the hidden layer of madness beneath the bulletproof layer of cheese: the grease. It pools immediately, it gushes out. It’s like all of a sudden the pizza got nervous and started sweating. 3 bites in, you start to wonder why there’s no lifeguard, because you’ll already be neck deep in greasy goodness.

If you somehow manage to grind that slice down to the crust, you now have a tool just as effective at soaking up the reservoirs of grease as a kitchen sponge would if it got tossed into the Pacific. If the sponge and Pacific ocean were delicious.

It’s not a privilege to eat at Vincent’s. It’s a trial. Eating ribs doesn’t come close to the sheer mess that will be your hands during this endeavor. The best way to go about it is to tap into your primal instincts, and eat like your neanderthal ancestors did. They didn’t need any weak wet-naps, and you don’t either.

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Furnace Art

You can’t name too many historical landmarks around the Pittsburgh area that promote the use of graffiti and sculpting almost anywhere on the property. Swissvale own famous Homestead Steel Works includes the Carrie Furnace which, oddly enough, has kept a far more laid back style of upkeep in comparison to some of its counterparts. In addition to the towering furnaces #6 and 7, the hot-metal bridge, many defunct alcoves, a visitor is bound to find some sort of art installment anywhere they look.

Carrie Furnaces has hosted a number of artists for works, musicians for concerts, and even ghost hunters, but the day to day tours are a little experience on their own. Tours of the furnace will highlight the iron-making process and history of the Homestead Steel Works, and the Carrie Furnace’s importance in the Steel City’s network of manufacturing at the time. The tour for the Arts will take you through the transformation of Carrie Furnace in today’s age, for some as a massive canvas to perform works of art.

Compare all this to the east coast’s Bethlehem Steel. What once was a historical landmark has now turned into an art museum that only showcases the Steel Furnace as a background, with no direct way to tour the inside. The commercialization hasn’t reached the Carrie Furnaces yet. In fact it’s quite the opposite. The tour guides are incredibly helpful, are very knowledgeable about the area, and are engaging. If you add to this the fact Carrie Furnaces is remote enough on some days that tours are almost totally personalized, you end up with an esoteric combination of history and art that can’t be found anywhere else.

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Pittsburgh’s High fliers and Suplex-ers

What do professional wrestlers like Kurt Angle, Elias, Bruno Sammartino, Dominic DeNucci, and Corey Graves all have in common? They all come from your very own Pittsburgh PA. What do wrestlers like AJ Styles, CM Punk, Adam Cole, Ali, and DJZ have in common? They all CAME to Pittsburgh to wrestle. Wrestling camps, trainers, and promotions riddle the area around Pittsburgh, attracting one of the largest wrestling communities in the U.S.

The International Wrestling Cartel is one of the larger promotions in the area. With around 48 wrestlers on their roster, there will be plenty of faces to get to know, each one brimming with talent to bring into the ring. From IWC came names who wrestling fans are bound to know. Undisputed Era’s own Adam Cole (Bay-Bay) wrestled for IWC before being sent on to wrestle at NXT, now being one of the most popular wrestlers on the roster. WWE’s own AJ Styles was a top performer at IWC back in 2003.

From local promotions like IWC, 2PW, RYSE, and RWA,  the wrestling culture of Pittsburgh and the surrounding area have produced some of the most famous performers in history, and have served to train talented wrestlers more than capable of taking titles. If you live in the area, and enjoy a great, quality show, then these promotions will deliver.

From other local promotions like 2PW, RYSE, and RWA,  the wrestling culture of Pittsburgh and the surrounding area have produced some of the most famous performers in history, and have served to train talented wrestlers more than capable of taking titles. If you live in the area, and enjoy a great, quality show, then these promotions will deliver.

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Urban Oil and Silent Steel In the Westmoreland Museum of Art

One of the best things about the Westmoreland Art museum is how much time you don’t have to spend there. The linear layout, allows you to take as much or as little time as you want to admire the art pieces, which are set up all around you. A tourist won’t have to work hard to find something they’d love to see (and there is a lot of good things to see here). The obligation is gone. It’s entirely up to you whether you want to indulge yourself without the added guilt of having felt that you wasted your money. It also allows a particularly exhausted writer the chance to cover a good majority of the exhibits within a reasonable amount of time (don’t procrastinate kids, think of your future self…) Let’s get into some of them.

Assuming you entered legally and not through one of the countless windows, you’ll be greeted at the right by the first exhibit. Synesthesia is a type of neurological condition in which one sense translates and triggers a response in another sense, or where one cognitive pathway relates to another. In this exhibit, an artist with this wonderful condition has transcribed quite literally the appearance and texture of silence, amongst other sounds. The feel of these sounds is imprinted on layers of foil, in an abstract collection of such works with quaint detail.

One of my personal favorite sections of the exhibit is an entire three rooms dedicated to a vast collection of beautiful oil paintings, ranging from impressionist works to photorealistic level quality. Paintings of the wild and of earlier times and small towns throw the viewer back to when times were simple. You can smell the air in these paintings, and with so many to take in and absorb it’s easy to get lost in.

In addition to some of the more traditional art styles, some more abstract pieces take up space in the museum. A whole room dedicated to abstract style quilts, photography arrangements, and sculptures add shape to the room. In fact, yoga mats are available for those who want to relax and take in the surrounding sights.

The greatest museums are easy to name. Natural History museums or sprawling facilities such as the Smithsonian are monuments of accrued artifacts and knowledge. But some the most pleasant experiences I’ve ever had in museums were not in the expensive, loud, and crowded buildings that are so widely known. Some of the most impressive museums are the smaller, inexpensive, little-known local museums. The types of museums that are more of a local landmark than a pilgrimage. The Westmoreland Museum of Art, while not as bountiful in collection, is free, small, and offers character in spades.

The most important part of this museum is that it’s free. Because it’s free, the people who aren’t into art won’t bother paying, and therefore won’t come in the first place. If you are into all this art stuff, then you’re free of the crowds to appreciate what you wish. You don’t have to worry about getting your money’s worth. Besides, you can’t put a price on art like this can you?

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Pitt Stops - Bicycle Heaven

If you happen to be like other people, and were once a child, there was a pretty good chance you enjoyed bicycles. The idea of fast movement on two wheels creates an attractive allure at younger ages (spiced up with the added dose of brashness if you were like me, and ended up crashing more times than you care to admit). The word bicycle has been around since the late 1800’s, and for Craig Morrow that statement only translates to opportunity.

Morrow started his collection in 1987, with bikes and other antique parts piling into his garage in Bellevue (and eventually another in Ben Avon). The crazed procurement of bicycles wouldn’t stop until Morrow would eventually be in possession of over 3000 bicycles in a small museum on Columbus Ave, claiming to be the world’s largest collection.

What does the world’s largest collection of bicycles look like? In a word, dizzying. With two floors of bicycles, Morrow has created a critical mass of childhood fun and urban transportation that spans over a century Choice pieces in this sprawling collection include none other than Pee-Wee Herman’s bike from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (a few in fact, as multiple were made.) The first fiberglass bicycle, the Bowden Spacelander, was only produced in very small numbers for one year in 1960. They can fetch upwards to five digits. I remember seeing at least 10 here at bicycle heaven. There oldest bike, the Boneshaker, is dated at 1862 and its made of wood. My dumb 9 year old self would love to crash that.

Morrow has also included various pop culture paraphernalia from across the 20th century such an extensive collection of Elvis and Beatles memorabilia, and around 500 Pittsburgh related bobbleheads. The aptly named bicycle heaven simply cannot fail to bring a smile to anyone’s face.

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Pitt Stops - Maxo Vanka Murals

Pittsburgh vast culture expands beyond that of the city limits. If you ever find yourself on the other side of the Allegheny river in a place called Millvale, there’s a hidden gem of the art world at the St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church. Maxo Vanka, a croatian painter had completely layered the interior with 25 beautiful murals of christ and catholicism throughout the mid 20th century. Vanka completed these murals in 1937 and 1941 in two stints in America, and his art reflects the turmoil of the age. The murals often depicted men and women in clothing of the age, although the most prominent focal point is how Vanka includes the conflict of WWII into his sprawling artistic magnum opus. He depicts the virgin Mary as a strong and powerful matriarch. The angel Injustice appears in a gas mask, judging the soldiers of the second great war. Nuns lament the death of a miner due to the harsh work environment of the age, in a time where progress waits for no one.

The St. Nicholas Catholic Church was not always intended to house such lively pieces. Vanka took on the project after the church’s total reconstruction after a fire destroyed the structure shortly before his works would inhabit it. Being the first Croatian Catholic parish in America meant that it was a hub for the small Croatian community at the time, and Vanka only served to enrich that community with his works.

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Pitt Stops - The Strip District

The first thing we saw, or rather heard, in Pittsburgh’s strip district was the sound of street performers, an industry which proved you needed some serious hardware to compete in. We saw one guys who could play the trumpet and banjo. On an accordion. I had never seen an electric accordion, ever or since.

Our first destination into the strip district was Wholey’s. To the uninitiated, Wholey’s is walk in fish locker the size of a submarine. To my friend Kyle, an avid seafood enthusiast, it’s a pilgrimage. I’m fairly certain that whenever a marine biologist discovers a new species, they send it here to see if it sells. The sheer biodiversity in Wholey’s is staggering.  Kyle ended up spending way more money than he should’ve there.

Next on the list was the St. Patrick’s, a beautiful little Church and one of a few reconstructions of the holy steps at the Vatican. For penance, some will climb the steps on their knees in the name of absolution. The detail is miraculous, and well kept. With all the christmas decorations still up, the smell of old wood and spruce filled the air. A must see for sure, with a surprising amount of detail in such a small structure. It was worth close attention.

If cheese is more your thing than fish or steps, Stamoolis Bros. has you covered. This greek deli has everything you could think of straight from the Mediterranean. I couldn’t resist picking up a few blocks of cheese to pretend that i’d make something professionally good with them. It’s fun to be posh for no reason sometimes. If pretentiousness isn’t your thing however, and you’re just hungry, then there’s a 235 lb. Carbonelli Provolone stick being cut now that has been curing for 6 months. Imagine how many cheesesteaks you could throw that on.

If you’re sick of food for whatever dumb reason, there’s a lot of interesting stores selling tons of trinkets, like Art of Steel. Old junk steel and rocks are a specialty here, where this store makes elaborate sculptures out of scrap (think junker guy from The Iron Giant). Helicopters and cars made of old gears and rods. A 1/60 scale Boba Fett made from screws and wingnuts. Ridley Scott’s Alien Xenomorphs with skittering limbs made from an old bike chain. At the other end of the store, old steel signs for classic advertisements and comic book heroes like Adam West’s Batman, old car and motorcycle ads, movie posters. Cabinets full of retro art on steel.

If you’re looking for a quick taste of Pittsburgh and what it’s all about, then the strip district is a must. In only 3 or so hours I experienced an atmosphere with so much variety i almost got tired of being excited over the next place down the street. Make sure to tip the street performers too, It’s not nearly as easy as it seems to play the banjo on an accordion.