Pittsburgh: Green is for Go

Overlooking downtown Pittsburgh from atop Mount Washington today, it seems inconceivable that the city was once blighted with pollution, the black smoke of coal fires blotting out the sun and its three rivers toxic with waste. 

In 1868, writer James Parton called Pittsburgh “hell with the lid taken off,” a condition that endured until the 1950’s. After its steel economy finally collapsed in the mid-1980’s, it was do-or-die time for the industrial powerhouse. Along with investments in knowledge, education, technology, sports and cultural tourism, the city's focus on environmental recovery has made Pittsburgh one of the world's greenest cities.   

Popularly known as “The Green Heart of Pittsburgh,” the circa-1893 Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is at the forefront of global green development.  Already boasting the first LEED-certified welcome center in a public garden and the world’s most energy-efficient conservatory, the Phipps is also home to the Center for Sustainable Landscapes, a completely self-sustaining building that is among the greenest structures on Earth.  

 

For a riveting encounter with Pittsburgh's industrial past, visit the remarkable Carrie Furnaces National Historic Site in nearby Braddock, Pa. Here, men who once prepared the molten iron that made the steel that built America provide guided tours of the innards of these blast furnace complex, formerly the heart of U.S. Steel's Homestead Works.

Grounds For Sculpture

The beguiling Grounds For Sculpture art park in Hamilton, NJ, features over 270 whimsical sculptures on the site of the former New Jersey State Fairgrounds.

With a history of staging fairs going back to 1745, this 100-acre plot became the site of New Jersey's enormously popular Inter-State Fairs in the late 1800's. Along with displays of horses, cattle and other livestock, agricultural products and farming equipment, culinary arts and needlework, these gatherings also featured entertainment including daredevil stunts and horse races.

Special events included a shooting match between Annie Oakley and Miles Johnson, and demonstrations of horsemanship and lassoing by cowboys and Indians from Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show. Parachutists jumping from hot-air balloons thrilled audiences in the 1890s.

Starting at the turn of the century, death defying shows starring pioneers of aerial navigation, including Harriet Quimby, one of the first women to hold a pilot's license, and automotive racing, were booked to entertain the crowds filling the grandstand. As horses were replaced by automobiles for transportation, cars became the main attraction on the fairground's racetrack.

Located just north of Trenton and under two hours south of NYC, the sculpture park also features the lively Rat's (from Wind in the Willows) Restaurant, with executive chef Shane Cash, a relation of singer Johnny Cash, at the helm.

Frickin' Artful

Outdoor sculptures, hiking trails and indoor galleries make for a great day out in Long Island at the Nassau County Museum of Art on the 145-acre former Frick Estate, one of the bright survivors of the Gold Coast era.

Tuff Stuff: Bandalier National Monument, New Mexico

This remarkable heritage site, named for Swiss-born archeologist Adolph Bandalier who was led to the area in the 1800's, was home to the Ancestral Pueblo people who lived here from around 1150 to 1550. Carved in the soft volcano tuff, deposited here some 200,000 years ago following a massive eruption, their cliff dwellings include some remarkably well preserved petroglyphs and masonry walls.

Sconyers Bar-B-Que, Augusta, GA

BBQ on the brain? If you are ever in the Augusta area, Sconyers Bar-B-Que is your pit stop. Met owner Larry Sconyers by phone recently, and he shared the story of his long-running family business. Established in 1956, this Augusta destination does BBQ the old-fashioned way, pit-cooked for around 24 hours over oak and hickory. Larry, youngest son of founders Claude and Adeline and driving force behind the restaurant's national success, adheres to a time-honored philosophy. "The best barbecue is what you grew up eating, and that's what we serve, not just a meal, but our original hole-in-the-wall experience," he says. "We want you to feel like you are going to eat at your mother's or grandmother's house." Sconyers' signature pork BBQ and hash has been served at the White House and the Georgia State Capital; the restaurant is open Thursday through Saturday.

Bon Appetit Ontario!

Enjoyed great breakfast this morning at the Bon Appetit Culinary Studio in the Conde Nast Building on 42nd Street, hosted by Ontario Tourism, Ottawa Tourism and Tourism Toronto. First highlight was a quick detour to stop and observe the employees in the much-touted Conde Nast Cafeteria--every bit the show one would expect. Then it was off to the delicious breakfast, Ontario wines included, with my Canadian friends. Chef Caroline Ishii of Zen Kitchen in Ottawa (dined there last year, and it is truly sensational) and Chef Anthony Rose of the Drake Hotel in Toronto treated us right, from the former's sea vegetable caviar and garlic pesto dumpling in wild-leek ginger broth to the latter's Eggs Drake (apple cider poached egg with wild boar peameal bacon) and apple smoked whitefish among the savory treats. There's a food revolution on in Ontario: check out my recent feature on culinary tourism there for Meetings East.

Kent St. Viking

OK - it's now gone from egregious to obscene--the faithful updating, of course. Who better then to get things back online than the very pater nostra of this humble site, travel maven Kent St. John? Kent and I first met in the customs line at Keflavik Airport in Iceland this past May, the commencement of a week-long trip through southern Sweden and southern Finland together. While I have been saving my report of that journey for rainy day blogging, here now I must remember the great merriment shared with Kent, while also acknowledging that seeing his daily blogging in action was indeed the inspiration for Beth and I to start this site. Kent is a senior editor of the well-established Go Nomad site while also lending his considerable talents to the world of travel radio. As the photo shows, he is fond of living out his Viking fantasies while on the road. If you visit his site and see his post of today, you will also note the corpulent fellow next to Abba number five; while I cannot deny that is me, I can assure you that I am slimmer by far today.