This weekend Halley and I decided to explore more of Pennsylvania and make the five hour trip west out to Pittsburgh. What's in Pittsburgh you ask? Only Frank Lloyd Wright's famous house, Falling Water, (which we'll get into tomorrow.) Also, there's an Ace Hotel there, and my wife, can't. resist. an. Ace Hotel. Pittsburgh is a beautiful city built on the confluence of two rivers, the Allegheny and Monongahela which become the Ohio River.
The Ace Hotel in Pittsburgh is built in a century old YMCA building and the decor is true to Ace style, clean and modern with a slightly rustic "glamping" vibe. The in-house restaurant, Whitfield, is definitely worth a meal and the bar scene here seems to be where everyone in the city hangs out.
Pittsburgh is the birthplace of Andy Warhol and is home to the Andy Warhol Museum which features no less than 7 floors of his work including the "11 Elvises" silkscreen painting above.
We also visited the Mattress Factory, a museum housed in an old mattress warehouse which is full of amazing installations including the James Turrell piece, "Danaë" pictured above. This museum has grown to encompass some surrounding properties over the years and has really revitalized the neighborhood in which it is home.
On our way to the Mattress Factory we stumbled upon Randyland, a whimsical community art installation by Randy Gilson. He has been improving his neighborhood with gardens and found-object art for over 30 years. Randyland is ground zero for his artistic neighborhood intervention. It is definitely a site you'll want to explore! You'll often find Randy there himself to talk about his project and answer questions.
This is the inclined railway that afforded us that beautiful view of Pittsburgh. We took the nearly 150 year old Duquesne Incline up to soak in the view of this steel town. The cars are full of beautifully crafted woodwork and up top you can even tour the machinery that operates it all. It's just a bit taller and scarier than the Angel's Flight back in my old hometown of L.A! Check back soon to see our next post about Falling Water.
-Robert