Walking The Strip

This morning (7/30/11) we went to check out some new places in Pittsburgh. It is a beautiful, sunny and hot summer Saturday.

First, we went to the new Target store on Penn Avenue in East Liberty. This is just up Penn avenue from our place – so close that Janie can drive there without looking it up!

It is big and shiny on the outside, with a large, spacious parking garage under neath.

The entrance, on the inside, is wide and bright red, with elevators, escalators and stairs.

We were a little surprised to see that there was also a Starbucks and mini-Pizza Hut on the inside, on the main level/second floor of the building. Next to those two were large windows with a nice view of the surrounding area. From there, it was easy to see the Cathedral of Learning in the distance. (small and to the left in this picture)

After getting a few things there (including a DESK for Janie!), we continued on Penn Avenue towards The Strip district, near downtown. This is an industrial district on the Allegheny River, just northeast of downtown. Now, it is a well-known destination for shopping, mainly for produce, food, and restaurants. There are also many side walk sales and vendors hawking their wares.

We walked the length of The Strip. We stopped by the Pittsburgh Popcorn Company and bought a couple of bags: Reeses popcorn and buttery popcorn Yumm! At the end of The Strip, we walked on to the 16th Street Bridge, for a view back to the Penn Railroad Fruit Auction & Sales Building (1926), which is 5 blocks in length along Smallman Street and a base for the local produce trade.

The 16th Street Bridge is very pretty and was built in 1922.

Next, we walked down to Smallman and went inside the Market on one side of the Fruit Bldg which had little stands for all kinds of local businesses and restaurants. A further walk up Smallman took us to a corner opposite the impressive St. Slanislaus Kostka Church, built in 1892 for the local Polish congregation.

From there, we walked back up to Penn and decided to have an early lunch at Enrico Biscotti Cafe.

We each got a pepperoni pizza, which was excellent. We also picked up some biscotti to go, which is what Enrico’s is known for.

On the way back, we took a new road – 28th street bridge and up through Polish Hill and the Hill District to the Upper Campus of Pitt. Driving back through the Pitt campus, we went by where they are filming for the new Batman movie that is coming out next summer. We could see the filming area, next to the Carnegie Institute, as well as where all the trucks were being kept. Lots of traffic!

And now, time to relax!

Tim read some of the historical information in the very enjoyable book Pittsburgh: A New Portrait.