Into the Burgh

 The moon was sitting high in the predawn sky with the red planet Mars off to its upper left. I had come outside to check on the temperature, to figure out how warmly I should dress for the day’s adventure. As I was gazing into the sky, Frank pulled up and within 10 minutes we were on our way. The sun broke over the horizon as we drove down into the city.

    We were on another hunt for both caches and photos. We had a small list of caches situated around downtown Pittsburgh and we had our cameras with us, as always, in case anything photogenic jumped out at us!

    We parked on the top floor of a parking garage and spent a few minutes “hanging” over the edges taking shots of the traffic and people below. Then we headed towards the hill.

(Frank's shot)

    We headed east, going through Strawberry Way, towards the USX Tower and the sun. Our first stop was in the town’s newest green space, Frank Pace Park. Named after a Hill District community activist, the park spans Interstate 579, a 2.7 mile highway cutting through the city. When it was built, hundreds of homes were destroyed in the process, even more were removed when the Civic Arena was built. This park spans the canyon that the highway created between the city and the Hill District.

    There were two caches located in the park and we quickly nailed them. Easy-peasey! From there we headed over towards Flag Plaza, only to find our way blocked by construction. Our plans weren’t written in stone, so we dropped back down into the city again. Coffee and donuts were callin’.

    We talked with some religious folks standing on the corner looking for converts. We discussed the weather and photography and went on our way, nice people! We met some others later in the day and had the same experience, no hard sell, just a nice conversation. Sitting by a fountain, we ate our sweets and sipped our caffeine and then returned to our hunt.

    We stopped in the Union Trust Building and took a few shots in their lobby. What a spectacular place! From there we worked our way down past the Kaufman’s Clock, (or is it now the Target Clock?) and towards Market Square.

    We did a cache near the skinniest building in the city. Located at the corner of Wood and Forbes, the Hendel Building is only 5’2” wide. The building is considered one of the skinniest buildings in the world! It has housed a lunch counter amongst other things. It currently is under construction since a new owner purchased it.

    We visited Market Square and people watched for a bit, visited a camera store and some alleyways before heading back to the car. (Love those alleys!) We drove around a small detour and snagged the cache at Flag Plaza and then headed home by way of Oakland. Two more caches waited for us in the University section of town.

    We visited the statue of The Pitt Panther outside of the Pitt Student Union and then The Westinghouse Memorial in Frick Park before returning home.

    We found 6 out of the 7 caches we looked for, 85% approximately, not bad! We also got some nice shots in the process. We were both surprised at how few people we saw in the city. We remembered when people crowded the sidewalks, especially at quitting time, lining up 4 or 5 deep waiting for their buses. The times have definitely changed! It is still a beautiful city; it is a shame that more people don’t visit it or work in it anymore…