Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show – Spring or Fall?

Ever since buying a house, we've been inundated with projects left and right. At times, it is really hard to know where to even begin as our list of improvements seems never ending.

So we've been heading to the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show at the convention center for their spring and fall shows to get ideas.

These events are quite massive and feature hundreds upon hundreds of local vendors covering everything from general contract work to gutter sales and everything in between.

While we'll be the first to admit that the spring show is the one to be at, if you are looking to get ideas for a future home improvement project, this one may need to be on your radar!

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5 Pittsburgh Museum Discounts You May Not Be Aware Of

We love our great Pittsburgh museums and try to visit them as often as possible.

But we'll be the first to admit that sometimes the admission costs can be fairly expensive. While this often drives us to purchase a membership for year-round access, often at the cost of just two or three visits to any museum in a year, we know this luxury is not available to everyone.

So, in this one, we thought we'd look at popular museums that typically charge admission and share more details on when you can potentially visit for free or for a significantly discounted ticket!

Note: Free or discounted opportunities at area museums can change rather quickly. As always, we recommend reconfirming the offer directly with each museum before visiting to ensure the opportunity is still available. Likewise, this article only focuses on traditionally ticketed attractions that offer free or discounted opportunities to visit. For some of our favorite free things to do in Pittsburgh, including some museums that are perpetually free, click the previous link.

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The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Offers Good Family Fun

We often lament the fact that Pittsburgh no longer has trolleys. The closest we have these days is The T, and due to its limited operating area, is only really useful for a few neighborhoods in the city (and beyond).

For those nostalgic for days when trolley transportation was the norm, you are in luck- The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington shares the history of this transportation method with informative and interactive exhibits and a massive collection of trolley cars in their showroom.

But for those looking for even more, this one comes with a fun twist- you can even ride one of the historic trolley during your visit!

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Boyce Park Ski Slopes and Snow Tubing Offer Winter Fun

Boyce Park is one of the most popular parks in Allegheny County. It offers an array of trails and outdoor activities to be enjoyed all year round, but unlike other county parks this one is perhaps best enjoyed in Pittsburgh's winters!

The reason for this is that Boyce Park is home to a modest winter resort that includes several trails, a tubing course, and many other outdoor activities scheduled throughout the season.

After having enjoyed tubing at Seven Springs, we made the trip to Boyce Park to check out their tubing slopes (plus skiing!) and had a great day out!

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Laurel Ridge Cross Country Ski Center is a Perfect Winter Day Out

If there is any state park in the Laurel Highlands that we have had trouble exploring properly over the years, it would be Laurel Ridge State Park.

The reason for this is simple- the state park is sprawling. Instead of covering one (often round) area with nested hiking trails, Laurel Ridge State Park follows along Laurel Mountain through four counties.

Short of through-hiking on the 70-mile Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail, getting to enjoy Laurel Ridge State Park often comes in small segments.

In the winter, one of our new favorite sections of the park is the groomed cross country ski and snowshoeing trails maintained by the Laurel Ridge Cross Country Ski Center. Seeing the beautiful of the state park in winter? Sign us up for this one!

Although this one offers rentals in addition to the paid entry to the groomed trails, we picked up our own snowshoes and went out for a day of winter fun in the Laurel Highlands!

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The Museum of Illusions Takes a Deep Look at Optical Tricks

The Museum of Illusions is an international museum chain that shares some of the world's best optical illusions for guests to experience in person.

Although we are not terribly fond of chain museums, we have to admit we were intrigued by this one because who doesn't love a good optical illusion?

While this one most certainly has its target market, particularly those new to optical illusions outright, there is a lot to see in this museum on the North Shore for all visitors!

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7 New Year’s Eve Parties in Pittsburgh to Consider

It is hard to beat a good New Year's Eve party to say goodbye to the year that was and look forward to the next one. 

As far as Pittsburgh New Year's Eve parties are concerned, there are many to choose from- way more than even we could feature in a single article. So, in this one, we wanted to share some New Year's Eve parties at various business types, party styles, and more!

So whether you are looking for a bar to toast the new year, a dinner experience to send 2023 off with a bang, ring in the New Year at a dance club, or to enjoy other activities that wind down for the holiday season on December 31st, we've got some ideas for you.

As with most of our guides, this is not a complete list of New Year's Eve parties. This is just a selection covering different styles that we wanted to highlight!

Note: Most New Year's Eve parties put on by local businesses require tickets being purchased in advance as capacity is limited.

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Fun Fore All Holiday Lights – Mini Golf With a Holiday Twist

You may know about the family-friendly entertainment complex, Fun Fore All, in Cranberry.

This staple north of the city is home to a large assortment of fun activities be it mini golf, arcade games, bumper cars, rides for kids, and so much more.

But did you know that Fun Fore All gets into the holiday spirit by decorating the mini golf course with holiday lights? This one certainly makes for a different kind of winter experience if you can visit on a night with good weather!

We were invited by Fun Fore All to check out the Holiday Lights mini golf and have to admit we had a lot of fun here!

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9 Hidden Gems in Pittsburgh You May Not Have Visited

When we think about the term hidden gems, several possible definitions come to mind. 

Some are visibly hidden- you may walk right past it and not know it is there due to lack of obvious signage. Some are hidden because they are simply outside of a popular business district that you may have to go out of your way to enjoy. And, of course, some places can be classified as hidden gems because we love them and think they deserve more popularity and support.

To come up with a list of the best Pittsburgh hidden gems, we really could tap into all of these concepts and then some.

So, for this one, we will lean into the term “hidden” as best we can. Some of these are blink-and-you-‘ll-miss it, others have a secret hidden inside, and some you may have to go off-the-beaten-path in a popular area to find.

Some come along and find new places in Pittsburgh you may not know about!

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Tinseltown is a Different Kind of Holiday Pop-Up Bar

Prior to 2023, Tinseltown was known as The Tipsy Elf and was located in Hough's in Greenfield. Starting this year, the popup was renamed and can be found at Mixtape in Garfield.

Tinseltown is a ticketed pop-up bar experience with mulled wine, cocktails, holiday games, and more.

As we are always on the lookout for the best Christmas popup bars in Pittsburgh, you know we had to check this one out. As it so happens, we were invited to this event by the folks at Hidden Pittsburgh for a media night and couldn't pass up on the opportunity.

As ticketed pop-up bars are a different kind of bar experience, we thought we'd share a bit about what the pop-up was like and then dive into the ticketing aspect of it more to share what you get for the entry fee.

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