Kennywood – A Visit to Pittsburgh’s Closest Amusement Park

As far as day trips from Pittsburgh are concerned, perhaps the most popular of all is visiting our regional theme park: Kennywood!

When the folks at Kennywood invited us out for a visit, we jumped on the opportunity. I am a roller coaster enthusiast who loves the most extreme experiences imaginable and Angie, well, she agreed to join me with the promise of potato patch fries- something she has been craving since her last visit several years prior. So on a gorgeous July day we made the trip out of the city to take in as many flips, dips, spins, and fries as possible.

But why should you make the trip out to this park? We share our favorite reasons below.

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A Brief Hike on the Trillium Trail in Fox Chapel

One of the things we absolutely love about Pittsburgh is that you can pick any direction you want to go, drive 10-15 minutes on a highway, and end up out in the middle of nature.

This lends itself to the incredible opportunity of finding hiking trails and nature preserves, well, just about anywhere.

During our exploration of Fox Chapel, we decided to make a small detour to the Trillium Trail that is featured in the book 60 Hikes in 60 Miles (Pittsburgh Edition). This small nature preserve may not seem like much on the surface, but is one of those unique features you expect to find in a nature-oriented city like this one.

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Bayernhof Museum – A Pittsburgh House With Many Secrets

One of the things I love about our goal of visiting every attraction in Pittsburgh is uncovering a hidden gem that most who live in the city may not even know about. The Bayernhof Museum in O'Hara Township certainly fell on that list for us, and after visiting it is now one of the many places in the city we have come to regret not visiting sooner.

The reason for this is because when we first heard about the Bayernhof it was described to us as a house of musical instruments. Okay, we love music, but that wasn't really the greatest of sales pitches that would inspire us to get out the door. In fact, we probably would not have visited at all if it wasn't for our goal of doing everything Pittsburgh has to throw at us.

After visiting, however, we came up with a better way to describe the Bayernhof. It is a gorgeous home-turned-museum housing one of the world's largest collections of self-playing musical instruments, nearly all in working order, that you can actually hear during a visit.

Excited yet? You should be.

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Bird Watching at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh’s North Side

Pittsburgh's National Aviary in the North Side is a unique place to visit, there is no doubt about that. It is the country's largest Aviary and is also the only one to be recognized by Congress.

With over 600 animals from roughly 200 species, this one has something for everyone. Throw in the public feedings that take place throughout the day and you have one spot worth coming back to time and time again.

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D’s Six Pack and Dogz Review – Hot Dogs in Regent Square

Thanks to Pennsylvania's unusual liquor laws, many businesses have popped up around the state offering different outlets for thirsty citizens.

One such outlet has been the beer mix-and-match shops where you can go in, find a selection of hundreds of beers, and come out with your own customized six-pack. These businesses often come with attached short-order restaurants and bars, and a good number in Pittsburgh specialize in hot dogs as their menu item of choice.

One popular shop in Pittsburgh of this style is D's Six Pack and Dogz in Regent Square. With a gourmet hot dog menu and over 1,000 beers in their beer cave, this one certainly has a worthy reputation worth seeking out.

After hearing so much about this one over the years, it was time for us to finally check it out to find out why it is so popular.

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La Palapa Review – Authentic Mexican Cuisine in South Side

In 2017 La Palapa moved locations in South Side and expanded their menu. Our review is from before the move and we hope to check out the new location soon!

When it comes to finding authentic Mexican cuisine in Pittsburgh, it is truly a difficult task unless you know exactly where to look. Rather than celebrate the incredible food culture of Mexico, we are only able to find poor imitations and Tex-Mex restaurants that are just not the same.

But one South Side restaurant is going against the grain and is making some of Mexico's best meals right here in Pittsburgh. That restaurant is La Palapa and, along with their food cart of the same name, this one is changing the way we look at Mexican cuisine in the city.

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Trundle Manor – Home to a Unique Collection of Oddities

It would be quite difficult to come up with just one sentence that describes the private collection at Trundle Manor better than the current slogan: “The most unusual tourist trap in the world meets the most bizarre private collection on public display.”

This residence in Swissvale is the home of Mr. Arm and Velda von Minx, a couple whose personal collection of unusual antiques and oddities is second to none.

They have something for everyone, but only those with a unique (and slightly twisted) sense of humor will get the full benefit of their collection.

Thankfully, we are those people.

Disclaimer: Some of the images featured in this post contain taxidermy animals, tumors in a jar, cleavers, disturbing medical antiques, and other oddities that some may find offensive. If this is you, click here to read our review of the Heinz History Center or the Duquesne Incline instead. For those that continue reading on, be sure to hover over the images if you want to learn more about what is in the image!

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Fiori’s Pizza Review – Award Winning Pizza in Brookline

When it comes to sharing Pittsburgh's best pizza on this site, it seems like every time we review one shop we receive countless recommendations of new places to try that are “even better”.

One restaurant that comes up time and time again is Fiori's Pizza in Brookline, and after being told to visit dozens (if not hundreds) of times, we decided to give this shop a try to see if it is worth the impressive following it receives.

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Moraine State Park – A Perfect Day Trip

The 16,725-acre Moraine State Park is one of the largest parks in western Pennsylvania and is located approximately 40 miles north of downtown Pittsburgh.

With land and water activities aplenty, this park is one of the crown jewels in the region and should be on everyone's radar when looking for a great park to visit on a day trip!

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