Museums

Taking a Trip Back in Time at the Photo Antiquities Museum

The Photo Antiquities Museum on East Ohio Street in the North Side is the kind of place you'd pass by and not give a second thought.

We've known about this one for several years, but kept forgetting about it until we made visiting all of Pittsburgh's attractions a priority for this site. As we slowly made our way through our list, the Photo Antiquities Museum kept popping up time and again. And although I love photography much more than the average person, for some reason it always got pushed back on our schedule just as it had before.

I say this as the introduction to this review to emphasize a very important point: we made a mistake waiting so long to visit.

This museum is incredible, and you do not have to be photography crazy like me to think the same.

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Johnny Angel’s Ginchy Stuff – A Music Museum for the Ages

If you are a music fan who grew up in Pittsburgh over the last 50 years, odds are good you know the name Johnny Angel. Throughout the decades, Johnny built an impressive career that continues to this very day. His current band, Johnny Angel and the Halos, can be found around the region performing songs from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond.

As you can imagine, throughout his career Johnny amassed an impressive collection of memorabilia from his own shows and experiences in the music industry.

To showcase these, Johnny decided to put everything on display for the public at his store Johnny Angel's Ginchy Stuff – a North Side staple that moved to its new home next door to the iconic Bicycle Heaven in 2016.

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10 of the Coolest Pittsburgh Houses You Can Visit

When it comes to unique Pittsburgh houses, be it the historical or downright weird, this city is full of them. Unfortunately, many of these houses are private residences that are not open to the public, which makes fully appreciating them somewhat tricky.

Throughout our quest to experience the many things to do in Pittsburgh, we've visited a number of the unique houses in the city and have fallen in love with several of them.

In this guide we wanted to share some of our favorites that you can also go visit!

This guide only features Pittsburgh houses we've personally toured. If you are looking for more details about each house, click the link inside the description to be taken to our full review. When we find more properties to explore in the future, we will update this guide accordingly! 

Note: Most every house in this guide requires advanced reservations. Many do not accept walk-up visitors.

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Touring The Frick Museum and House in Pittsburgh’s East End

Looking back at Pittsburgh's history, you come across many world famous industrial and business magnates who had a large presence in the city: Carnegie, Frick, Heinz, Westinghouse, and Mellon are just a few you may have heard of.

As their fame was spread to the corners of the world, their wealth at home grew, and so did their local estates.

In other cities these estates would likely have been handed over to foundations to ensure they stand the test of time, but in Pittsburgh many have been demolished over the years. Out of all of the famous Pittsbughers listed above, the estate of only one businessman, Henry Clay Frick, still stands- and it is kept in working order exactly as it was left as a part of the Frick Collection.

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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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Andy Warhol Museum – Home to Way More than Pop Art

If you've ever wanted to dive into the world of pop art, the Andy Warhol Museum on Pittsburgh's North Shore is the absolute best place to do it.

More than 1,000 prints, 4,000 photographs, and 900 paintings in the collection help make it the largest museum in North America dedicated to a single artist.

But there is so much more to this museum than just pop art: the seven floors of this museum display many other types of Warhol's works you've likely never seen before, as well as rotating exhibits from other artists.

Although there are enough unique exhibits in this museum to keep us busy writing an incredibly detailed review, today we wanted to share some of our very favorites to give you a taste about what to expect when visiting!

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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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Embracing the Arts at Downtown Pittsburgh’s Gallery Crawl

If the only things that come to mind when you think of the Pittsburgh art scene are the Carnegie Museum of Art or the Andy Warhol Museum, let me tell you: you're missing out.

Dozens of museums and galleries of all different sizes and themes are scattered around the city, with the Cultural District downtown having one of the highest concentrations of these galleries.

In fact, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust sponsors Gallery Crawls downtown four times a year, typically on Friday nights. During these crawls, all of the galleries are free and open to the public.

There's also generally live music, free performances, venues where you can make your own art projects, and even a night market complete with tons of local food and crafts vendors.

We checked out the recent gallery crawl in March 2016 that coincided with the 200th anniversary of Pittsburgh's incorporation as a city. What we appreciated the most was the opportunity to explore cool little corners of downtown that we had never been to before- all for free!

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The Roberto Clemente Museum – More Than Baseball

Although you might not expect it, the Roberto Clemente Museum in Lawrenceville is about much more than the Pirates' baseball legend; this museum has something for everyone.

Even if you don't necessarily love baseball or know much about Clemente, you're bound to find something here that appeals to you. Whether it's the beautiful old firehouse in which the museum is housed, the amazing photography on display, or even the classy wine bar, this museum is sure to keep you surprised and interested.

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