NorthSide

Pittsburgh Children’s Museum 21+ Night – Being a Kid Again

One museum we've always wanted to visit in Pittsburgh, but had few to no opportunities to check out, is the Children's Museum. As adults without kids (or kids we can adopt as defacto parents for an afternoon), we always felt uneasy with the idea of going to this one on our own.

Our problems were solved when one of the museum's quarterly 21+ night events came about, and we put on our detective hats and went to work as the Murder Mystery theme ensured that all of us became a kid again- for one night at least.

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North Side Music Festival – Three Days of Music

The North Side Music Festival takes place each July in Pittsburgh's North Side and features hundreds of bands, dozens of stages throughout the region (most in Deutschtown, giving the event the former name the Deutschtown Music Fesitval), food trucks, art and other vendors, and so much more.

In fact, there is so much to see in this three-day event you really plan to spend the entire day down at the festival to get the most out of it!

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Huszar Bacon Roast – A New Tradition in the North Side

Close your eyes and imagine the perfect camp fire. If you're like us, and everyone in the United States without an Eastern European heritage, you are probably thinking of marshmallows roasting on a stick.

But if you are fortunate enough to have Eastern European family, especially those from Hungary, you may be envisioning something a bit different- a bacon roast.

The premise is exactly the same as making S'mores over a fire, but swaps the marshmallows for pork belly, and the graham crackers and chocolate for bread and vegetables, to make what could be the ultimate sandwich.

It wasn't until we were invited out to the North Side Hungarian bar and restaurant Huszar for their annual roast that we knew this was a thing, and we'll never look at camp fires the same way again.

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SpringHill Suites Pittsburgh North Shore Review – Perfect for Game Day

The North Side is home to a number of Pittsburgh hotels that predominately serve visitors coming in for a Pirates or Steelers game.

When our friends at SpringHill Suites North Shore invited us out to stay at the hotel for an evening, we wanted to see what made this hotel worth staying in- both for those coming in for a game and others who simply want to explore this awesome city we call home.

As it turns out, we were pleasantly surprised with what we found.

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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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Doors Open Pittsburgh – Exploring Our Historic Buildings

Doors Open Pittsburgh is a new annual event in the city where local businesses and public offices open their doors to give residents a behind-the-scenes look at their architecture, interior designs, and inner-workings. As it is our quest to experience everything Pittsburgh has to offer, we found this event to be a great way for us to see a side of the city that is normally removed from the public eye.

After exploring countless properties downtown over the course of the weekend, we have decided to share some of our favorites today in order to inspire you to get out and check out the next Doors Open event!

(Note– Several of the properties featured below are open to the public outside of the Doors Open event, so in some cases you may not have to wait until the next event date to go explore!)

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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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What are the VIP Suites at PNC Park Like?

There are some experiences in any city that come along once in a blue moon, and then there are some that are even rarer than that.

Despite the number of Pirates games we've attended over the years, enjoying the game from a VIP suite was one of those rare experiences we were only recently able to have.

But be warned– once you attend a game in a VIP Suite, PNC Park will never be the same again.

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Monterey Pub Review – Neighborhood Pub of the War Streets

Note: In fall 2021, Monterey Pub reopened with new owners. We have not visited since the pub was purchased. The below review is from a visit with the previous owners. As such, things may be different now. We will update this review once we return for another visit!

Tucked among the quaint row houses in the Mexican War Streets, Monterey Pub is exactly the kind of neighborhood watering hole you'd expect it to be: it's the kind of place with regulars, wooden booths, and dark corners.

But it's also got a few delicious tricks up its sleeve, including a great food menu full of Irish pub fare, burgers, salads, and sandwiches.

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