November 22, 2025 We made an evening visit to the neighborhood of Banksville. Liddy was invited to speak at an interfaith thanksgiving dinner at the Turkish Cultural Center on Crane Avenue; our friends there shared their delicious baklava and lots of warm feelings. Before the event we stopped in at the local Eat’n Park to…

November 8, 2025 After a babysitting job in nearby Swissvale, Pippa and Liddy headed to Park Pizza and Cream for some fall-flavored cones. Pippa had Pumpkin Pie and Liddy had Granny Smith Caramel Apple. The weather was surprisingly nice for so late in the year, so we took a long walk through the neighborhood and…

October 4, 2025 A neighborhood close to home made for a lovely walking excursion. We walked over to Bakery Square to run a few errands, including getting some new shoes at Fleet Feet. Bakery Square, now a development that include shopping, offices, and apartments, was originally home to a Nabisco factory from 1918 to 1998.…

Oct 31, 2025 Happy Halloween! We live just a couple blocks from the friendly residential neighborhood of Morningside, and Morningside does Halloween right: elaborate decorations, trick-or-treaters of all ages, and neighbors outside enjoying the night. Pippa (aka Sir Bernard Spilsbury of Operation Mincemeat fame) and Edmund (aka the SciTech thundershark) collected lots of candy, then…

September 20, 2025 Never mind the fact that we’re posting this two months late: it’s time for the third and final post from our twelve-mile hike across Pittsburgh! We were tired but ice cream is always a great solution. As we walked into Allegheny West, we noticed a clear divide from its bordering neighborhoods in…

September 20, 2025 The second stop on our ice cream hike brought us up a mountain and into a part of the city we don’t frequent often. While Mount Washington is only a bridge away from Downtown, the river, combined with the steep slope, separate it from much of Pittsburgh. We used the Monongahela Incline…

September 20, 2025 The first stop of our 12.5 mile walk across Pittsburgh was Middle Hill, one of the five neighborhoods that make up the Hill District. The historic center of the Hill District, Middle Hill is home to many of the businesses and institutions for the area including a branch of the Carnegie Library…

September 19, 2025 The City of Pittsburgh’s story began in the neighborhood now officially called “Central Business District,” better known as “Dahntahn” or “The Golden Triangle.” Ringed by bridges, topped by skyscrapers, and full of landmarks, Downtown is also where our family worships (at Smithfield United Church of Christ), where Pippa goes to school (at…

September 13, 2025 After picking Pippa up from a babysitting job, Liddy and Pippa headed to Frank & Shirley’s Restaurant in Overbrook. Frank and Shirley purchased the land for the restaurant in 1981; it was previously the site of the first ever Eat ‘n’ Park. Today, Frank & Shirley’s is an old-fashioned classic diner serving…

September 6, 2025 Also known as Pittsburgh’s Little Italy, Bloomfield is a long but doable walk from our house. Along our walk, we passed the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh building, constructed as a family mansion, and then converted into the Ursuline Academy in the 1890s. We also saw West Penn Hospital, Pittsburgh’s first chartered public…