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…

August 26, 2025 Located to the west, Crafton Heights is home to many things but most notable for our family is the Pittsburgh Gifted Center. Gifted is located in the Greenway School building (which also currently houses Pittsburgh Classical school, and teacher development for Pittsburgh Public Schools). Gifted was a favorite part of school for…

August 23, 2025 Known to locals as Observatory Hill, Perry North is Pittsburgh’s 10th largest neighborhood by area. Despite its size, it has no ice cream store, so we headed to Trios Market, a convenience store at the center of the neighborhood’s small business district. A Blue Bunny ice cream freezer did the job: Pippa…

August 22, 2025 Continuing our effort to visit daytime-only locations before the start of the school year, we drove to Homewood South to check out Sandy Boo’s Delights at Dana’s Bakery. Outside the bakery, established in 1979 and full of delicious-looking baked goods, is Sandy Boo’s, an Italian ice stand. After a nice conversation with…

August 18, 2025 As the start of the school year threatened, we rushed to visit neighborhood locations that are only open during the day. Our top priority: historic Gus and YiaYia’s, a shaved-ice cart founded in 1934. It’s the only independent frozen dessert vendor in Pittsburgh to be depicted in the Carnegie Science Center’s Miniature…

August 5, 2025 Liddy’s colleague Will Fuller (PA state lead for Common Ground USA, an awesome peacemaking organization that’s preventing political violence and rebuilding social cohesion) has been to lots of baseball stadiums, but never to Pittsburgh’s PNC Park — until tonight! This was our family’s first game since spring training, and we were excited…

July 31, 2025 After picking Pippa’s godmothers Sandy and Angela up from the airport, we drove to Westwood, a neighborhood in the West End that we had never visited before. Antney’s Ice Cream, located just within the borders of Westwood, serves a delicious set of homemade flavors. Liddy had strawberry pretzel cheesecake, Pippa had angel…

August 1, 2025 During our weekend with Pippa’s godmothers, Sandy and Angela, we found ourselves in Point Breeze. After a super fun trip to The Frick, where we enjoyed the grounds and gardens, the Car and Carriage Museum, and historic Clayton, we walked over to Frick Park Market. As promised by Mac Miller’s 2011 single…

August 2, 2025 A full 30-minute drive (without traffic) from our home, at the extreme southeastern-most point of the city, surrounded on most sides by the suburbs of West Mifflin and Munhall, we discovered the neighborhood of Lincoln Place, which none of us had ever visited before. With Pippa’s godmothers in town visiting for the…