August 21, 2026

As many have noted before us, Fairywood has a really cool name. The reality of this westernmost neighborhood of Pittsburgh is a little less fantastic: most of Fairywood consists of large warehouses, which we toured by car. We also visited Fairywood’s small residential area; while this neighborhood was once home to fairly large housing developments, with a peak population of 5000, today it has shrunk to about 20% of that figure.

Our ice cream destination was Caliente Pizza & Draft House. Pippa was only just back on solid foods after wisdom teeth removal, but even she enjoyed the fancy pizzas we ordered: the award-winning Quack Attack (with duck breast, roasted garlic butter sauce, wild mushroom ragu, and so forth) and the Grandma Ruffa (an upscale Margarita, with ricotta and arugula). For dessert, both Pippa and Edmund had ice cream cups from Pennsylvania Dutch Ice Cream Company; Pippa had cookies & cream and Edmund had strawberry cheesecake.

Fun Fact:
Fairywood is home to a 0.6 mile stretch of four-lane “ghost highway,” originally designed in the ’70s to connect Routes 60 and 51; however, construction was never completed.