My Fair Lady - Pittsburgh, PA part 1

[taz_39]

The bus ride was long and blessedly uneventful.
There were some light flurries blowing around that didn't lay on the roads but coated all the trees with sugary crystals.

Comments

[pinstripe_bindi]

Pittsburgh looks like a cool city, I've always wanted to visit it.

[taz_39]

It's pretty cool! A typical northeast city but small enough to not be intimidating, I guess is how I'd describe it.

[ratphooey]

My hometown! I love to see it through other people’s eyes!

Mmm, Prestogeorge.

[taz_39]

Aww!

I really wish I had more time for sightseeing :( We're here for a full week so normally it wouldn't be a problem but because they threw an extra rehearsal at us, and because it's my birthday and family in infringing on me, there goes my usual "me time" in the city lol. But still, getting to visit the Strip and see random beauty around Pittsburgh is a wonderful thing :)

Also, I'm probably (ok definitely) going to order more tea/coffee from Prestogeorge when I get back to FL. These teas and coffees were so good, I want to try more flavors!!

[hybrid_xisha]

(Very Shy Person finally working up the nerve to comment, reporting in!)

Hi! :D

I stumbled across your journal by total coincidence on the Dreamwidth Latest page back in...November, I think? (But I'm commenting on LJ instead because LJ seems to be your "main" base of journal operations. Plus, I've been on LJ on various accounts since 2001 and have this here Permanent account, so I have way more ridiculous usericons to choose from than over on DW, heh. X)

I really appreciate that on your travel posts, you put the location in the subject line. When that first post scrolled into view on DW Latest, I saw the title and thought, "Ooh! A travel journal! Just what I was looking for!" Then I started reading the post and went, "Ooh! A travel AND food blog! This is perfect!" Then I kept reading and saw the interesting shop talk about life as a musician on the road and was even more intrigued. Theeeeeen I saw references to the circus, gave in, and went back to read your entire darn journal from the beginning so I'd know what the heck was going

[taz_39]

Hello Very Shy Person! Thank you so much for commenting! I know it's hard to interact especially online, and really appreciate hearing from you

Edited because blockquote HTML tags completely borked on this layout XD

[hybrid_xisha]

Okay, another incoming letter, sorry. XD I'm an anxiety rambler. At least I'm aware of my flaws loooool.

I know it's hard to interact especially online, and really appreciate hearing from you!

Thank you! Hah, yeah, I used to be a total social butterfly on the Internet. But it seems like people have gotten so hostile online in recent years that I've learned to embrace my inner online loner self almost as much as my offline one. If people aren't being incredibly rude at harmless comments, they're trying to get something out of me if I talk about my work too much. It's exhausting.

maybe I should put them back, at least for the states to make it easier to find things.

Ahhhhh, the "joys" of tag-wrangling lol. I could totally see cutting out the city tags and just leaving in the state tags if you favored that way! I mean, there are probably only so many cities per state where you can expect to be working? Like, in Alabama, performing in Auburn is extremely likely...but I'm pretty sure you'll never be performing in my population-under-

Auburn recommendations section

[hybrid_xisha]

I promise I'll shut up soon. XD

I "mapped" the Auburn places I mentioned. About to get even more verbose; you've been warned. I LOVE FOOD AND EXPLORING OMG. XD

It's big, so I won't embed it here.Lavender star: Gogue Performing Arts Center (lower right center

[amk82]

Love knoebels, did a ten day road trip in 2014, Indiana to North Carolina, northeast Ohio, then to knoebels. I had planned on going to Hershey park but decided to do another half day at knoebels. I loved phoenix but most of all, fascination. The last few days of that trip was Pittsburgh to go to kennywood then Columbus Ohio for zoo before home. That was one of my three 2k mile 10 trips before my wife and I had kids. Then traveling like that is out of the question. Now traveling more then a day trip requires lots of planning and packing.

[amk82]

Overall i loved the feel of knoebels, it was like a permanent small town fair. I also loved the bumper cars and by the time i got to go to the park, flying turns had finally opened. Black diamond was fun also.

[taz_39]

Yeah :) It started out as a swimming hole on property owned by the Knoebels family, who ran a lumber business (you probably already know this.) I guess they kept adding stuff at the swimming hole--snacks, slides, eventually rides, etc.--and it became what it is now!

What cracks me up is it's all built around that creek that runs through the park, the original swimming spot, so once every five years or so the park floods terribly and they pay their employees to shovel the mud out of the pool and such lol

The Whip was always my favorite ride! I don't remember Black Diamond.
Also love the carousel, with its Wurlitzer organ and hand-carved horses and brass ring game. I have one of the brass rings on my keychain that goes with me everywhere.

[amk82]

Black diamond is a more recent addition around 2011 or so. They saved it from some pier on the east coast. It is always interesting when it floods they have a majority of the park open quickly with minimal damage. I think it would be neat to rent one of the cabins on the creek sometime and walk around at night when the park is open just to take pictures. I love the nostalgia of the park.