Falling In Love

Before you get all weirded out about my blog title, let me make the disclaimer that this is NOT about my personal life.

Fallingwater

Great, now that that is out of the way, let's talk about Fallingwater, arguably the most famous home in the United States after the White House. This residence is probably the best known Frank Lloyd Wright building, and was built in the late 1930s for the Kaufmann family. For any non-locals, the Kaufmanns were the owners of probably the best department store EVER- Kaufmann's- that opened in 1871 but was bought out by Macy's in 2006. It was a big part of Pittsburgh culture. "Meet me under the Kaufmann's clock" is probably one of the most said phrases in the city (even though technically it's the Macy's clock now...), and has been a gathering place for residents since 1913. Obviously, to have had this much influence over the city, these folks had to have been wealthy. And one of the things they did with their money was to commission Mr. Wright to design a weekend home for them far from the city where they could be rejuvenated from all the smoke and pollution urban Pittsburgh suffered with due to steel making. They used this home for roughly 25-30 years, and then Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. donated the home to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy to be turned into a museum for the public.

Which bring us to my Sunday afternoon visit to Fallingwater with two of my coworkers. It was about an hour drive from the city to the site. As the Queen of Public Transportation, let me tell you now there is NO way to get here unless you drive. NONE. We passed plenty of cows and fields on the way there. Not a bus stop sign in sight! And if you don't drive, good luck trying to find a bus tour out there- before my coworkers decided to go, I tried to Google tours from the city to the premises. I found ONE company that only does tours sporadically. Not very convenient, although it does include the nearby Kentuck Knob- another Wright home seven miles from Fallingwater that often gets overlooked by tourists (like us).

Inside the Visitor's Center

Anyway, once you get to the Visitor Center, you are told to listen for your tour number but to feel free to use the restrooms and browse the shop and cafe in the meantime. Once you are called, you are directed to a path after being told "the rules" of visiting the home, and you walk down a nature trail of sorts, making a right at a waterfall where your tour guide will be standing waiting for you with a giant walking stick in hand. Our tour guide was amazing- Eric Kobal. He was excited (but not crazy), knowledgeable (but not snooty), and friendly (but not fake). Seriously he knew details about EVERYTHING in the house- the plants in the gardens, the art on the walls, the books on the shelves, the design highlights, everything! I'm sure they probably go through some intense training in order to know so much, but I enjoyed that he didn't sound rehearsed and encouraged us to ask questions. Thankfully our group was engaging and excited to be on the tour.

Eric our tour guide! The guides carry the sticks as a sort of homage to Kaufmann, Sr.
who has a portrait in the living room holding one of these.

He had lots of quirky stories and factoids to share with us, but probably my favorite was the one about the color scheme of the home. The home is painted in a beige-y peach color called ocher and accented with Wright's favorite color, Cherokee red. This is actually the second choice of Wright- who thought the home should be covered in gold leaf! Imagine how that would have looked in depression era America-- one family being so rich they could afford to build a house covered in gold while just a few miles away their employees practically starved. Thankfully the Kaufmann's saw this was a terrible idea and the current color scheme was used instead.

After the main house tour (you go through both the main house and the guest house), you are taken to what used to be the car port but is now a sort of movie room where a different person (our was a woman named Bonnie) explains the ways the organization keeps the building maintained, discusses a little about how much it costs, and then does a strong push for membership and donations without coming across as a used car salesman. Seriously, if I had an extra hundred bucks in my pocket that day they could have had it- that's how positive the entire experience (even being solicited!) was. From there you are allowed to go back to the outside area and take pictures, but NOT the inside (more on that later) and then you head back to the Visitor Center. On the way back there is a side trail that takes you to a great spot to take the "iconic" Fallingwater pic that everyone always sees in magazines and books. I honestly had an awesome time here (history and arts nerd that I am!) and would love to come back.

The oldest piece of art in the home. A Hindu goddess statue dating to around 700 AD
Taken from outside so as not to break the rules!

Now, some tips and random tidbits. Don't even think about wearing non-flat, feet exposing shoes. Most of the surfaces we walked were either uneven stone, gravel, or dirt and wood chips so wear something sturdy and protective on your feet. If you've never been and aren't sure you'll like it, take the regular tour. It's $22 for adults. But if you already know you are a Wright fan or want a VIP experience, go ahead and shell out the $65 for the in-depth tour (I know I will next time!). What's the difference? Well, you get a tour that's twice as long in a smaller group (a maximum of ten) AND you'll get to take pictures inside of the house (which we were not allowed to do) and go to areas the general public isn't allowed. AND you won't have to worry about other tours bunching up in spaces with you as the VIP tours are pretty much isolated from everyone else.

A gathering of walking sticks and a donation box. 

Whichever tour you take, I beg you to please ask questions about the art and sculpture you see around you. Why? Well, where else can you be super close and personal with original, authentic Picassos? There are Japanese woodcuts, Riveras, and Khalos mixed in with ancient art from around the world. And there are beautiful antique books that belonged to Junior of some of the most celebrated titles in the history of literature. Another highlight was learning that the Kaufmann's cook, Elsie Henderson, is alive and well at 100 years of age and was recently at the home signing copies of her cookbook (they didn't have any signed copies for me to purchase, otherwise I would have!)

Thank you so much for reading my blog and for following me on my adventure! Feel free to check out my Facebook page (and hit that like button!), and follow me on Twitter to find out where I'm headed next!

Pennsylvania - Oram's Donut Shop

First of all, I owe you all the biggest of apologies. I haven't posted since July- and that is not acceptable! I hope you all can understand that while I may not have been posting, I have kept this journey in my heart and on my mind nearly everyday- to the friendly annoyance of anyone who asks about me traveling anywhere. In order to make my postings not only more frequent, but easier for me to manage, I've decided to make a few changes to how I am approaching the blogging of my journey. First, gone are the super long posts about each destination. I think that although they are overall interesting, they can take a while to read. Also, rarely do I get to go someplace and do everything in one trip. The Part I, II, III, etc. seemed a little too formal, so I've decided to just blog about each place as I get to them. With that being said...

ORAM'S DONUT SHOP

I was watching PBS (that's the Public Broadcasting Station for my international readers) with my grandmother, and being in Pittsburgh, many of the shows we see focus on the history and culture of Southwestern Pennsylvania (to my delight!) One of the shows had a segment about this small bakery, and there were lots of people on the show who praised the shop, it's staff, donuts, and most of all it's famous cinnamon rolls. I was determined that I was going to try them for myself!

Normally, I rely on Google Maps to show me the public transportation directions to places once I'm close to a site I want to visit, but Oram's is not in the same county as Pittsburgh, and the county it is located in (Beaver County) does not yet have it's transit system uploaded to their database. After a few calls to the bakery and the Beaver County Transit Authority I determined which bus I needed to take from the city (Route 1, which only comes into the city Monday-Friday) to make the nearly two hour trek to Oram's. The good news- it was a coach bus and not a standard public transportation bus.

Inside Oram's Donuts

Once I arrived to downtown Beaver Falls (well, I assume it was their downtown) I was immediately drawn to all of the extra old but beautiful buildings. Didn't get to snap any pictures of them, but for all of my fellow old building lovers, it would be an amazing walk-thru trip. I went straight into Oram's, which was a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be based on the TV show, and completed my order. See, I went there on a Friday, and their website said that it's best to call ahead on Fridays and Saturdays to place an order and make sure that there will be donuts available as they tend to run out after the morning. I called ahead and requested that six of their famous (gigantic) cinnamon rolls be held for me, and I would pick out my remaining six once I arrived and could see them for myself. I'm glad I did that because just as the woman came from the back with my large white box half filled with the cinnamon rolls, two different customers were saddened to find out that my six were the last six of the day. The remaining donuts were pretty slim pickings as well, so I picked two each of the three flavors that had the smallest numbers- to me meaning that they were the most popular ones. That left me with Glazed, Pumpkin Cake, and Vanilla Cream. My box was packed up, and I lugged (yes LUGGED- that box was heavy!) my donuts home.

My donuts!

The Vanilla Cream was good, but a little too sweet for my personal tastes (but I'm highly picky about my vanilla cream so don't let that influence you too badly! It had a wonderful true-vanilla flavor and a creamy texture), and the Glazed and Cinnamon Rolls were delicious warmed up in the microwave. My favorite were the Pumpkin Spice, that had just the right balance of flavors to keep the flavorful and moist! Be sure to check out the entire menu- because they have quite a few flavors that I wasn't able to try (sounds like another trip will be in order someday...) I spent $11.50 on the dozen donuts, and the Beaver County bus was $2.75 each way (side note- that has to be the FRIENDLIEST driving staff I've ever experienced! The drivers knew ALL of their regular passengers names, and called ahead if they thought they would miss another route at the county transit station to ask the bus to wait because they had passengers who would need to transfer. Amazing service!)

You can see the rest of the photo's from my trip to Oram's (as well as all the photos from all of my adventures) on my Facebook page and related pics on my Pinterest page. Follow me on Twitter and feel free to send me your comments, questions, and suggestions!

Thank you for reading, and I'll see you next adventure!

Miss America State Favorites

Miss America State Favorites

I saw this photo-article on the Travel Channel where all 53 Miss America contestants were asked for their favorite places in their home states. I immediately thought two things...

1. Wow, I can get a lot of insight on where to go and what to do in every state I haven't yet blogged about, and...

2. 53??!! Man, I thought I was doing big things blogging about the 50 states (and DC) for a total of 51. You add in my Puerto Rico bonus entry and we are at 52. Now, the US Virgin Islands too! Sheesh! I mean, technically I DID go to St. Thomas on the same cruise that landed me in Puerto Rico at the end of the trip...but I didn't DO anything there (my friend and I made it as far as about a half mile from the ship before the sun thoroughly whipped our tails!) Well, we'll see what happens between now and August 31, 2016!

Interesting though, the places mentioned in states I've already covered:

Miss Virginia says her favorite place to go in her state is the beach. (Not very descriptive, or specific, but we'll assume she means Virginia Beach...)

Miss Puerto Rico named the Arecibo Observatory (which I did not visit), home of one of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world.

Miss Pennsylvania said she loves the Hershey Factory in Hershey, PA. Mind you, I haven't finished the state yet but I have it pretty much planned out... a whirlwind of PA made goods- including the Hershey Factory, a visit to Philadelphia, and the Frank Lloyd Wright house Falling Water (and its sister site Kentuck Knob if possible!)

Miss Maryland cited Baltimore's Inner Harbor (check!!!) as her favorite place.

Miss DC named the H Street Country Club as her favorite place (Really? A country club? In my mind... that's a poor choice, but that's her opinion)



Great insight though! I'll probably refer back to this article as long as it's available online for more ideas. Check it out and see if these ladies named one of your favorite places in your favorite states!

Pennsylvania - Part I (Pittsburgh)

Of course I had to start Pennsylvania in my hometown of Pittsburgh! It's amazing how even though I grew up in the city, there were so many things that I knew were iconic and still had never experienced. I took some time during my weekend home visiting for Labor Day to make a few tourist stops. I didn't get to go everywhere I wanted to (for instance I would LOVE to go to a Steelers game at Heinz Field (and have non-crappy seats) but not only were they not playing this weekend, I don't have non-crappy seat funds at this time lol) but I think I did an okay job otherwise.

Entrance lobby of the Andy Warhol Museum

THE ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM

First on my list was the Andy Warhol Museum. I rode past this place a million times going to and from high school, and I have a lot of respect for Mr. Warhol as an "ar-teest" and fellow Pittsburgher (I actually took art classes at the Carnegie Museum of Art in the same (but renamed)  program  that he did as a child) so I was excited to go and finally pay my due respects. (Photography was not allowed anywhere past the first floor, so I don't have many art images for you.)

Andy Warhol cookie!

Walking in, you get the impression that you are almost walking into an IKEA decorated shrine to Andy- and I mean that in a good way. It's clear that this place is all about him, as evidenced by the ginormous picture of him covering smaller pictures of him when you first walk in. The cost is usually $15 to get in (with discounts available for students, seniors, and a slew of other categories), but thanks to my job I got in for free. A girl with pinkish orange hair told me the best route was to go from the top level on the elevator and work my way down (which I did). Each level was dedicated to different aspects of his life and career- his movies, his books, his sculpture, his advertisements, etc. And there were exhibits by other contemporary artists that effortlessly blended into the style of Warhol while standing out on their own at the same time. A few of the videos weren't working (I'm pretty sure that while Warhol may have painted a few iWarhols had he lived to see the Age of Apple, the company's logo wasn't supposed to be mixed in with the short films), but that's really my only complaint. I thought it was cool that the "kids guide" was an informative coloring book that introduces basic concepts of pop art.The cutest thing were the Warhol cookies sold in the cafe (which was itself very chic with cow hair couches and steel tables for decor). Anyone from Pittsburgh will instantly see the loving  similarity between these and the traditional Eat-n-Park smiley face cookies.

The Mon Incline

The Duquesne Incline

THE INCLINES

Once littered across the steep hills of my beloved hometown, there are now only two operational inclines left: the Monongahela  and the Duquesne (muh-non-guh-hay-luh and doo-cane). I know- incredibly shameful that I'm from a place with such an interesting mode of transportation, and I've never rode either one of them. The Mon Incline is a beige color with three tiers of seats in the car, whereas the Duquesne Incline is bright red and is actually one large car with seating on all four walls of the car.

While not expensive to ride (about $3.00 each way on average) it is extremely annoying that not only is it an exact cash only system, but there are scant ATMs and places to get change near the inclines. The Mon was easy enough to find (thanks to a friend that rode them with me who drove to both of them) but the Duquesne Incline was hidden in plain sight as we rode past it twice while trying to find it. Also, maybe because it was a Sunday, but there was no interaction with us as "tourists" once we'd paid our fares. Although I already know the history of the inclines (because when I was a kid Pittsburgh History was a regular part of our education systems) it would have been nice to have someone there willing to talk about them face to face. I'm glad I got on, but I doubt I'll ever ride them again.

EATIN' GOOD: PAMELA'S AND THE ORIGINAL HOT DOG SHOP


I became curious about Pamela's after the Obamas ate there a few years ago and all of my friends began asking if the pancakes really were worth the POTUS flying in the cooks to make him some at the White House. Only thing was, I honestly never heard of this place UNTIL the Obamas ate there! My friends that went to Schenley High School said that they would always go there to eat, and that Pitt's basketball coach often treats his team there (and no wonder, the prices were so cheap I didn't believe them!). Upon the recommendation of my friend who drove us there at 7 in the morning on a Saturday, I got the "Lincoln" special, which included eggs, potatoes, and a breakfast meat of my choice along with the famous Pamela's pancakes (all for $6.25!) Everything was delicious, especially the pancakes. While a bit massive at first glance, they were a velvety, sweet delight with crunchy even sweeter edges. They aren't big and fluffy like I make in my house, but they were amazing nonetheless.

Pamela's pancakes

Next was Original's. I know, most of you see Primanti Brothers on all those TV specials, but I am not a fan of  that particular restaurant. I've eaten at Original's hundreds of times, but never EVER had the food that they are most famous for: hot dogs. Everytime I ever went, my friends and I always got cheese fries (which I think should be considered a local food specialty since you can get them almost anywhere), cheese steaks, or pizzas. And yes, we DO eat french fries on our sandwiches in Pittsburgh lol! Either way, I trekked out there on Labor Day in the pouring rain on the bus from my grandmother's house, and ordered a beef dog with everything on it (except ketchup because I couldn't be sure if it was Heinz or not- the ONLY brand I will eat!!) Of course I loved the cheese fries (I've been eating them my entire life), but the hot dog was ok too. Mind you, I'm not that big on hot dogs to begin with, but I liked that it was a hefty size and not puny like the ones you buy in 7-11 or the grocery store. The bun itself left much to be desired, but I don't expect then to have aritsan rolls in a joint with hand painted signs and a mascot of a hot dog with a cape on. Take it from me, it was good- and Original's has WAY better food than it gets credit for.

Original's hot dog and cheese fries- yes that's a fry order for one!

For more photos from my time in Pittsburgh, please visit my Facebook page (and "Like" it while you are at it!). Also, don't forget to follow me on Twitter. Make sure you subscribe to the blog to catch up with my adventures. I still have to finish Washington, DC, and will post soon about Virginia, New York, and Boston, Massachusetts.

What are your favorite spots in Pennsylvania? Let me know below, and I'll try and check them out when I finish up the state!