Plan to photograph in Pittsburgh! - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

PSA Journal, Feb, 2002 by Carole L. Hagaman

"Pittsburgh Shines!" Visitors to Pittsburgh will have the chance to discover all the reasons why Pittsburgh shines. Anyone who travels through the Fort Pitt Tunnels and across the Fort Pitt Bridge in the evening knows the city is alive with light. What a vista that entrance provides! Other great vantage points from which to see the city lights are the decks of the many riverboats that travel the three sparkling rivers- the Monongahela, the Allegheny, and the Ohio. Cruises leave regularly from Station Square, one of the city's most popular attractions. A city once known as the industrial hub for production of steel, iron, and glass, Pittsburgh is now a center for technology, robotics, medicine and tourism.

Station Square is Pittsburgh's place to play. From freight trains and riverboats to streams of tourists, from steel town to hot town, from workplace to show place, Station Square is Pittsburgh's No. 1 destination with the power to move, excite and transport people like no other place in Pittsburgh. Four of the Top Ten downtown tourist attractions are at Station Square: the Shops at Station Square, the Gateway Clipper (the largest inland cruise line in the country utilizing six cruise ships), Just Ducky Tours, and the Monongahela and Duquesne Inclines. Station Square is a premier shopping experience with over 40 specialty shops and boutiques that offer fashions, souvenirs, furnishings, gifts, toys, confections and novelties from all over the world. There are over 16 restaurants and nightclubs located on site, including Pittsburgh's Historic Landmark Grand Concourse Restaurant. The Grand Concourse has a seating capacity of 525 and is Pittsburgh's largest restaurant. The main modes of tourist transportation are based at Station Square. Gray Line Trolleys, Pittsburgh's amphibious "Just Ducky" boat tours and Pittsburgh's Horse and Carriage Tours are headquartered here. The Duquesne and Monongahela Inclines, cable-operated trolleys based at each end of Station Square, ascend and descend Mount Washington for a spectacular view of the city day and night. The Smithfield St. Bridge, the number one pedestrian bridge in Pennsylvania, connects visitors to downtown Pittsburgh with a 5-minute walk. The "T" Stop, the "world's shortest subway system" under Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle, is located just across Carson Street from Station Square.

Other dining stops at the Station for all tastes and budgets include another dozen or so wonderful places to stop for lunch, dinner or just a bite. Bobby Rubino's Place for Ribs, Chauncy's, Cheese Cellar, Coffee Express, Funnybone Comedy Club, Hooters, Houlihans's, Jerryrolls, Jimbo's Specialty Beer and Hot Dog Shop, Kiku of Japan, Ref's Sport Bar/ Game Room, and Sesame Inn offer much variety. Popular and convivial, The Gandy Dancer Saloon, offers up heaping helpings of steamed or iced clams, oysters, shrimp and mussels. Fresh pasta is also a specialty of the house. The historic decor, railroad photographs and artifacts make the place a veritable museum.

Get "nose to beak" with a flamingo. Talk to a parrot. Travel the world at the National Aviary and visit over 500 exotic and endangered birds in natural habitats. The National Aviary is located in Pittsburgh's historic West Park, and is open every day of the year except Christmas. It features several countries with their magnificent birds. Steel magnate and philanthropist Henry Phipps donated Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens to the city of Pittsburgh in 1893. For more than 100 years, the Gardens have delighted plant and flower enthusiasts from around the world. The botanical gardens feature lush tropical plants, palms, orchids, ferns and desert plants, as well as many special flower shows and exhibits. There is also a Butterfly Forest containing hundreds of species of butterflies.

Pittsburgh also has a zoo and aquarium where you may embark on an extraordinary adventure through wildlife habitats carefully designed to immerse you in the native world of the animals. You may explore one of the largest zoo and aquarium attractions in the country.

For history buffs, Pittsburgh's North Side was originally known as Allegheny City. Comprised of 18 distinctive neighborhoods (Approximately 1/5 of Pittsburgh), the North Side beckons with its amazing history and wondrous culture. To explore it is to discover resplendent homes from centuries past, beautiful public parks, historic accommodations, charming restaurants, one-of-a-kind attractions and more.

A museum of photography, Photo Antiquities, is dedicated to 19th century photography. It offers a history lesson not only on photography, but an open window to the past. This region's finest display of period photographs, photographic viewing devices and vintage cameras allow modern-day visitors to enter the past. Designed in the Victorian style, Photo Antiquities preserves and exhibits the history of photography. The Victorian decor and period music playing in the background contribute to the feeling of being in another era and enhance the journey into the past. Representing the evolution of an art form taken for granted today, the museum exhibits represent every major 19th century photographic process. The visitor will find Daguerreotypes -- earliest form of photography, 1839-50's -- images produced on a light-sensitive, silver-coated copper plate; Ambrotypes -- images on glass plates, mid 1850's-60's -- when backed by a black backing, appear positive; Tintypes -- photographic images on a thin metal plate, 1856-1870's -- blackened, light-sensitive metal plates used to produce photographic images; Albumen Prints -- images from a glass plate negative produced on paper, 1850-90 -- sensitized to light, produced an image via contact printing with a negative. Located on Pittsburgh's historic cultural North Side, this one-of-a-kind museum represents the history of photography.