Jan 31st, 2012 at 2:00PM: While many people still visualize Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to be an old steel city, the hilly town has certainly changed a lot in the last 30-40 years. My first impressions when arriving were that the lit up hillsides, public art, modern architecture, colorful bridges, scenic rivers, diverse restaurants and lively club scene made Pittsburgh seem a lot more eclectic and trendy than industrial. If ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Pennsylvania posts
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: From steel town to scenic city
Jan 31st, 2012 at 2:00PM: While many people still visualize Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to be an old steel city, the hilly town has certainly changed a lot in the last 30-40 years. My first impressions when arriving were that the lit up hillsides, public art, modern architecture, colorful bridges, scenic rivers, diverse restaurants and lively club scene made Pittsburgh seem a lot more eclectic and trendy than industrial. If ...Visit the 1,000-pound butter sculpture at the Pennsylvania Farm Show
Jan 8th, 2012 at 10:00AM:
Headed to Pennsylvania anytime soon? We'd suggest you pay a visit to the Pennsylvania Farm Show, opening Saturday, to visit the 1,000-pound butter sculpture, depicting a young 4-H member showing his prized calf at a county fair. The sculpture pays tribute to the 100th anniversaries of the Pennsylvania 4-H and Pennsylvania State Association of County Fairs.
The largest segment of ...Photo of the Day - Holiday lights
Dec 4th, 2011 at 8:00PM:
With the holidays fast approaching, trees, houses and fences across the world are beginning to glow with decorative lights of all shapes and sizes. Whatever your religion or beliefs, these festive displays add a burst of warmth and color to the dark days of December. Flickr user herb.g does a great job of capturing this holiday spirit in today's shot from Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania - the ...Discovering (New) Pennsylvania Dutch Cuisine
Oct 31st, 2011 at 4:30PM:
The winding road to Hanover, Pennsylvania passes the kind of pastoral beauty reserved for bad hotel paintings: bulbous barns, red chipped paint clinging to the exterior, sit rustically unloved in the middle of pasture, as a sunburst of fall foliage illuminates the background. Billboards announce an upcoming convention dedicated to scrapbooking. In town, old ladies hold up signs at intersections ...Gawker's Worst 50 States
Aug 25th, 2011 at 11:30AM: I've been following Gawker's newest series, The Worst 50 States. I've been enjoying following this series. In an effort to pin down not only the best states in the US of A, but, more importantly, the worst states, Gawker compiled a Gawker-invented rating system in order to rank our fair fifty. Granted, this rating system consists solely of the viewpoints of those on staff for Gawker, so the ...Hersheypark to add new roller coaster, Skyrush for 2012
Aug 22nd, 2011 at 12:00PM:
After months of releasing coded clues and hints via a fictitious engineering website reminiscent of the Dharma Initiative from ABC's Lost, Hersheypark unveiled its highly anticipated 2012 roller coaster. Dubbed Skyrush, the steel roller coaster will dominate the park's skyline with a 200-foot tall peak. The ride will begin with an unusually speedy ascent to the top of the lift hill. Then, riders ...
Director of Forged spills on Scranton, PA
Jul 29th, 2011 at 11:00AM:
Forged is a recently-released movie that explores the stories within deep family bonds and the quest for redemption. Directed by William Wedig, the movie was shot in Scranton, Pennsylvania in February 2009. According to Wedig, 2009 was actually the coldest winter in Scranton over the last 50 years. The cinematography in Forged nonetheless came out beautifully. The crisp and dreary shots of the ...Mummies of the World exhibition opens in Philadelphia
Jun 21st, 2011 at 9:30AM:
Mummies are endlessly fascinating. To see a centuries-old body so well preserved brings the past vividly to life. While Egyptian mummies get most of the press, bodies in many regions were mummified by natural processes after being deposited in peat bogs or very dry caves.
Mummies of the World is a state-of-the-art exhibition bringing together 150 mummies and related artifacts. It opened last ...Photo of the day: Centralia, Pennsylvania
Jun 15th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
Do you know the story of Centralia, Pennsylvania? It goes a little something like this: In 1981, there were over 1,000 residents in this town. In 2010, there were 10. A mine fire began burning beneath the city in 1962. The fire may have been started from none other than the town's firefighters who had volunteered to help clear a dump by burning it. It's speculated that the fire was never ...Proposed casino near Gettysburg National Park denied license
Apr 17th, 2011 at 8:00AM: The National Parks Conservation Association is applauding the decision of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to deny a license to a proposed casino near Gettysburg National Park. The Board felt that the gambling establishment, which would have opened less than a half-mile from the park, would be at odds with the solemn historical legacy and family friendly environment at Gettysburg.
The ...A guide to America's most "offal" restaurants
Mar 11th, 2011 at 11:00AM: Even when I was a finicky kid subsisting on Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, I was intrigued by offal. No way in hell would I have eaten what are politely known in the food industry as "variety meats," but they sure looked intriguing.
As with most of my weird habits, I blame my dad for my fascination with animal guts. Growing up the daughter of a large animal vet, I spent most of my formative years ...Photo of the day - Philadelphia skyline
Mar 4th, 2011 at 5:30PM:
Today's Photo of the Day is of a piece of the Philadelphia skyline, anchored by the 1930 PNB Building. It was taken by Christian Carollo Photography.
A few years ago, Philadelphia suddenly started cropping up in the travel media as a bypassed destination, as a place that was finally getting the attention it had deserved all along. This development accompanied a spate of stories about the ...Woman dies in Philadelphia hotel after cosmetic buttocks injection
Feb 9th, 2011 at 11:30AM: A 20-year old British woman died in a Hampton Inn near the Philadelphia airport on Tuesday, after silicone injections in her posterior didn't go as planned. AOL News reports that Claudia Adusei and three friends arrived from London on Saturday, and were staying at the hotel. Adusei and one of the friends had visited Philadelphia last November to have their buttocks' enhanced with silicone (are you ...It's Groundhog Day on Foursquare: Pennsylvania Tourism sponsors new badge
Jan 13th, 2011 at 1:00PM: Social media fanatics don't have to see Punxsutawney Phil's prognostication live to snag location-based service FourSquare's latest badge. Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Tourism Office, users checking in anywhere in the world by badge by following visitPA on Foursquare and using the word "Groundhog" can snag the inaugural PA Groundhog Day badge on February 2.
Pennsylvania became the first state ...Knoebels could add two new roller coasters in 2011
Dec 31st, 2010 at 1:02AM:
Central Pennsylvania amusement park Knoebels could open two roller coasters next season. For a park with only three roller coasters in operation, that would be quite a boost. The small park is a fan favorite among theme park enthusiasts as it offers free admission, classic rides, and a homey non-commercial feel.
Black Diamond was purchased from Wildwood, New Jersey's Dinosaur Beach where it ...Dog bites passenger and flight attendant, forces US Airways landing in Pittsburgh
Dec 7th, 2010 at 12:00PM: Mandy is one tough bitch.
On US Airways Flight 522 from Newark to Phoenix, this 12-pound Manchester terrier busted out of its cage. You would have too ... if the drugs had worn off. With no more sedatives in her system, Mandy bit a man sitting next to her 89-year-old owner. Then, the dog shot up and down the aisle, also biting a flight attendant, according to the NY Post.
As a result of this ...10 U.S. Cities where profanity prevails
Dec 6th, 2010 at 3:00PM: He, we're all prone to a bit of profanity every now and then – some of us more than others. I've had my ass butt handed to me by the Gadling editors over my (finally) occasional use of some foul language, though I've taken steps to (as they say) improve myself. Well, I was happy to see when flipping through my RSS feed that I'm not the only person who likes to drop an f-bomb every now and ...Holiday trip? Consider rail travel
Nov 26th, 2010 at 2:00PM:
Unlike Europe and Japan, the United States isn't known for its high-tech, efficient rail travel. Which is a shame because, as I recently discovered, taking Amtrak is sometimes a better way to travel this big country of ours, and generally speaking, it has a lower carbon footprint per passenger than driving or flying.
You definitely need to have time to spare for long distance trips, ...Philadelphia hotel fire is murder cover-up
Nov 2nd, 2010 at 2:00PM:
There was violence at the center of a recent hotel fire in Philadelphia. A repeat guest of the Center City Omni Hotel, Patrick Brady was found beaten, strangled and set ablaze. The 49-year-old stayed at the property when in the area on business.
On Saturday, the local fire department was called to the hotel because of an eighth-floor fire. It was put out quickly and limited to Brady's room. ...Scandal as hundreds of historic treasures go missing
Oct 31st, 2010 at 2:00PM:
An audit of the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission has revealed that more than 1,800 historic artifacts can't be found. Officials aren't sure what happened to them but assume many have been stolen and others misfiled.
Missing treasures include a Kentucky rifle like those pictured above, an Ottoman ring that's almost 800 years old, one-of-a-kind paintings and photographs, and ...
