Family Travel with Colleen Kelly - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

tucked in the green rolling hills of western Pennsylvania Pittsburgh is called the city of bridges as it sits at the junction of the Allegheny Moraga Gila and Ohio rivers Pittsburgh has a rich history these days the city is thriving with culture sports food and a gorgeous landscape welcome to Pittsburgh the city of bridges I'm Colleen Kelly and this is family travel in this episode I explore Pittsburgh along with my girls and our family friend Tessa we explore the history of the area at two museums marvel at the landscape from land and water get close to some feathered friends and play with fire my name is Colleen Kelly and when I was single I lived abroad and traveled the world then I became a parent and wondered how would I ever travel again so I set out to find a new way to travel and get back to exploring the world family style I'm here to guide you on how to get the most out of your family vacation pack your bags and join me Colleen Kelly we're going on vacation funding provided by I am never getting married we're never having kids for all the Nevers in life State Farm is their family travel proudly supports the following charity Gigi's Playhouse free programs for people with Down syndrome mercy home for boys and girls giving healing and hope to children and teens Misericordia providing a network of services for people with developmental disabilities [Music] Pittsburgh is the second largest city in Pennsylvania with a population of over 300,000 people Pittsburgh is a bustling cross-section of the old and new remnants of the steel industry reside alongside skyscrapers and the various ethnic neighborhoods reflect the city's proud immigrant roots Pittsburgh's rich history includes some of the biggest names in American industry one of those names is Heinz many of us are familiar with the Heinz family because their signature brand of ketchup can be found in most American homes the Heinz family name can be found all over the city of Pittsburgh including the Heinz History Center named after former US Senator H John Heinz the third the museum is the largest history museum in Pennsylvania and it's packed with family-friendly activities every exhibit has a kid component to it so while mom and dad are looking at artifacts and reading labels there's always a kid thing to do an interactive so on the first floor they can get on a trolley or go sliding through the Liberty tube they can go to the Sports Museum and throw a football or test their leaping ability there's something for all kids whether they're 8 or 80 well I'm gonna go get my kids now for the Heinz History Center is a family of museums and we're gonna check it out [Music] 1976 Steelers they won Super Bowl Wow look at this story begins here in the locker room where Pittsburghers transform themselves shutting the stuff of everyday life and girding for competition yeah they're really into their sports here look at this okay this is a famous catcher Pittsburgh Pirates that's awesome they were my favorite team is that basketball jersey women's basketball that's your room look at that copper University of Pennsylvania Division two women's basketball national which is 2004 that'll be you Tessa oh okay let's see how far can you jump [Music] okay no you got like here landed here okay we'd be there be me girls and I did our best and decided to reward ourselves with our very own medals oh you make something this is fun so punch a hole at the top of your medal then decorate your metal attach a stream to your medal yeah I'm gonna win something okay we've got best soccer player best basketball player best volleyball player and best mom and another blast from the past one of my biggest childhood memories began right here in Pittsburgh I'll give you a hint won't you be my neighbor okay I can't sing mr. Rogers neighborhood first aired on Pittsburgh Public Television in 1968 putting this land of make-believe on the mat for 33 years this is from my childhood this is mr. Rogers and I watched him every day so this was King Friday and then there was Prince Tuesday and they would come out of this you know and be on the balcony and then there'd be like a little trolley that would go around it was so cool then there was Daniel Tiger the tiger I can't believe this is the actual cell everybody loves mr. Rogers after a wonderful time at the museum we realized the motto is true Pittsburgh really is kids first [Music] coming down [Music] such a busy morning we decide to head back and take a tour of the store hotel where we'll be staying for our trip this is great and this is great [Music] it really is we're glad to have you so here we are in the urban room and this is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks its name comes after Joseph Urban and he was a set and lighting designer for Florence's Ziegfeld he hand-painted all the murals that you see in the room the ceiling mural is called the Tree of Life so this room is very precious to us it is a very popular room here at the hotel so here we are in the speakeasy and this is a very historic part of the hotel there were a number of speakeasies in Pittsburgh we learned when we were opening this room Pittsburgh had 50 speakeasies which was more than many cities in the country people did not have to go through the main lobby when they came here so it was a very secretive place and they were able to come down the stairs come in and of course it has its own escape route which is in the back corner and goes out toward the front of the hotel so this is the terrace room and this is our three meal a day restaurant the historical significance of this room is that the big band leader Lawrence Welk I got his start here in this room back on New Year's Eve in 1938 he played for the very first time another significant part of this room is the beautiful mural that you see on the wall and it depicts a very historic aspect of Pittsburgh which is the taking of Fort Pitt it's a very unique room at one of our favorites as the Sun begins to set we head to the Duquesne Incline a cable car that will take us up 800 feet to the top of Mount Washington for some spectacular views of this beautiful city well this is what is called the Golden Triangle pizza the Monongahela River in the Allegheny works meet at the point down there for the fountain is formed the Ohio River and as we get higher you'll notice it is in the shape of the triangle yeah you can see that from here when they built this the incline open up a 20th 18 and it was for mass transportation up and down the hill so that people who work the factories down by the river would have transportation up and down they didn't make it this is beautiful this is a great way to see the city of its do rvs oh okay I see a kayak [Music] [Music] this is where the most unique views of any city I've ever been to all right you want to have some more fun let's go what a spectacular way to end our first day in Pittsburgh [Music] we start our second day in town with a fiery activity it turns out that you don't have to go all the way to the Italian island of Murano to learn the heart of glassmaking you could do it right here in Pittsburgh we met up with our transparent and her daughter in front of the Pittsburgh Lassiter all right so today we're gonna make what's called a Frick pendant we're gonna take this rod of glass here we're gonna melt a ball on the end and then we're actually gonna dip it in frit which is broken up small pieces of glass they all are colored so it's gonna be really pretty we're gonna put a bunch of layers of this frit on this glass here and we're gonna make it into a pendant something you can wear [Music] that's great glass is kind of funny I always say glass is really humbling because you never really get it to do what you want you never have all the control you wish you had on any kind of have to work with it a lot that so we're going to do is right away put it into this film game that is gonna allow it to stay up in a nice happy temperature i Karen and Molly we just finished ours how's yours going good what do we really love that's really we're working on technique to get the extra glass thanks you havin fun Maui it is it easier or harder than you thought it was about the same as how I thought it would be really it's not too easy but also not extremely difficult yeah she's pretty artistic no so she takes anything artsy this is a good gun to water yeah this would be something new you do yeah it teaches you patience what an amazing memento for the girls to bring home with them glass making sure works up an appetite so we head to the McKees Rocks neighborhood which is home to a particular Polish delicacy we meet up with Helen Monterrey no to learn how to make pierogies hello morning adobe's flash I'm doing well about yourself we're great works I didn't see you and she was thank you how to mix it thank you and I'd be very excited okay all right let's go okay we're going to start with this secret recipe of my mom and my grandma and we started with the flour this is bloom flower okay our secrets pierogies are handmade pasta pockets filled with potato cheese onion or sauerkraut and a must-try when traveling to Pittsburgh but special water no no this is just a regular water two cups and we're going to cut our oh you're that time can we try it is there a certain way to mix it all just incorporate all the flour into water and the egg okay did you do this when you're a little make these yes that's how doing just what they're doing this is the fun part you make it by hand that's what they do here how are they doing we're doing it's so sticky and now you can take this and scrape your penis like this I was going I'm not trying you're just a sudden you have to you have to do this yourself you can when you are done let it rest a little while can you just feel the perfect consistency yeah you just know yes so what's the connection between pierogies and Pittsburgh 40% of Pittsburghers that are ver Eastern European descent so they continue tradition yeah that's great that's important yes I want to feel okay I know it's something not too soft and not too hard okay now we are ready to at all it and start rolling now are these oil made by hand these pierogies here ours yes not a good go that though we are all on the roll yeah but it's made better we were tailors by hand goodbye that's not seen very much these days we're try we make cookies at home like this oh look at these things so the edges edges out there but at home you can get the 10 oh yeah just to any a glass is that how your grandmother used to do it with the chaos throughout good mother is a cutter yes okay now the circles are ready and we're going to keep the filling hand what we do here we take our mashed potatoes so this is plain potato will if we are making potato cheese we add cheddar cheese to this [Music] we need a cottage cheese meat so now we have this okay we have to put a little line here move your finger and fold it like this and when they are folded like that and you can go one by one inch by inch and pinch it so how many do you make of these a day we don't count oh you know I thought you said thousands you don't know they probably several hundred all by hands yes so the secret to this is okay that was good very good how do you get it so it doesn't come out well make sure that no potatoes is on edge I don't know is this looking right yeah Oh for me okay now they're ready PD Boyle okay put them on the tray so with this we're going to throw the pot the steel industry first brought Polish immigrants to the area in the mid-1800s and this popular Polish dish has been on the menu ever since I have anyone I have been ready with you yourself so do you ever get tired of pierogies over the weekend when we don't cook - you know geese I come Monday are the first thing I eat this pair of these really enjoy them they're gone I'm here in Pittsburgh I'm eating pierogies like the locals so word on the street is that there is a very special place that we need to check out in Pittsburgh and the bird is the word [Music] this is the only national a very in the United States and is home to over 500 birds you can go in the exhibits let's go [Music] those shoes oh my god thing look at that wow it's a beautiful bird [Music] by thirty icebergs these are warm weather penguins and they came from South Africa and so they they like the heat I guess but most of the world has warm weather I know we always think of cold weather huh oh that's so pretty it's a bluebird I've never seen a bird that color look at that yeah I like that one too that is real color we're gonna do now is we're going to bring up four younger volunteers all right all you're gonna do is take these worms tension between your crispy removal nice and high up in the air for me okay there you go there you go whoops there's one more for ya we're gonna be on to the word there you are let's go ahead and give that black face Tanjore worm can you a hand it's a little bit perfect job nice job all right thank you guys so much let's give our volunteers that are automated [Applause] [Music] [Applause] all right so here we have our - these are sweetums and Baker sweetums was the first one to greet you now Baker is coming out of you know this is something that everybody can do if they come here right yeah yes this is one of our interactive encounters that we offer it's $40 a person to come down here and visit with our hand raised flamingos Wow I can tell you right now that if you come here you have to do this I think that's worth it [Music] there are 446 bridges in the city of Pittsburgh navigating the three main waterways Allegheny Monica hayla and Ohio rivers what better way to see the city of bridges than hopping on the Gateway clipper thank you one [Music] all right so we are taking a boat ride to baseball game this is so cool that right there is high stadium and it's the Pittsburgh Steelers football team's stadium I'm like it's right on the water it's so pretty I'll look over there girls you can actually play in that fountain so we're arriving now at the stadium with Pittsburgh Pirates and you don't just watch the game here there are tons of other things to do and I am so excited and I know the girls are too what are these call girls so is there and what do you do here go down and waters there is fine display bottom and it's free here we are we're getting ready for the Pittsburgh the Clipper drops us off right in front of PNC Park the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates let's head in to see the sights sounds and smells of the ballpark [Music] [Laughter] [Music] we have one last stop on our tour of Pittsburgh that will take us back in time to the age of dinosaurs the Carnegie Natural History Museum allows visitors to travel back to the Mesozoic era which was over 66 million years ago [Music] because I shouldn't be here isn't this place cool he lets you tell the dinosaurs do you want to check out some more all right show me the way let's go okay it's a bone you want touch it Boas are a special type of snake they what they do is they have strong belly muscles and what they do with those belly muscles is they like to wrap around their food and squeeze it tight they're a constrictor that he rides he's a turtle looking here brother he's a turtle we could fit in that so on the sides of her belly she swims from side to side and she breathes in and out on her belly like this so she needs to have softer scales on her belly so I want you to feel her on her back and then remember one direction you didn't know you were going to get the pet an alligator today until you gave me her hug how's it pretty cool that's right this hands-on approach to learning is a hit with the young ones is that soft ranked among the top five natural history museums in the United States the Carnegie Museum features full scale dinosaur displays as they were when they roamed the earth billions of years ago [Music] and we get our breasts we take our chisel we don't bang up or hit with our chisel what's gonna happen if I've been really hard on one of our fossils it's gonna break right we don't want to break a fossil no definitely not we take our brush and so we can see our thought homes better now most importantly everybody in the quarry has to wear our super cool goggles so you can look like real paleontologists right Soren so he's one of the long necked dinosaurs so we're gonna show in the afternoon here trying to dig him up right yeah definitely I want to see you guys dig him out he is the most complete skeleton that anyone's ever found of a dinosaur and what are we doing here we're learning to be a paleontologist yes someone who digs for fossils but you know paleontologists have a nickname you know what their nickname is they're called bone hunters and that's why were called bone hunters quarry really cool right are you gonna be a bone hunter yeah you are let's see if we can dig him up huh getting our hands dirty in a dig while we look for dinosaur bones was a great way to learn more about these extinct animals what an incredible family vacation to Pittsburgh we enjoy learning the city's history and visiting America's favorite next-door neighbor we took in the most incredible views from the highest point in the city we got our hands sticky making pierogies and fired up a new memento to show our friends back home and let's not forget getting up close and personal with some new feathery friends I'm Colleen Kelly thanks for watching family travel enjoy making memories family vacation [Music] funding provided by I am never getting married we're never having kids you're never moving to the suburbs never having another kid I'm never letting go for all the Nevers in life State Farm is there and we travel proudly supports the following charity Gigi's Playhouse free programs for people with Down syndrome mercy home for boys and girls giving healing and hope to children and teens misericórdia providing a network of services for people with developmental disabilities for more information on upcoming destinations and projects visit family travel CK dot-com follow us on Twitter like us on facebook follow us on Instagram and check us out on snapchat we'd love to hear from you [Music]

Channel: Family Travel

Views: 21,265

Rating: 4.7345972 out of 5

Keywords: Education, Educational, American Public Television, National Television, Television, Family Travel, Vacation, Travel Series, Travel Show, TV Show, National TV, PBS

Id: mBDG-oG7NZA

Length: 26min 48sec (1608 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 05 2018