Nov. 3 Run: Commonplace Coffee on Forbes in Squirrel Hill

This Sunday various group members will be running in the 10-mile EQT race, so the rest will start at our default location at Commonplace Coffee, heading to parts unknown.  NB: time change day, so you have an extra hour to sleep in.

Last Sunday the hovering darkness at 7 a.m. made the barely visible path into the Schenley forest reminiscent of Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, so we headed over to the road, behind Phipps and up onto the green (now actually brownish-red) roof of its new Platinum LEEDS Certified classroom building.  From which we watched an incandescent sunrise over Oakland under a turquoise sky and a reeling, cawing murder of crows.  (Wendy reminded me of that terrific word.)

Discussed later on:
Glasses vs. contacts vs. bifocal contacts vs. lasik - undecided
Used clothes - Plato's Closet - and the color-coding system at Red, White, and Blue - and the fact that Vietnam Veterans Donations will pick up from your house.
Empty nests - how long does it take to get happy about it? Less time if you start doing things like:

• Joining the Pittsburgh Meet-Up Hiking Group
• Taking the Carrie Blast Furnace Tour  (oops, over for the year - remember for next Spring)
• Binge TV:  The Paradise; The Americans; Scandal; the Sarah Palin movie
• the Moth - don't forget! - second Tuesday of the month at the Rex Theater
• creative running - as follows:

Lest you are missing our special theme runs (and give us a break: we just visited a Giant Duck) a number of ideas are brewing.  Jan is investigating a run through new developments in Hazelwood; I've got a StepTrek map of the South Side; and Virginia has been looking at the 90 Neighborhoods blog with the idea of hitting all of them. Since we've moseyed through a good number already, we will need to figure out what's left - and this means a spreadsheet.  Let the nerds among us begin...

Oct. 27 Run: Wendy Bennett Trailhead at start of Overlook Drive, foot of the Schenley Oval

This Sunday we'll do a Schenley Park run, starting at the famed Wendy Bennett Trailhead (where Hobart meets Greenfield Rd. at the foot of the Schenley Park Oval) to catch the end of the fall color extravaganza.  There had been talk about visiting some Halloween inflatables, but really, how many times have we excitedly gone in pursuit of those absurd gigantic blown-up ghosts and witches, only to find crumpled up plastic on the ground in the early hours.  Maybe we'll see one anyway on the way back to coffee hour.

Last week was the East End Penn Avenue Corridor restaurant discovery running tour, made calorie-free by taking place when not one of them was open. On the culinary trail were:  Living Social, Paris 66, BRGR, Spoon, Plum, Notion, Union Pig & Chicken, Salt of the Earth, Verde, Quiet Storm, Avenue B, Dinette, a glimpse of Cafe Zinho, and that didn't get them all. Those of us who lived in the Burgh in the olden times never dreamed of this kind of gastronomic opulence.  Virginia is planning a similar tour for us downtown, where evidently even more bistros, brasseries, trattorias, rathskellers, and cafés are popping up. 

Coffee discussion ranged far afield, with the following endorsements:

• Pittsburgh Rabbi Danny Schiff's portable Museum of Jewish Ideas

• Wedding websites

• Books: The Reason I Jump, and novels by Guy Gavriel Kay (Game of Thrones without the lunacy - ah, you knew I'd bring it back)

• Prezi - move over, Powerpoint

• Coming Nov. 3:  EQT Ten Miler - new Pittsburgh race event - who will represent?

Oct. 20 Run: Mellon Park parking lot at Beechwood and Fifth

Next Sunday we will start out at Mellon Park (Beechwood & Fifth) - opinion as to where to go from there was mixed:  Friendship or Shadyside?  Let's do both. Though if anyone has a particular inspiration, just bring it with you and we will follow.

Last Sunday, well, what can compare to the eloquence of a gigantic inflatable duck glowing in the soft October dawn?  We kept it in sight as we crisscrossed the bridges and trails up and down the Allegheny, as picturesque as we've ever seen it.  

No coffee news since I missed it, but I do know it was held at the "Market Square Piazza".  Next river feature to come: gondolas?

And - months have gone by since we last mentioned this, so it must be time for: the Boden Warehouse Sale at the Convention Center. Mark your calendars for Saturday, Nov. 9.  Apparently will go head-to-head with Dress Designer Days - battle of the titans!

Oct. 13 Run: PPG Place Downtown to visit the Giant Rubber Ducky

Thanks to Aimee for sending this in (and leading last week's run)!
 
Next Sunday (10/13), we will meet at the Tomb of the Unknown Bowler in PPG Plaza Downtown for a spectacular Giant Duckie Run!

Here's what we did last Sunday:
Borough Councilman and Third Ward resident Michael Lefebvre led the group on a wild and hilly adventure through the streets of Wilkinsburg, that brought us to hope, despair, and hope again!  Running past abandoned, dilapidated structures with broken windows, we also ran past beautifully renovated historic residential and commercial buildings, community gardens, and many, many churches, all glimmers of hope in a borough with a shrinking tax base.  The borough was historically known as "The Holy City," with its unusually high concentration of churches, seceding from the City of Pittsburgh in 1876 to maintain the religious integrity of the community.   http://www.wilkinsburgpa.gov/about/history.aspx

Efforts by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation have transformed both residential and commercial buildings in the central part of the borough.  We marveled at the dramatically restored Crescent Apartments and Wilson House:
http://www.landmarkspreservation.org/work/wilkinsburg/the-crescent/
http://www.landmarkspreservation.org/work/wilson-house/

Scaling a steep hill, we found ourselves admiring the Singer Mansion, which has been continuously occupied since it was built for $75,000 in 1864.  See page 20 for a picture of the mansion.
 
After returning to the Regent Square part of Wilkinsburg, we found a house that was recently featured on the inaugural Wilkinsburg House Tour a few weeks ago.  It was originally purchased for $6,600, fixed up, and resold a year later for $363,000!!!  While the house was purchased through a Free and Clear sale, "flipped" and re-sold, good tax opportunities exist for those who occupy the house for at least 10 years. Here are the details on the borough's TaxBase Expansion Ordinance (which provides a nice tax abatement).
 
At coffee at Biddle's Escape, we discussed the debacle of Wilkinsburg's troubled school district recentlyborrowing $3 million and hiring consultants with expensive tastes (!), and the ongoing government shutdown (we couldn't resist).  
 

Oct. 6 Run: Start at Biddle's Escape on Biddle & S. Trenton for a special Wilkinsburg run

Expanding our latest tradition of politically-involved runs and local discoveries, Aimee has talked Wilkinsburg Council member Mike Lefebvre into taking us on a tour of the multiple churches (and other outstanding sights) of Wilkinsburg, starting and ending at the charming Biddle's Escape coffeehouse.  Not to worry about missing the Giant Rubber Ducky - we'll visit him (her?) the following Sunday.

Last Sunday, we anticipated the slowly gathering hordes of Great Race runners in Squirrel Hill, and made a grand tour through a yellowing Frick Park and Homewood Cemetery in what was simply perfect autumn weather.  A delightful run, despite the cvetching about Pittsburgh hills (I include yours truly) which, let's face it, is like complaining about sand in Death Valley.

Endorsement:  Stretching
Non-endorsement:  the "scraper"

Roye