September 29 Run: Biddle's Escape, 401 Biddle Ave., Wilkinsburg

Sunday is the Great Race, so for those of us who aren't racing, we'll try to avoid the street closings by meeting at old favorite Biddle's Escape, 401 Biddle Ave. in Wilkinsburg.  Run can be in any direction.  Afterwards, if the weather is fine and there are enough seats outside, we may decamp to Madeleine's down the street for the unpronounceable scrumptious Kouign-Amanns. 

Two weeks of great runs displaying the housing improvements, or gentrification (depending on how you look at it) of East Liberty and The Strip.  Either way, change is afoot. See photos below for the gorgeous grunge we visited near Railroad St. (Photo credits to Pam and Virginia.) Also, a very different scene from Carrie and Karen, after the marathon in Bar Harbor.

Pent-up endorsements:

• SO much TV (clearly we need an escape from reality):  Netflix's Unbelievable; Nurse Jackie; Fleabag's 2nd series; new seasons of the Great British Baking Show and Queer Eye, Orange is the New Black (already a classic) inspiring the thought experiment, "if you were in prison, which person would you be?" and the ultimate tranquilizer, Animal Babies.
• If you want your kids to call you, change your Netflix password.
• Fun escape read:  Where did you go, Bernadette?
• Oakland:  The Cathedral of Learning, run up the 36 flights, take the elevator down, and then sink into the consolation of the exquisite Heinz Memorial Chapel.
• Borland Garden - funky treasure discovered in the middle of East Liberty
• Farm Camps - there are a lot of these!
• Western River Expeditions Grand Canyon Tour
• Media surveillance - NOT endorsed - we're being watched endlessly
• The women warriors at Fair Districts PA