Stop #42; Carrick

Date: November 21
Neighborhood: Carrick
Pitt Stoppers: Jimmy D., Noreen, Pteri, Gino, Kristen, Tommy, Bobby D., Moon, Holly, Hank, Lisa, Nick.

Bar: Whoville.

Pluses: They are in reconstruction mode in Whoville. The place has 12 bowling lanes on two floors of the building. When they're done, it will be tremendous place to go bowling. The currently have a selection of shuffle bowling, pool, and pinball.

Weirdness: Based on the posters, they used to host Bowling for Dollars. They have the swankest toilet seat in the city.






The view of the soon-to-be-dandy bowling lanes from a window in the bar.











Kristin and Pteri enjoying the swank powder room seating.
















Speaking of swank powder room seating...
















Bowling for Dollars!

Bonus points for those who watched.










Holly shooting some pool.

Notice the cool bowling alley-style seating on the left.









They are serious about their bowling at Whoville.











Bobby and Tommy are entranced by drinking dogs. Moon and Noreen, not so much.

Stop #41; St. Clair

Date: November 21
Neighborhood: St. Clair
Pitt Stoppers: Jimmy D., Noreen, Pteri, Gino, Kristen, Tommy, Bobby D.

Bar: Roadside Saloon.

Pluses: The cheap cover.

Weirdness: St. Clair is a dry neighborhood, so we walked over the border from Mt. Oliver into St. Clair, busted out some flasks, and made the neighborhood official.





Coming down from Mt. Oliver to St. Clair.











Don't worry, officer. It's just Kool Aid in that flask.










Kristin hiding behind the happy flask.

Stop #40 and a half; Mt. Oliver

Date: November 21
Neighborhood: Mt. Oliver
Pitt Stoppers: Jimmy D., Noreen, Pteri, Gino, Kristen, Tommy, Bobby D., Moon

Bar: Moon's Place

Aside: Between Stop #40 (Mt. Oliver) and #41 (St. Clair), we needed a place to charge our flasks. Moon kindly opened his doors to us for a pit stop between Pitt Stops. He was a tremendous host, offering us beer and giving us a history of the area. He pulled out some antique maps and showed us how the area used to be called Lower St. Clair. Since there's an Upper St. Clair, I always did wonder where Lower St. Clair had gone to...





The crew rests their feet in Moon's living room.










The dangerous, rare, and beautiful Lower St. Clair Alligator. It is poisonous, climbs walls, and eats babies.

The glowing Hashers license plate.











A shot of our gracious host.

Stop #40; Mt. Oliver

Date: November 21
Neighborhood: Mt. Oliver
Pitt Stoppers: Jimmy D., Noreen, Pteri, Gino, Kristen, Tommy, Bobby D.

Bar: Lauterbach Cafe

Pluses: The friendly folks, the beautiful marble bar. They also have bands in occasionally.

Weirdness: Lauterbach's has a clock that runs backwards, which is very jarring the first several times you look at it.

The back of Lauterbach's set up for a band.

Goodie slings beer and good cheer from behind the bar.

For the love of God, keep Nancy.

The philosophy at Lauterbach's.

B: Pull my hoodie's drawstring.

N: Oh, hell no.

Gino is suave and in charge.

A beautiful Mt. Oliver church at night.

Stop #39; The Bluff

Date: November 15
Neighborhood: The Bluff
Pitt Stoppers: Jimmy D., Noreen, Carol, Jonathan, Toddy, Rita, Tommy, Brendan, Bobby D., Laurel, Richard, Pteri.

Bar: Shale's Cafe
Pluses: They serve beer in 1 liter mugs. They also have a fussball table. The bar supports a festive pre-hockey game crowd.
Weirdness: Some of the largest urinals in Pittsburgh.

Aside: The Bluff was once called Soho. I never knew why. Chris Potter over at the City Paper did the research and here's the answer.




Shale's St. Patrick's Day features.

Perhaps for the last couple of decades.








Jonathan's talking about "lasers."






Paul Jones was tough.

Paul Jones was a cowboy.








Cookie Crisp. Yep. That's right.






T: Pull my thumb.

N: Oh, hell no.








Jimmy and Tommy sketching out future Stops.






Shale's staff puts shamrocks in the top of the Guinness.









The glasses with a cigarette pack for scale.






T: Mine's this long.

J: Well, mine's this long.








POW. Cherry Master!

The map; mid-November version

Stop #38; Marshall-Shadeland

Date: October 26
Neighborhood: Marshall-Shadeland
Pitt Stoppers: Jimmy D., Josh, Noreen, Al, Tuzz, Ed, Hez, Bobby D., Pteri, Toddy, Josh, Paul, and the crowd at the Stone Front.
Bar: Ed's Stone Front Cafe.

Sometimes everything clicks and a bar becomes magical. Mix together beer, music, and friendly people and out comes gold. This was one of those times.

As each of us entered the bar, a cheer erupted from the regulars. Everybody really got into the concept of Pitt Stops. People were talking about music, neighborhoods, the Teutonia Männer Chor, the City - just about everything. People exchanged kisses (I'm looking at you, Josh). A big, friendly dog was wandering around. People were sharing jokes and stories every direction you turned. Then the music came on. Good old music from the 1950's and 1960's. Everyone sang and everyone danced. Everyone was your buddy.

Like any magical experience, written words can't convey its true substance. I hope that the pics and video will do it justice. Thanks to the folks at the Stone Front for a fantastic evening.





Josh making his way inside.








Toddy, Noreen, and Josh in the way back.









Jimmy and Bobby D. giving some love to the decorations.











Even the Stone Front has its rules.







I cannot explain. (Identities have been protected.)










Frivolity.









Al cannot hide his amusement.











More frivolity.









Dancing with Sis behind the bar.









The view of the bar.










Todd's putting a quarter in the slot.









Jimmy giving love to the champs.










Dancing at the Stone Front.

Stop #37; Brighton Heights

Date: October 26
Neighborhood: Brighton Heights
Pitt Stoppers: Jimmy D., Noreen, Josh (not reachable tonight), Hez, Pteri, Ed, Jonathan, Pteri, Toddy, Josh, Tuzz, Al.
Bar: Big Cat Pat's

Pluses: Genuine Pittsburgh Irish bar.
Weirdness: Odd shirt special. Former wrestler.
Aside: Apparently, Big Cat Pat is a former wrestler.






The outside.









Todd is supremo on the appetizers.






Jonathan confirms that Bobby's sweater is bona fide.

Noreen and Pteri don't care 'tall.





They have you covered at Pat's.









The worst t-shirt special in the city.








Hez, Bobby, and Josh amidst the saucy Irish decor.