Stop #51; East Carnegie

Date: January 25
Neighborhood: East Carnegie
Pitt Stoppers: Jimmy D., Ed, Wookie, Todd, Tuzz, Big Al, Mindy, Frank, Bobby D., Kim B., Tommy, Kim O., Brend-X.

Bar: Pappy Mike's

Pluses: A true family-owned bar named for the father of the current owners - Debbie and Donny. Family pictures decorate the walls.

Weirdness: The daughters had just finished playing the mothers in basketball and the after-party was at Pappy Mike's. The daughters won by the way.








Brend-X laughs at Mindy's wenis.
















The chill interior of Pappy Mike's.
















Todd is bedazzled and dazzling in his John Shaft jacket.



















A family photo on the wall at Pappy Mike's.













A boxer relative gets his wall space too.

Stop #50; Westwood

Date: January 25
Neighborhood: Westwood
Pitt Stoppers: Jimmy D., Ed, Wookie, Richard, Todd, Tuzz, Big Al, Mindy, Frank, Jonathan, Bobby D., Scotty.

Bar: Sammy's Pizza

Pluses: The expansive menu, which is much more than just pizza, and Denise who gave us lots of tips of where to go in the western neighborhoods.

Weirdness: The cheese platter which includes fried provolone, jalapeño poppers, and several other products containing fried cheese.







Sammy's Sassy Sign.














Ed smiles.

Al eats.

Todd scratches.










Bobby and Wook signing in.














The local paper.













Ed and Frank pose.

Al schwigglags.











Tuzz went nuclear from the 'za.













In spite of this picture, Bobby was quite happy.















Jimmy practices his method acting.

Richard is unimpressed.














Neon abounds at Sammy's.














Jonathan represents with a koozie.

















Jonathan represents with a koozie.

Stop #49; Crafton Heights

Date: January 25
Neighborhood: Crafton Heights
Pitt Stoppers: Jimmy D., Wookie, Todd, Tuzz, Big Al, Mindy, Frank, Jonathan, Bobby D.

Bar: The Obey House Tavern

Pluses: Jello shots, bad movie night (one of the last shown movies was Kiss meets the Phantom of the Park), great waitstaff (Hi Sue!).

Weirdness: The way you say it. It's not the Oh-Bay House Tavern. It's the Oh-Bee House Tavern.
Aside: The Obey House Tavern, which opened in 1823, is an historic site. It was a stop on a pony express as well as the Underground Railroad. It's also alleged to be haunted; Sue, in fact, refuses to go to some parts of the basement.




Tuzz is an angel. Look at his halo.

Notice that Al and Frank don't have one.















In spite of the sign, profanity will in fact be tolerated in certain circumstances.


















The cooler which houses jello shots.












They come in all of your favorite flavors: Red, Orange, and Unnatural Blue.









It's all smiles at the Obey.












Todd's head is in a box.

Stop #48; Lincoln Place

Date: January 12
Neighborhood: Lincoln Place
Pitt Stoppers: Jimmy D. (108), Josh (131), Mindy (96), Kristen, GinO, Jon, Brendan, Steve, Chrissie, Erica, Noreen, Rich (156), Todd.

Bar: The cocktail lounge at Playmor Bowl

Pluses: Bowling, a course. The lanes record both your score and the speed of your ball. Josh came out on top with a speed of 18.6 mph.

Aside: Lincoln Place, which was annexed to the City in 1929 from Mifflin Township, was originally going to be called Linconio.

Weirdness: We were kicked off the lanes a bit early to make way for league play. One of the men who came in wore a bowler. That's right. A bowler in a bowler. What could be better?








A view from the afternoon in Lincoln Place.












That's gyrobalanced.











I still left one standing.

Usually it was more.










The King of Bowling.













Jonathan demonstrates the Chicken Stance.











Brendan's follow-through.













Mindy is the model of focus.

















All smiles (and straight hair!)












The only salve for my bowling game.














Do you know safe bowling conduct?

Read and learn.


















A bowler in a bowler.

















The lounge.

Stop #47; New Homestead

Date: January 12
Neighborhood: New Homestead
Pitt Stoppers: Jimmy D., Jonathan, Todd, Mindy, Josh, Brendan, Rich, Steve.

Bar: None. Corner.

Pluses: Very nice park with a very large woodpecker (photo not shown) is right across the street.

Aside: The Settle Inn is actually not in or near New Homestead. Some websites have it at 297 Mooney Road (New Homestead). Other websites correctly have it at 297 Mahoney Road in Coraopolis.

Of course, we're not confused easily here at Pitt Stops; we do our research. That's why we had one of our number (who shall remain nameless) investigate the location to make sure that it was the right place. That nameless individual confirmed the bar location.

When confronted with the facts of the situation, that individual fessed up, saying:

"It was dark. I passed what I thought was a bar. I don't know. I'm sorry."

Words that will live in infamy. Luckily, Josh saved the day and brought some whiskey with a great name.








A corner quite far from The Settle Inn.

















Luckily, Josh packed along his Fighting Cock.

















We were all happy with Josh's gift.


















Todd sure knows how to handle it.













Mindy bringing some class to the situation.












The Pitt Stoppers trying to figure out where we were.

Year-end Map

As my mother always said, slow but steady wins the race...

Thanks to everybody who made the first half of Pitt Stops a great time! I look forward to getting the rest done in style over the next part of the year.

Stop #46; Homewood West

Date: December 27
Neighborhood: West Homewood
Pitt Stoppers: Jimmy D., Noreen, Auggie, Chip, Kathy, T, Wookie, Hank, Richard, Auggie, Brendan, Al, Kim, Scotty, Buck, Todd, Paul.

Bar: East End Brewing

Pluses: The beer - all made on site.

Aside: Scott has been brewing great beer in Pittsburgh's East End for three years now. He's come out with a wide variety of brews ranging from the seen-around-town Big Hop to his most recent run of a Belgian-style trippel. Three days a week Scott opens his doors and hosts a "Growler Hour" where you can visit the brewery, sample one of the six beers on tap, and purchase a growler (or two or three) to take home. For those of you unable to make it to Growler Hours, The Map Room in Regent Square has a variety of Scott's beers on tap all of the time.









A tip: Don't look for a sign. Look for the beer keg on the sidewalk.















The outside is post-industrial...











...the inside is high-tech brewing.












All operations are on site.













Al contemplates it all.











Jimmy's feeling snazzy about EE brewing.















It may be made in America, but with CANADIAN GRAIN. I'm outraged.















Yes, Todd and Auggie. We're looking at you.









Hank likes EE Brewing so much he's blurry.














The brewery and bar setup at EE Brewing.











The specially designed label for Scott's third anniversary trippel. The beer received Hank's Dutch Seal of Approval.