Pittsburgh Hienz Museum…read more Whether you are new to the Pittsburgh area, or are returning there after years away, or you are a lifelong "Yinzer," I highly recommend that you visit the Heinz History Center. It covers the history of the Native Americans, to the French Indian War, through the Revolutionary War, and the role Pittsburgh played in the two World Wars! It also celebrates the sports accomplishments of its Professional and College Teams. Finally, a tremendous history of everyone's favorite, Heinz Tomato Ketchup!

If you want to know anything to everything about Pittsburgh, there is no argument that this is the…read moreplace to go. I was expecting a flea market-style hodgepodge of artifacts on display, but it was more organized given the breadth of exhibits shown. Housed in a century-old red brick building, the museum is presented in discrete sections across six floors. Right after entering, I could tell the space was oriented more toward families with vintage vehicles, a twisting tube slide, and a set of rockers for young parents. There are several permanent exhibits focusing primarily on local history and sports. Specific sections are devoted to the British, French & Indian wars of 1754-1763; the African American history in Western Pennsylvania; and Pittsburgh's contributions to the world for the past 250 years. The most popular exhibit was unsurprisingly the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum highlighting the city's rich sports heritage with particular attention on the Steelers, the Pirates, the Panthers, and the Penguins. There are sections spotlighting the history of the H.J. Heinz Company and their influence in popularizing home staples like ketchup (of course), pickles, and baked beans, as well as an extensive timeline of the museum's namesake, Senator John Heinz. Of particular interest to Gen X'ers is Mister Rogers' Neighborhood featuring the regular characters, set pieces and artifacts from the series. Admission is $20 for adults, and I'd guess ninety minutes is enough to allocate for a visit, at least for this Yinz-ignorant Californian. RELATED - Exploring Pittsburgh? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/qN_tq21lnL

I have been here twice AND have interacted with Velda and Mr. Arm outside of their tour. I just…read morelove these people and the wacky maximalism they're living in. Velda is a superb tour guide. Be sure to give them a donation (suggested $20 for the hour) or alcohol or some weird oddity if you go! They have events like movie nights that I would love to attend. Many great dead things are waiting to meet you at the Trundle Manor. Parking on the street!

This was the coolest place ever. We had a group of eight people and came hear to see all the…read moreoddities. If you are into Steam Punk, this is a definite must go. All they ask for is a donation of liquor or cash contribution-$20. If you are with a large group, I would suggest doubling the contribution, since it is really such a cool experience and I love supporting local artists. Everyone in our group were in awe of all the taxidermy and the creativity of the house. The tour is private and the couple who owns Trundle Manor limits the tour to eight people maximum. Can't really explain it, except something like the Adams Family meets Steam Punk. Great experience and thank you Velda for allowing us to your your home and giving us the narration.

Bradford House was built by the lawyer David Bradford in 1788 and today is a National Historic…read moreLandmark and museum. David, his wife, his many children, and his servants lived in this stone house until 1794, when they fled to avoid David's arrest for his role in the Whiskey Rebellion. Depending on the month, Bradford House offers drop-in and scheduled tours. The drop-in tours are for individuals and small groups and have no admission fee, although donations are appreciated. Group tours should be arranged in advance and do have an admission fee. I read on their website that for groups they offer dining-room parties that serve teas and 18th-century-style foods--sounds fun! My husband and I were walk-ins for a tour. Two docents who were dressed in period clothing walked us through the house: the foyer, parlor, and dining room on the first floor; the beautiful mahogany stairwell and the simpler servants' stairwell; and the sewing room, children's room, master bedroom, and servants' quarters on the top floor. In addition, a docent walked us to the backyard that contained an herb garden, well, and log kitchen cabin (which has occasional hearth-cooking demonstrations). A small gift shop offered merchandise such as books and t-shirts. The docents throughly explained the history of the house, its architecture and renovation, the furniture (which is from the time period but was not owned by the Bradfords), etcetera, and they kindly answered our questions. I did not time our tour, but we were there for probably about one hour. Educational and interesting!

Nice little house with tours given by docents. Captures the Whiskey Rebellion era from a house that…read morewas from that time. Docents were knowledgeable and friendly. Worth a stop and optional donation.

Attended a 1 hr Behind the Scenes of Dinosaur Bones tour advertised to members. $50 per person 10…read morepeople per group. Limited number of tickets. Well worth money spent. Our tour was led by the head pf the department. The breadth of her knowledge of the museum, her predecessors, and collection was impressive. Did you know that England has a copy of our T Rex in their Natural History museum? Dippy's extra bones need a new resting place. Currently they have been resting on this shelf since 1800's. The wood is injuring the bottom of the fossil. (I think dinosaur lovers would donate the $30k to get Dippy's bones a new resting place.) Researchers come to study the collection. Fork lifts are used to transfer the bones from one surface to the next. A local college student found an undiscovered amphibian while searching for fern fossils on FedEx property by Pittsburgh International Airport. It was named after FedEx and the student: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/100315-new-fossil-amphibian-fedex Great experience! Would definitely attend again. I wonder what is Behind the Scenes of the art museum ...

This section of Pittsburgh has a lot to offer. You would have to take an Uber or Lyft from…read moredowntown. This is a World class combined art and history museum. Your admission ticket includes both the art and natural history museums. Admission is half price after 3pm, but the museum closes at 5:00. A few minutes away from the museum you have the Heinz Chapel, Nationality Rooms, and the outfield wall of Forbes Field.

The Andy Warhol Museum is a great place to spend a couple hours before a Pittsburgh Pirates game…read more There are a bunch of levels in this museum, and it's pretty easy to navigate. A ton of art work throughout Andy Warhol's life. The iconic paintings of Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Campbell's Soup, and Coca-Cola are all here. I had a fun time in the video booth where you can record your own distorted video just how Andy Warhol used to record his guests. The museum is $25 for adults, $13 for seniors, $13 for students with ID, and $13 for kids 3-18 years old. Located right by PNC Park the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Excellent experience minus some floors being closed for renovation. It's like this with most large…read moremuseums in my experience but always leaves me wondering what I missed! Learned a lot here about Mr. Warhola and enjoyed it overall. I didn't include all my pictures as to not spoil it. PS there is a 3 minute screen testing you can do which is essentially a 3 minute video you do and then it's emailed to you. I thought it was cool.

I have definitely learned that contemporary/modern art is just not my thing. That being said, that…read moredoesn't mean that Mattress Factory isn't worth a visit. The museum does not have its own parking lot, so you will need to find street parking. However, there seemed to be plenty of options in the area. They exhibits are spread out over various floors and areas. They have a suggested path, but you can really explore at your own pace and interest. The "famous" work is the polka dot room which is really intriguing and visually appealing. My daughter like to say "art is all about how the artist sells it and what you make of it" and this is the perfect place to put that mentality into effect. There were some pieces that I was just baffled about being "art" and there were others that while I personally didn't enjoy them, I could appreciate the time and talent that went in to creating them. If you are looking for a unique museum experience, this is definitely the place for you.

The Mattress Factory excels at site-specific imersive installation art, and their permanent…read morecollection has some origami art by some of the biggest names in installation art. The museum also hosts private events, a few of which I've attended, and they were outstanding. The staff are very welcoming. The museum gives back to the local community in a big way.

This is one of the coolest museum experiences I have ever had! I had seen the signs for this place…read morefor years but never took advantage of a tour until we visited as part of a scouting group. You learn so much about the history of mining and more importantly, hear from personal examples of what the miners lived through. You take a mine car into the mine (beware this is SUPER tight if you are tall). In the mine area, they have equipment from various eras of mining. It was really interesting to see how the history progressed and how conditions improved (but were still challenging even today). The tour guides are almost all retired miners which was really fascinating because they have the real world, lived experience to share. One of the things that really struck me was hearing about how for ages, kids as young as mine were workers in the mines. Thankfully that has changed and most modern miners are actually people with geology or other similar degrees. There is so much to learn, and it is especially relevant considering our region's mining history. I would recommend this museum to everyone of any age!

My cousins and I took a tour here a few weeks ago. I had no idea this attraction was basically…read moreright in our back yard! They have a museum we looked at while waiting for our tour to start. First we went to a log cabin and watched a 10 min video about the founder. Then we went down to the classroom to go over mine safety. Next we got our hard hats and headed into the car to take us into the mine. This was the coolest part. We got to get out and walk around the mine. Our guide also showed us the different machines and how they are used. This tour was so fun! I highly recommend this tour. I want to come back for their Halloween celebration! One thing to note: the cars going into the mine are pretty low. If you have knee issues or mobility issues, it may be difficult to get in and out of the cars.

We were looking for a fun experience for my husband's big sis, and boy did we find it at Bayernhof!…read moreI couldn't recommend this museum more highly. Lisa, our tour guide, was just perfect - entertaining, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and fun. Our 2-hour experience was a joy - it passed so quickly! You call ahead to arrange a tour, and Lisa returned my call maybe a day or 2 later. We arranged it for a Tuesday morning at 10am (the other option was something like 2pm). The 19,000 square foot Bavarian-inspired home is atop a large hill outside Sharpsburg overlooking the Allegheny - and with a lovely view of downtown. You come thru the gate and park near the door. Inside, Lisa talks a bit about the foyer - chock full of collectibles - and takes you to the main room with that fabulous view, a comfy room with a bar just off the kitchen. You settle in to wait for everyone to arrive. The lecture there takes about 30mins, & you learn about the wealthy, quirky eccentric, Charlie "Chuck" Brown, who built this quirky home in 1982. He was a total prankster who had very little sense about how to build a really stable home. After his death, the board would save the home for all to enjoy. The real treat is hearing from some of the 165 music machines spread thruout the house - some Chuck collected, some purchased by the board set up by Chuck's lawyer, Dave, who - with Chuck's faithful secretary - took on the Herculean task after Chuck's death of fulfilling his dream of turning the home into a museum. The mysteries of the home reveal themselves as you go - and Lisa relishes in showing them off - from the hidden doors, wet bars (in almost every room! Chuck loved to entertain though he was socially awkward!), observatory, below ground cellar, cave, and pool room with a waterfall. It's great. Lisa shares tons of stories, knowledge, anecdotes, and more. Our favorite of the fabulous musical machines: the cylinder player on the landing that has a tiny dancing black bird figure inside; the singing birds with real feathers (!!) in the bird cage upstairs; the uber-art deco Decap machine downstairs with the purple velvet pool table; and the fringe lamp victrola in the upstairs guest room. As you're walking thru the house, you can't believe all there is to see and learn. We were fascinated! Just go! You won't regret it.

AMAZING! HIGHLY RECOMMEND. My friend is a music lover and I thought this would be interesting…read more He enjoyed it and I loved it even though I don't appreciate music the way he does. The museum reminded my kids of a real-life Clue game - it is definitely worth visiting! I highly recommend.

I worked with them with Hugs Inflatable Pet Steps. Please stay clear of these scammers!! You will…read morebe over charge. You will lose so much money with them and get NOTHING in return. Its a legal scam. Run !!! Stay away from this money pit!! Also I dealt with Inventionland many years ago and Mr. D has not changed one bit. This is a con. Your idea will be e-mailed to companies not presented like they claim. Plus to top it all off I never got the prototype of my product like they claim I would. They just took my money and nothing came true. I'm talking like over ten thousand. They even tell you on their site most inventions never see royalties and the checks he is holding are of small amounts compared to what the client pays. Do not waste your money or dreams on them. You have been warned :o(

From the owner: Inventionland is a 60,000 square foot immersive work environment that hosts tours for roughly…read more15,000 students, educators, designers, business professionals and inventors every year. Our facility is here to inspire creativity, promote innovation, and foster education. Specialized designers, artists, writers, illustrators, photographers, videographers, strategists, seamstresses, and fabricators work in 16 unique themed sets, such as shipwrecked pirate ship, faux cave, treehouse, pet shack, giant shoe, cupcake kitchen, giant robot and castle complete with turrets and drawbridge. The inspiring setting includes three running waterfalls, life-like trees and butterflies and grass-lined sidewalks. This team of talented and creative people work in concert to provide inspiration for students, educators, inventors, and everyday idea people who want to make the world a better place.