Riding the Duquesne Incline - Pittsburgh, PA

A high point (400' high, to be exact) of our visit to 

Pittsburgh, PA was a ride on the Duquesne Incline!

Opened in 1877, the Incline is a true Pittsburgh icon.

It transports 18 passengers per car  

to and from W. Carson Street at the bottom and 

Grandview Ave. in Mount Washington at the top.

 Sister, Niece, Daughter - perfect travel companions!

The angle of the track is 30°,

and the cars travel at a rate of 6 miles per hour.

USA Today considers this one of the top 10 sites in the world for viewing a cityscape.

 After being wowed by the panoramic view, I could certainly see why!

The city of Pittsburgh sits famously at the point where the 

Allegheny & Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio River.

Across the Allegheny River to the North Side are the 

Carnegie Science Center and Heinz Field where the Steelers play.

A real value at $5 each round-trip.

Yep, I splurged for an additional 50¢ to see the inner-workings:

the thick cables, and huge gears with their cherry or maple wood teeth.

Find out more here.

I took this photo from our Gateway Clipper River Tour.

Stay tuned for a post on that fun experience!

More of my Pittsburgh posts:
Vegetarian Brunch at The Zenith
Wowed by the Nationality Rooms at Pitt's Cathedral of Learning
Pittsburgh's Gorgeous Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens

I love Mother-Daughter adventures!

Where to next?

Adorable Animal Pom Poms by Tsubasa Kuroda

I'm a huge fan of the pom pom, but, well... 

this takes things to an entirely new level of darling.

Tsubasa Kurdora, of Japan, created this adorable menagerie.

Bunnies, hedgehogs, puppies...

(lions and tigers and bears - oh my!)

Birds are represented and a lovable sloth as well.

They're just so stinkin' cute, don't you think?

Here she is on Instagram.

Seeing Beauty in the Artist's Brush

There's something about an artist's jar of paintbrushes that gets me every time.
Stained, ruffled bristles profess a history of color and creativity.
Tools of the trade, tried and true.
They tell tales of courage to think beyond boundaries.
Daring to see in a fresh, new light what others see only as commonplace.
Masters of texture, shadow, perspective.
Some past their prime, but loyally at the ready.
Waiting for that spark of imagination, that moment of inspiration.
Well-used. Well-loved.

All images gathered from Pinterest and Tumblr,
claiming no ownership, with respect to their photographers.

Touring the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works - Doylestown, PA

Doylestown, the county seat of our dear Bucks County, PA,

is the locale of a great museum called the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works.

We toured it, totally loved it, and now I'm excited to show you my photos!

Henry Chapman Mercer founded and built the place in 1898,

and served as its director until he died in 1930.

It's an attractive poured-concrete building with several tall chimneys.

Mercer drew his design inspiration from the Spanish architecture

of California missions in San Juan Capistrano and Santa Barbara.

Here's a close-up of the detailed tile work on one of the chimneys.

We did the self-guided tour for an affordable $5 each

and learned quite a bit about this "working history" museum.

I really recommend a visit if you've an interest in tile.

Many of the original tile designs came from iron fireplace fire-backs.

These tiles with their muted earth tones were my favorites.

An example of a tile mold for this woman hand-dipping candles.

An illustration of the process from mold to finished product.

Philadelphia's own Ben Franklin is represented.

Molds for a grape harvest, left, and Moses with the Ten Commandments on the right.

We attended this year's Tile Festival, which was wonderful!

You can read my blog post about it here.

Also in Doylestown is Henry Mercer's collection of pre-industrial age artifacts,

housed in the Mercer Museum, which I blogged about here.

Mercer's home, located right next to the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works,

is called Fonthill Castle, which we plan to tour sometime soon.

(stay tuned!)

Links for your research:

Moravian Pottery & Tile Works

Mercer Museum

Fonthill Castle