Pittsburgh Looks Even Better from the River

Last night we got a chance to see Pittsburgh from the Allegheny River aboard the Gateway Clipper. This huge party boat has four levels and is plenty big for hundreds of PR pros and tourism board people to mix with a handful of journalists while chugging up the river.

I heard more than a few people comment on this city. "The surprising thing for me is how nice it is here," said a woman from California. "I just never knew Pittsburgh was so pretty and had so much. " Indeed, this meeting was a coup for the one-time steel city, where nobody has heated steel for more than 20 years. Still, it's hard to shake that reputation of dirty, noisy, old city.

The river was indeed pretty as the sunlight glinted off the water, and we passed the Duquesne Incline, a famous attraction, that I would call a funicular. It rises up from the river level high up into a hillside neighborhood. People have ridden this for decades, and everyone here loves it.

After the cruise, we all fanned out throughout the city for a 'dine around' and I ended up at Elevens, an high-end place that was recommended by about five locals. It was the first place anybody mentioned when I asked about fine dining. The chicken was excellent, and our waiter had a very strong French accent, which was fun.

I sat at a long table with about 13 others and across from me, a tall beautiful woman from Arizona said that she once dated a billionaire when she was in college. She said he was a scruffy young scion of a steel magnate, and drove a beat up pick-up truck. It only lasted a few months---they broke up when he kept wanting her to blow off her exams, telling her that she would never have to work if she married him. So she said so long.

Pittsburgh, You've Got Spunk. I Love Spunk

I knew I'd like this city, from the moment I stepped into the Town car that whisked me the 22 minutes from the airport to the Marriot downtown. "I wouldn't live anywhere else!" said my driver Patrick McArdle. He runs his own art salon in the city, and used to be an ironworker. "It's big enough, with everything, but it's friendly."

He ticked off some of the topics that are on people's minds here. One is the 28-year old kid named Luke who's become the mayor, after the other mayor died in office. "He's made some mistakes," Patrick said, "like going up in a private jet owned by Ron Burkle, President Clinton's favorite billionaire pal. Burkle is one of the owners of the local NHL team, who are building a new city-funded stadium. He also has taken some trips to sports events with dubious city benefit, on the taxpayer's dime.

We took a ride by the big, swift-flowing Allegheny river, a line of us on clownish cruiser bikes with just three gears and pedal brakes. The ride leader told us about an island called Washington's Landing, where posh condos have been built. "When they were building the tennis courts, they kept finding that they couldn't keep them level. Then they dug them all up and found a mysterious black goo. It turned out that decades ago, this island was a burial ground for zoo animals. So it was old rhinocerous, elephant and zebra bones that were causing all of the bumps."

But as I said, I knew I'd like this city because its got spunk. I don't hate spunk, I love it, and more than a few people have told me today that they'd live no where else. I'll make my way by taxi tonight to the Sonoma Grill, a place recommended to me by Christine, they have a good bar where I can chat up the 'tender and ask more questions about this hardworking city.

Biking By the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh Today

Last night I had trouble sleeping, since I kept thinking about the plane. What time it was actually departing I hadn't noted down, so I wasn't sure when I had to leave for the airport. I fly to Pittsburgh this morning on 11 am flight and at 3:30 pm I will be on a bike touring the city with three rivers.

I will seek out some people who call this city home and find out why they love it. Among the people I will see are Christine O'Toole, who is a fine writer who writes for the Pittsburgh daily plus the Washington Post. And she has a few stories on GoNOMAD too.

I'll get a chance on Thursday to meet a lot of people in the PR business when I attend the PRSA show there. Many editors, travel writers and tourism people will be packed in together on a boat. We will board the Gateway Clipper and sail up the river, one big schmooze and no way to escape. It should be fun, and I'll bring along plenty of GoNOMAD pads with our brochure tucked inside so nobody forgets what we're all about.

Radio is Much More Fun in Person

It was a nice to get back on the radio today, I got up early to join Advocate editor Tom Vannah on his morning show on WHMP-AM. Usually I do these shows over the phone, but there is something fun about donning the headphones, listening to his cue, following the sports and speaking into a good old fashioned mike instead of a handset.

We talked about some of my recent travels, about Sardinia's Costa Smerelda, and cooking in my little apartment in Tours. It was good to be back in touch since he is a hard fellow to reach via phone or email. His Valley Advocate interns are working hard and producing lots of good stories. We also have a crew of three interns at GoNOMAD, cranking out stories and working on projects like compiling lists and sending out link requests.

Kevin, Jessica and Kylie are all working on different projects, and so far we're pleased with all three. Steve and I work hard to keep them busy, since when you are an intern the last thing you want is to have to think of things to do.

Next week I fly to Pittsburgh where I will take a bicycle tour of this city by the three rivers, and meet a bunch of public relations folks at the Public Relations Society of America Travel conference. I've been tapped to join a three-person panel on 'how to make money on the web.' I don't want to tell them too many of our secrets, but will be happy to join the group and get more trips for our distinguished writers.