Squirrel Hill, that is.
Happy Wednesday to you all! And what could possibly be a better way to celebrate your humpday and my weekend than with another awesome Frisbee Photo Prompt, hosted as always by the Siren of Serendipity, Marilyn. Since I used a non-baseball photo from my 2009 Cleveland trip last week, I figured I’d just move on down the line to the following year’s September stadium trip which brought me to the Steel City of Pittburgh. And if yinz are ever in Da Burgh and have a squirrel fetish like me, there’s one attraction that just screams for a visit… the quiet, peaceful neighborhood of Squirrel Hill.
It doesn’t get more peaceful and serene than wild, untamed sunflowers.
Squirrel Hill is a neighborhood located in the eastern part of Pittsburgh proper, just north of the Monongahela River. Officially, Squirrel Hill is divided into a north and south half… which you would expect from the village that claims to have hosted the first conflict of the Civil War two years before Fort Sumter (See the linked Wiki article). The combined population of a united Squirrel Hill would be about 26,000 and is largely Jewish… in fact, it’s one of the more celebrated Jewish neighborhoods in America. I’m not sure what they would think about me honoring squirrels on my blog on the sabbath.
Completely useless squirrel crosswalk light.
Just as I traipsed through downtown Cleveland on the afternoon prior to the second ballgame I planned on attending, I did the same through the mean streets of Squirrel Hill before the Cards/Pirates game on September 22, 2010. I parked on Murray Avenue, one of the main drags through town, and went on walkabout. Naturally, there were a number of businesses that played off of the squirrel theme…
What, no Iron City Beer!?!?
As I veered onto Forbes Avenue, I hit the jackpot in finding a Baskin Robbins. I am still so pissed at overpriced Dairy Queen for running our BR franchise out of town a decade ago since I now rarely get to indulge in the best damn chocolate chip ice cream on the planet. I also found a good place to work on my Oom Yung Doe skills, whatever in the hell that is…
Grandmaster “Iron” Kim Style and the Furious Five!
I saw quite a bit on this beautiful day (Though it was three hours away from storming) in Squirrel Hill, with one small exception….
I never saw a single damn real squirrel in Squirrel Hill!!!!
Maybe they were all down in the Fallout Shelter.
Yeah, I know… you’re as disappointed as I am in realizing how unlucky I was. Oh well, I’ll try to do better next week when I pick something from my Minneapolis photo archive to mock… but as a consolation prize, please once again bask in the utter terror glory of the world’s ugliest bust, which can be found on display at PNC Park in Pittsburgh…
Someone get poor Carl Barger a Kleenex, please!
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
that was great to walk with you through Squirrel Hill… and I want to know what Oom Yung Doe is… sound interesting like something what makes ya high…
I always keep transposing it in my head as Oom Dung Yoe, which sounds more like an Asian derogatory remark. If only I had entered the building and spoken to Grandmaster “Iron” Kim Style, I would have achieved enlightenment…
M’s grandmother still laments the lack of good delis in Richmond compared to the ones in Squirrel Hill.
Hmmmm, and you would think the ones in a good, Southern city like Richmond might have genuine squirrel meat in the cases too…
Yeah, ick!
Hey!
Hey is for horses, and they’re in the case on the other side of the deli… 😛
…
How disappointing that there were no squirrels in Squirrel Hill. Maybe they were all scared away by that hideous bust! 🙂
Even a possum would have to think that head looked ugly! Poor guy was already dead so he couldn’t tell everyone he didn’t want to be remembered that way!
I wonder if he came back to haunt the artist? I would have!
And I kept on waiting for squirrel captures until I read that how unlucky you were. The ugly bust badly wants a facelift.
To be fair, I didn’t see any hills in Squirrel Hill either!
I must go visit this place….
That’s just what I thought when I went there. It wasn’t the easiest place to get to… but then again, Pittsburgh is one of my least favorite cities I’ve visited because of all the #@^*( tunnels…
Squirrel Hill – I never knew there was such a place. How very interesting indeed! XOXO – Bacon
I wonder if Rocky knew about it, since he has his paws on the nuts of the world…
Snorts – you know he might just know about it. He’s got company this month and you should see the looker he has living with him. XOXO – Bacon
No real squirrels? Maybe they are all living with you? We haven’t seen any lately either, but I think that’s because the predator population has made them nervous, so they hide. Hey, the Cubbies are actually in the real playoffs! Imagine that!
It will be interesting to see if Back to the Future was right. I think they can take the hometown boys to make it to the NLCS given how fired up they are, not to mention the Cards haven’t played a meaningful game with their regular players in a week now. Did you know that in the history of the White Sox and Cubs franchises, only once has either team clinched a playoff series in the city of Chicago, and that was when the two teams were playing each other in the 1906 World Series. The rare times the teams have won a playoff series, it has always been on the road…. true fact, and one to keep an eye on this year…
We once drove all round the Black Forest and couldn’t find a single place which sold Black Forest Gateau. So I know how you fell about Squirrel Hill.
Imagine my disappointment if I visited Greenland…
american icecream………arhgggg…….yum. 😀
It’s just becoming ice cream season for you! Most of our stands are closing for the winter…