Pittsburgh

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Eating In Pittsburgh Updated

May 2, 2011 by 1 Comment

Cybrus at the Lost and Found blog has put together a list of places to eat in Pittsburgh for visitors coming for the NRA Annual Meeting. It can be found here. I plan to check some of them out.

One Pittsburgh favorite, Primanti Brothers, has been removed from the list. They appear to have endorsed Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors when MAIG’s anti-gun billboard truck was in town. Bitter and Sebastian have much more on that controversy here. Supposedly the Primanti Brothers sandwich is to Pittsburgh what cheesesteaks are to Philly. Their sandwiches feature meat, cheese, cole slaw, tomatoes, and french fries. I guess you have to be from there to appreciate it.

UPDATE: Cybrus has updated his recommendations. He has put Primanti Brothers back on the list after they responded to the criticism with a statement of where they stand. That said, french fries on a sandwich?

UPDATE II: Sebastian has a report on Cam Edwards meeting with the folks at Primanti Brothers. He said they made things right. You can read his report here. I am still leery of any sandwich with french fries on it. Maybe I’ve watched too many episodes of Man versus Food.

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Bitter Rules!

April 27, 2011 by 3 Comments

We’re sitting in our room in Pittsburgh watching the local news on KDKA CBS Channel 2 and we hear that “gun rights activists” are upset with a “Pittsburgh institution” just before the NRA Annual Meeting. Of course, we have to listen to this story!

The story is about Primanti Brothers and the picture of the cook wearing a MAIG T-shirt. They interview a higher level manager with the company who says they welcome anyone. He goes on to say that he thinks the cook was “just trying to be friendly” by wearing the MAIG shirt.

They then feature a photo of the Snow Flakes in Hell website. They then intone that the NRA and the website wouldn’t “answer questions” and referred them to the blog.

If anyone thinks that gun bloggers don’t have an impact is wrong. Whether it is Primanti Brothers or Project Gunwalker, gun bloggers brought attention to things that needed that attention. As usual, the media is late to the party.

If you want to hear what Bitter and Sebastian have to say, go here and here. It will make more sense than anything a local TV reporter puts out.

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Fort Pitt Museum: The American Frontier Rifleman

April 25, 2011 by 2 Comments

Just in time for the NRA Annual Meeting this week, the Fort Pitt Museum will open an exhibit entitled The American Frontier Rifleman: Tall Tales and Truth. Opening Wednesday, the exhibit will run until October 30th. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

The exhibit will include more than 50 objects, some on loan from institutions, many culled from private collections.

In addition to about a dozen rifles, the museum will showcase gear essential to the true rifleman. Powder horns — cow horns used to carry gunpowder — make an appearance, including an 18th century example engraved with patriotic sayings: “LIBERTY OR DEATH,” “KILL OR be KILLD.”

An original 18th century hunting shirt, a dusty-looking but well-tailored garment, also will be displayed. Owned by a collector, the shirt will be shown to the public for the first time this week, Mr. Gutchess said.

“There were thousands of these garments in existence in the period, and now there’s only four believed to be from the 18th century,” he said.

Admission to the museum is normally $5 but NRA members will only have to pay $2.50 with their membership card through May 1st. I was pleased to see that the Fort Pitt Museum in just a few blocks away from the David Lawrence Convention Center where the Annual Meeting will be held.

For a student of early American history, this sounds like a great exhibit. It is hard to believe now but Pittsburgh at one time was definitely considered the frontier.

Originally built as a British fort at the Forks of the Ohio River in 1754, Fort Pitt served as the western headquarters for the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The fort had many names over the years including Trent’s Fort, Fort Duquense, Fort Mercer, Fort Dunmore, and, more than once, Fort Pitt.