40-Foot Ducky, You're The One....

If you're from around Pittsburgh, then you know the crazy amounts of buzz surrounding The Rubber Duck Project. If you're not, to sum it up for you, about three weeks ago, a giant duck came floating down the Allegheny River and into the heart of downtown, and the hearts of Pittsburghers. How about that for a sappy line.

While I did not get a chance to see this guy up close, just another reason why I'm sad about moving out of downtown, I did get to see him while driving through multiple parts of the city. Here are some of my favorite pictures of him, captured by some of my favorite Pittsburghers. Enjoy!

Photo provided by Tina Richey.

Photo provided by Laura Greenawalt

Photo provided by Lindsay Nicholson

More than likely my favorite picture with the duck, fabulous job, Katie! Photo provided by Katie Funaki

Thanks to The Cultural Trust, this cutie has been in the city and gathering thousands of visitors for about a month, which all started with a huge kickoff party on the Clemente Bridge on September 27th to welcome him. He is part of an art installation by Dutch artist, Florentijn Hofman, and was created "to bring joy to the world and connect people." And I'm pretty certain he's done that here in Pittsburgh.

As of Sunday night, the duck has left The Point, but I'm sure the tons of people who visited him or even heard about him will not forget the joy of that experience. Pittsburgh, the fabulous city that it is, was the first in the United States to host this big guy and I'm sure will miss him the most. After all, he was here with us to celebrate the first Pittsburgh Pirates playoff experience in two decades. 

Rain, Rain Go Away - We Wanna Go To Arts Fest!

As I mentioned in my last post, the Three Rivers Arts Festival, hosted by Dollar Bank and the Cultural Trust, is a go! With the big opening night on Friday filled with the new Point State Park fountain and headlining band, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, I'm thinking this year will be the best yet.

Although when Eric and I were down there on Friday we were not able to make it in time to be able to walk around to explore the art booths (I had us on a strict schedule of fountain, food, music) we do plan to go back on Wednesday for our mama's birthday. She's never been to the Arts Fest and is an avid fair goer and visual artist herself, so we're taking her and letting her pick her own present. She's stoked. :)

If you are unfamiliar with the Arts Fest, let me help you. I talked about it briefly last year but basically it is ten straight days of music, food and various kinds of art from mostly local artists. You can check out their daily schedules to help you plan your day, but to be honest, unless you see a specific performer, musician or artist at a certain time then the best you can do is just go down and soak it all in at once. Seriously, this is certainly the kind of thing you can just show up to without any kind of plan and have a fantastic time. See the map below for an idea of where everything is set up.

How could you go wrong with strolling through Point State Park and the Gateway Center grounds looking at (and possibly buying) art, making some art of your own in the Giant Eagle Creativity Zone, listing and watching performances on the three stages and/or eating some fair food? Sound like a great time to me, and judging by the popularity of this event, year after year, the rest of Pittsburgh too! Check it out, especially if you haven't before and be sure to walk to the very end of the Park to see the newly renovated fountain as well. Enjoy!

The main stage - Dollar Bank Stage - at the far end of the first lawn in Point State Park.

Hey guys - I finallllllllly saw Donora!!!!!! If you remember me wishing for this in a previous post.

Alex and Jade of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, this year's headlining band.

They invited this lucky kid, Nelson, up on stage with them for a song during Friday's show.

What I think of first when I think of Arts Fest - street performers everywhere!

Map from the Arts Fest website so you know where everything is located :)

Welcome Back, Point State Park fountain!

Invitation to the reopening ceremony on Friday night. 

I think it's fair to say that all of Pittsburgh is rejoicing now that the Point State Park fountain is finally complete! After a project that went into the planning stages in 2001, yesterday brought to close a highly anticipated and historical event. The fountain is not only fully renovated, but it's bigger and better than ever. The water from the fountain rises in a column up to 150-feet with smaller columns on the sides. A ceremony, dedication and the first 'official' flip of the switch happened last night to mark the beginning of the Three Rivers Arts Festival and the beginning of a new Pittsburgh.

Although the ceremony started about a half hour late and then at least seven people were asked to speak on behalf of the organizations who made this restoration happen, the fountain went off without any difficulty and made quite the splash on said speakers and other dignitaries thanks to a big gust of wind. Clearly the fountain was just showing them all who everyone really came to see. Good show, fountain.

Entrance way to the Point.

Brass band playing during the beginning of the ceremony.

Color guard during the National Anthem, sung by the CLO Mini-Stars.

In case you wondered what 150 feet of water looks like.

After the ceremony, the Arts Fest, also being held through the rest of the week at Point State Park, officially started. More to come about that on Tuesday. And as the sun went down over the city, a light show on the fountain began.

The Pittsburgh-based company, Lightwave International, debuted "Pittsburgh: Spectral Ascending" a collaboration with artist, Yvette Mattern. The light installation consists of six laser projectors on the top of PPG Place, aimed right to the center column of the fountain. The light installation will be show again tonight and Sunday night, so you still have a chance to make it out and see the new plaza area around the fountain, as well as the fountain itself and the light show, all while enjoying all of the fun that comes with the Arts Fest as well.

Photo by my beautiful friend, Breanna Elison.

Waiting for the light show to begin. Photo by Breanna Elison.

Isn't this such a fantastic photo? Lights on top of PPG Place beaming down to the fountain. Photo by Breanna Elison.

Lights on the fountain. Perfect ending to a beautiful night. Photo by Breanna Elison.

For my out of town readers, you may be asking why a fountain is so important. But it's not just any old fountain. Point State Park, and this fountain specifically, are the point were the three iconic rivers of Pittsburgh meet. Basically, where all the rivers merge into each other is the spot where the fountain is placed. The layout of Pittsburgh is obvious because of this point and the scenery of the city just didn't look complete for the past few years without the fountain adding to the view. It's a tourist attraction and a local favorite.

And as one of the speakers said, Pittsburgh is no longer a city in transformation, it is a city transformed. Or something close to that. The rebuilding and unveiling of the Point fountain just brings that idea home. We've waited for this to be back and now we can enjoy it for many years to come. It is as iconic as our bridges and adds that missing element to our landscape. Welcome back, fountain!

Congratulations, Runners of Steel!

Runners of Steel crossing the Andy Warhol Bridge

Congratulations to everyone who ran in the Pittsburgh Marathon on Sunday! I am proud to know so, so many of you! I am extra proud of Jennifer and Kaitlin who each ran their first ever half marathon. And to my friends who maintained an 8 minute pace in the half and the full. To the ones who did better than they did last year, who trained for the full but "only" finished the half, and who somehow maintained a stylish look while running all over the city. You all amaze and inspire me! Especially because none of you backed down after what happened in Boston, you trained harder and ran faster.

I'm also proud of the city of Pittsburgh, although it was so much harder to watch the runners this year because of extra security, it was worth it. The way the city changed it's normal plans to keep all of us who were downtown today safe and sound, was a great sight to see by itself. Thank you to everyone who took the extra precautions for this race. Although there was one death on Sunday, it was overall a safe and fun day. But my thoughts and prayers do go out to that runner's family and friends, peace be with you as you mourn.

Families being reunited with their runners in Point State Park after the marathon.

In other news, I was called "Miss Pittsburgh" by a random reader while I was at Point State Park. Good feeling. 

I love this city and I love all of you runners of steel -especially now, you are all incredible.