Pittsburgh and Fallingwater

Pittsburgh & Western PA

June 1999

Hmmm, is Pittsburgh Midwest?  Close enough to add in here.  This is actually my Mom’s account, but I will present it here (w/ my editing) in her memory  ̶  I’m sure she would be excited that we’re coauthors and her writing appears in a blog!  Her very detailed trip diaries (including the cost of meals, lodging, etc.) have inspired the trip journals written by my brother and me.

Russ & Marjorie come on the 22^nd, we start out from Lewiston at 7:50 next AM.  SE of Pittsburgh to visit a Frank Lloyd Wright house less well-known and smaller than Fallingwater: Kentuck Knob, in the mountains of western PA near the border of W. Virginia.  Nestled just below the crest of a hill, 2000’ above sea level.  To the east, from the back terrace, a beautiful view of the Youghiogheny River Gorge and surrounding mountains.  The house, designed in 1953, is now owned by Lord & Lady Palumbo of London, England, dedicated patrons of the arts.  Constructed of tidewater red cypress and native fieldstone, with an open floor plan and expanses of horizontal glass, the beauty of the outdoors can always be enjoyed from inside.  Wright had definite ideas about placement of furniture: windows are horizontal and he wanted nothing above bottom of the win­dow to obstruct the view; he also didn’t approve of screens, tho owners of his houses insisted on them, for practical reasons such as keeping out wildlife.  An interesting sculpture park is near the Visitor Center.

          We drive down Chalk Hill, where Russ made reservations at the Lodge at Chalk Hill: half of a double cabin at the crest of a hill overlooking a pond (they call it a “lake”).  Dinner at Braddock Inn across the road – a good meal, friendly waitress tells us how to pronounce “Youghiogheny”: Yo-geo-geyehany (or something like that!).   

          After returning to our room, Marjorie rests while Russ & I go on a little tour of our own to Ohiopyl Falls and Fort Necessity Battlefield, where George Washington commanded troops in the first battle of the French & Indian War. 

 There is a reconstruction of the fort that Washington built.  After all this activity we rouse Marjorie and treat ourselves to ice cream at a stand across the road. (370 miles today) 

Up at 6am (our tour guide is tough!), to the lobby at 7 for complimentary breakfast.  Off to Fallingwater and a 2-hour in-depth tour Russ arranged that allows us take pictures inside the house [Mom was also an avid photographer].  An excellent guide, a very knowledgeable woman.  

This house and its unique location are beyond description.  It’s one of Wright’s most widely acclaimed works, designed in 1933 for the family of a Pittsburgh department store owner.  The family’s weekend home from 1937 until 1963, when the house, its contents, and grounds were given to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy – everything including artwork, intact.  NY Times architecture critic, Paul Goldberger, wrote, “Fallingwater is Wright’s greatest essay in horizontal space; it is his most sublime integration of man and nature.”  Built over a waterfall that had been a focal point of the family’s activities, much to their surprise Wright designed the house to rise over the waterfall rather than face it.  It’s said he was intrigued by the forest, boulders, and wild free-flowing stream.  Constructed of local sandstone and by local craftsmen, as was Kentuck Knob, with a guest and service wing on different levels and designed to conform to the natural setting.  

 The living room and every bedroom have an adjoin­ing deck, the sound of the waterfall can be heard from every part of the house.  Hallways in both houses are very narrow – Wright’s reason was that they are simply a “means to get from here to there.”  Needless to say, this tour was definitely the highpoint of our trip!

Lunch at the Smokehouse, then we take Marjorie to see Ohiopyl Falls that she missed last night.  Back to our room to rest a bit before going to Laurel Caverns, Pennsylvania’s largest cave.  A guided tour, needless to say, and I was glad to have Russ’ hand to guide me!  I don’t plan on doing any more caves!  [Mom was a real trooper to navigate the narrow passages and some up & down climbs at age 83!] 

Back “home” and then to Stone House Restaurant and Inn for dinner.  A beautiful old place originally built as a resort in 1822.  It reminds me of Lewiston’s Frontier House with its porch extending across the front, just about the same vintage.  General George C. Marshall, according to the story, recalled that as a young man he and his friends would go there for chicken & dumplings, “the best he ever tasted,” so of course, I take his recommendation and ordered  ‘Gen. Marshall’s chicken and dumplings.”  They are good!  Russ has lasagna, Marjorie chooses a seafood salad.  A tray of goodies is brought to tempt us for dessert. R & M succumb – and I help them eat theirs!  (only 100 miles today)

A little cloudy today.  Russ is up early to go down to the pond for pictures of geese.  To breakfast fortunately just ahead of a “Teens To Go” group that arrived last night.  Check-out about 9am, on to Pittsburgh.   

 We arrive at noon and head for Station Square in the center of the city on the Monongahela River.  This is the site of the original Pittsburgh and Lake Erie RR headquarters, now a center for shopping and dining as well as over a half million square feet of office space, a Sheraton Hotel and the Gateway Clipper Fleet.  Lunch at Sesame Inn, a Chinese restaurant. 

After lunch we feel ready to board the Duquesne Incline for a panoramic view of the city and its three rivers: the Allegheny and Monongahela come together to form the Ohio River.  Because of these rivers Pittsburgh is a city of bridges – the map shows eight.

To our motel, Days Inn at Pittsburgh, to check in about 3pm and enjoy a relaxing time watching “Gypsy” on TV.  Then time to eat again at nearby Eat ‘n’ Park, where we settle for their soup & salad bar, which is very good.  It’s a big place, very popular, that has grown from a small place by the road w/ car hop service to a chain of restaurants thruout the region.  A 7:30pm Twilight River Cruise, going under most of the bridges and getting a different view of the city.   

At 8:30 back to the Eat ‘n’ Park for dessert – lemon meringue pie for me, a sundae for Marjorie, Russ orders blackberry pie but the waitress comes back and says (very diplomatically), “You’d rather have cherry, wouldn’t you?”  Russ agrees!

Back at the motel I try to call sister Dorothy – no answer so I just leave a message.  During the night I have some stomach and intestinal problems.  Russ & Marjorie insist on taking me to Mercy Hospital Emergency because they fear I will get dehydrated.  After a long wait, the diagnosis is food poisoning, they send me on my way with a prescription to take if needed.  It’s early morning when we return to the motel.

This is a day of R & R for me – no more problems.  Russ & Marjorie go out later in the day to visit the Andy Warhol Art Museum and Carnegie Science Museum.    

They return for a bit and then out to a pizza place for supper.  I enjoy several programs on TV and a little reading.  They bring me applesauce, canned pears, spring water, ginger ale, and saltines.

Next day I’m back on the job again so we all start out about 9:45am. We visit the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Schenley Park, donated in 1893 by steel & real estate magnate Henry Phipps.  Lush tropical plants, orchids, palms, and a “Butterfly Forest.” 

 

 Then to the campus of the U of Pittsburgh. We see the Cathedral of Learning but don’t go inside. (Russ takes a quick look and decides there’s nothing to interest us [or to learn?!!])

At noon we attend the service at nearby Heinz Memorial Chapel.  This Gothic interdenominational chapel was donated in part by the founder of the H.J.Heinz Co., who wished to honor his mother with a “building” at the University.  After his death his three surviving children added to his bequest, decided the money should be used for a chapel to memorialize both their grandmother and their father.  There are 73-foot stained glass windows (23 in all).  As we enter Russ & Marjorie are invited to carry the wafers and wine for communion.  They accept and perform nobly.

Afterward to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, thinking we would get lunch there before visiting the exhibits.  But the museum restaurant is closed so we go to a nearby café and then back to the museum.  What a fabulous place!  Dinosaur Hall, Sculpture, Rocks and Min­erals, and a Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit, including a video narrated by E. J. Kaufmann’s son.  Russ sees a few other things while Marjorie & I watch the video.  There’s a Soul of Africa exhibit, and we don’t get to the Art Exhibit – we run out of time!  A brief excursion downtown to get some pictures of the buildings is cut short by a little rain and threatening thunder.

Back to the motel about 5:30pm.  Russ & Marjorie out to get some supper while I settle for simpler fare in our room.  When they return, I learn that Marjorie fell and cut her lip clear through as well as injuring her knee – all because they went to buy ice cream for me!  So – after delivering the sorbet to me, they make another trip to Mercy Hospital Emergency!  (That hospital, I’m afraid, has us classified as “accident prone” because they also have Russ on their records from a a year ago when he was attending a conference and cut his forehead when taking a shower!)  They return about 11:30pm, Marjorie all stitched up.  (183 mi. since leaving Laurel mtn. area on Friday)

Cloudy today – time to head homeward.  We check out at 8:30am, Eat ‘n’ Park for breakfast – oatmeal for Marjorie & me.  We drive to Volant, a small village on Neshannock Creek, in Amish country.  For years the old grist mill by the creek was the nucleus of the town and the center of activity.  However, the Depres­sion brought a decline in the economy and the mill was forced to close in the early 1960’s.  In 1984 it opened as a country gift & antique store, other shops were opened on Main St., now there are over 50 shops & restaurants, making it one of western Penn­sylvania’s most popular tourist attractions. So – being tourists, we visit a few shops, one of which is very intriguing featuring miniatures.  Lunch in one of the restaurants filled with a couple vanloads of church people from Ohio.  One of the women tells me they had been in Niagara Falls, Ont. [near where Mom was living] on Saturday.

A brief shower as we continue on our way.  We entertain ourselves with some comedy programs on tape – Jack Benny, Charlie McCarthy, Fibber McGee & Molly.  At 4pm we call stepdaughter Mar on my cell phone (imagine me having a cell phone!) to tell her we’ll stop at her shop on the way to pick up framing work she had done for Marjorie.  After a visit with Mar, on to Niagara Falls and supper at Bob Evans. Then home about 7pm.  I give all the plants a drink and feed the birds.  Home once again!  (930 miles total for the trip)