A Weekend in SW Pennsylvania

When my youngest brother and his wife flew into Pittsburgh for a family vacation at Deep Creek Lake, I created a "tasting" itinerary of the area to whet their appetite for a longer visit:

Saturday:
Personal pick-up at the airport
Dinner on the back patio
A show at the Arcade Comedy Theater

Sunday:
Take the Monongahela Incline up to Mount Washington to enjoy Grandview Avenue
Have brunch at Eggs & Moore, a mom n' pop diner
Drive to Fallingwater for an in-depth tour of the famous house
Arrive at Deep Creek Lake in time for a late dinner

As usual, things didn't go entirely to plan, but they ended up okay in the end. From the airport, we drove over to The Village of Sewickley to pick up an audiobook I had requested from the library and then made a loop to show them the church where Dear Husband plays. Then we drove to Wexford to pick up my old car. Oh yeah, did I mention I bought a new(ish) car?

My Turquoise Torpedo is 20 years old, dented like a tin can, and has no working air conditioning. The new car--I'm taking nominations for a name--is a 2024 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid with a driver's seat that reminds you of a cockpit. Of course we ran into a couple of snafus, namely having to unfreeze my credit to get the bank loan, and then the car salesman completely missing the fact that we had a check-ready loan, leaving us waiting for a completely unnecessary hour while they tried to generate their own loan offer. Thankfully the restaurant where we celebrated our 20th anniversary that night was able to hold our reservation (Monterey Bay Fish Grotto)!

That was Thursday; this was Saturday:

(Playing arcade games before the show!)

Sunday morning we got terribly lost trying to get to the lower station of the Mon Incline, but we made it. Breakfast was delicious. We then got ~8,000 steps and a lot of sun as we ambitiously walked to the Duquesne Incline and back to the upper station--only to discover that due to a power outage, the incline wasn't running. Two Lyfts later (don't ask), we were home, packing our bags and the cars to drive south.

A short ride through very green southwestern Pennsylvania, we reached Fallingwater. Our tour guide told us all about the land that is now Bear Run Preserve, the summer cabins that the Kaufmanns visited before hiring Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1930s, and the house with its famous cantilevered terraces. Wright's design incorporates nature so much that it is currently being waterproofed to ensure that its sandstone doesn't erode from the inside out.

Above: approaching Fallingwater from the near side of Bear Run;

the waterfalls begin to the left, just outside the frame

Main terrace looking toward the bridge

View over the terrace wall down to the wading pool (left) and the flowing stream (right) with the Jacques Lipschitz "Mother and Child" (1941) sculpture 

The hearth was supposed to be the heart of the home. Also: alcohol.

Looking down the steps to the stream

I love this planter in the middle of a stairway, as well as the bookcase on the stairs

Tiffany lamp in the primary bedroom

To the left: geraniums as privacy screen in the primary bathroom; to the right: the only room in the house with window treatments (horizontal blinds) was the guest bathroom

Full bathroom with rainforest shower head and cork instead of tile off Edward Kaufmann, Sr.'s study

Edward Kaufmann, jr.'s bookshelves in his study; I've long wondered about the wisdom of keeping books in a home with Fallingwater's humidity. When it rains, the rock below has a channel to drain the water that seeps through the wall via pipe in the floor to the driveway.

Final stop: guest house and staff quarters (now offices). My pictures aren't very good, but I was left with an impression of color and angles that would be interesting to look at.

Of course we ended our visit with a stop at the lookout that gives the famous view of the house and waterfalls, an aspect that cannot be appreciated when you're actually in it.

Monday: running the river rapids