April 12 or 412 Day is a day dedicated to celebrating Pittsburgh. While there are nearly endless ways to show your love for our great city on 412 Day, we decided to share our itinerary for what we would consider the perfect day.
BREAKFAST/MORNING
Let’s start the morning with some breakfast. Since today is all about the burgh it makes to sense to go anywhere other than the Strip District for the most important meal of the day. Indulge yourself in some diner-style eggs and flapjacks at Kelly O’s or Pamela’s. As hard as it might be, try to save some room for lunch!
After you’ve satiated your appetite, walk it off with a stroll around the iconic Strip District. If there’s any day to purchase a knock-off Pittsburgh sports shirt, today is definitely the day. Grab a couple shirts from a cash-only street vendor like a real Pittsburgher would.
Continue on your way and step into Wholey’s. While you aren’t obligated to buy anything, you should at least experience it. Take a deep breath and inhale the overwhelming scent of seafood on ice. Take a peek at the live fish in tanks. Watch the train travel around the ceiling track. Don’t forget to stop by the animatronic cow back in the meat section.
Now that we’ve walked off a few of those fried eggs, let’s get sugared up at Grandpa Joe’s. Stuff a box at their $5 Candy Buffet. The gummier your choices, the better (in our opinion atleast)– Peach rings, watermelon slices, sharks, Swedish fish and more!
LUNCH/MIDDAY
It’s time to eat again and you’re probably feeling a little parched as well. Thankfully, Turner’s Tea has come out with the ultimate collaboration beverages with fellow Pittsburgh-based distributor, Iron City Beer. Being released on April 12 or 412 Day, this new beverage is the perfect combination of two of our city’s most iconic brews–iced tea and beer.
Named IC’D TEA, this drink took three years to develop and get just right. With a 4.2% ABV, this beverage is the perfect springtime sipper.
Perhaps the best way to enjoy this beverage on 412 Day is to chase down a stacked Primanti Brother’s sandwich for lunch. Whatever you do, don’t ask for your slaw on the side.
After such a hearty meal, let’s walk it off. Take a ride on the incline–just because. As a Pittsburgher, when’s the last time you took the incline up to Mt. Washington? Childhood? The last time out-of-town friends or family visited? Let’s take a trip up and down one more time, but this time just do it for you! Take in the sights of the skyline as you creep up the mountainside. Breath in the fresh air billowing in from the Monongahela through the grated windows, and listen to the cranking of the old-school pulley system yanking the trolley car up and away. Sit back on the hard wood slat bench until you reach the top.
If you’re feeling adventurous, take a walk down Grandview to the George Washington statue and back again before you’re ready to head back down the mountain.
After you arrive down at the bottom of the incline, take a jaunt over to downtown. If you have the energy, walk across the Smithfield Street Bridge. If you’re legs need a break, just hop on the T. Once across the river, you’ve entered the the golden triangle, the heart of our city and it deserves its own moment to shine, especially on 412 Day.
DINNER/EVENING
So where to start downtown? It depends on what you want to do. If you’re ready for dinner, I suggest diving in at any of the amazing restaurants in the Golden Triangle. Ritual House, Tako, The Yard and more all call our thriving city center home.
If you’d like some small bites, consider Social House 7 or The Warren Bar & Burrow. Maybe drinks are more your speed. Take a dip into City Works, The Tap Room, or Bridges and Bourbon for a little night cap.
If you still have energy after running around all day, settle in for a show at Quantum Theater. California theatre artist Jennifer Change is debuting her edgy and contemporary take on the Faust story, The Devil is A Lie, at Tenant Innovation Center Frick Building at 437 Grant Street.
If you managed to do any of the recommendations here for 412 Day, we hope you found it did our city justice and you had a fantastic time. We’d love to know though–what would you do if you were to make an itinerary for the perfect 412 Day?
