MY FINAL YEAR IN PITTSBURGH MEGA BUCKET LIST
Updated: May 21
(Edited for the FINAL time May 2023)
I AM MOVING! FINALLY! Well, I just know I need to move...relatively soon. I started my graduate program in the Fall of 2019 and plan on walking my Black ass up out of my program the Spring of 2024. For some context into how American PhDs work - you have two or three years of coursework and then you fuck around and do some shit until you are ready to leave. I'm in my "fuck around" stage right on the precipice of my "and find out" once I leave my program with bigger tits, bigger checks, and the biggest BAG! By the end of 2022, I'll have a little less than 2 years left to snatch up my PhD and even less to make my way out of my home in Pittsburgh and on to new horizons for 2023. You see I want to be settled in my new home prior to defending my dissertation. Cause a bitch loves comfort.
So to my calculations I have roughly a year's worth of time left to lallygag in my current home before I'll have to start to pack it on up. One more year of intentional exploration in the City of Bridges. One more year.
And what a year it has been. I barely scraped the surface of the entirety of this list when I originally wrote it. I wish I could have added Spak's, Bottlerocket Social Club, Steel Carabiner at Blue Moon Bar, Drag Brunch at 5801, Maker's Night at Assemble Studios, artsncraftspgh botanica shop, Red Fish Bowl Studios, Allies Ball, and White Oak Dog Park. I'll never be able to summarize entirely my feelings towards Pittsburgh. Instead, I'll continue to work on the narrative. My address may no longer be in Pennsylvania but a piece of my heart lives in East Pittsburgh. Nothing will ever taste as good as a vegan philly cheesesteak from Spak. No one can throw a party like Black people from Homewood. And no one can make you feel as good as the local ladies at a Pittsburgh laundromat.
So here's a comprehensive list of what I intend to do in this year {Last Updated 09/21/22):
1) Go to Kennywood.
2) Take pictures in a sunflower patch.
3) Have a date at Casa Brasil. (R.I.P. It's closing in 2023)
4) Take a helicopter ride above the city.
5) Have a shoot in front of some street art.
6) Con Alma - for personal reasons.
7) Go to Pittsburgh Zine Fair!
8) Go to PGH Veg Fest!
9) Go to Randyland. (Refer to pic on the left)
10) Attend a concert at Roxian Theatre.
11) Go to Barcadia.
12) Go to Heinz History Center.
13) Go to Kiln Time.
14) Go to Glass Center.
15) Ride the Gateway Clipper! 16) Go to car show.
17) Go to Tekko or another convention.
18) Go to Hartwood Wine Cave.
19) Ride on one of Molly's Trolleys.
20) Go to Victory Float Lounge.
21) Go to light up night.
22) Go to Frida Kahlo Exhibit.
23) Go to Penguins game.
24) Go to Steelers game.
25) Go to Fred Rogers Statue.
26) Go to Trundle Manor.
27) Go to National Aviary.
28) Head to Carnegie Science Center.
29) Go to Frick Art & Historical Center.
30) Go to Wigle Whiskey Distillery.
31) Head to Penn Brewery.
32) Go to Church Brew Works.
Four years and I couldn't make it to every place on the bucket list. Well, as a resident anyway. The one cool thing about moving away from so many loved ones is making up excuses to head back. It's been one HELL of a year, the MOTHER of all experiences, and the GREATEST time of my adulthood (so far). While my address will no longer be in the commonwealth - a piece of my heart is cemented in the streets of the burgh'. See yinz soon!