One of my favorite images of 2024 was this quick snap of the candy shop at Kennywood. I was there for the Christmas lights but happily admired the vintage buildings and rides as well.
The candy shop was packed with folks stocking up on their favorite candies and fudges for the holidays. It was also warmer inside, making it a mecca for everyone looking to escape the cold.
I was drawn to the building’s style and the snazzy colors and font! Incidentally, this is the first thing you see when you exit the tunnel and arrive at the amusement park!
LEGO has always fascinated me. I love the idea of colorful blocks that can be used to build whatever your imagination allows. Yet, I never played with them when I was a kid.
I’m not sure why but I don’t recall any of the kids at school playing with them in the 80’s either. Perhaps they were just too expensive for the kids in my poor rural community and not trendy enough to pressure parents into buying them.
Today, you can buy kits to build all kinds of things like the castle from Harry Potter, the Eiffel Tower, a flower garden or a set from your favorite tv show. I have a basic beginners set that I sometimes pull out on a cold winter night and often ogle the more advanced sets in the store.
When I visit my Pittsburgh friend, I get to stay in her college student son’s room which is packed with fabulous Lego creations that always make me smile.
So imagine my zeal when we found a fantastic Lego village and railway in the visitors center of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. It was put on by Steel City Lug, a local group of adults that love Legos. By the way, LUG stands for Lego Users Group.
Boy oh boy!! They made me want to clear off the dining room table and start building! Who knew you could make a working Lego train? There was a longer train but I forgot to photograph it.
I really like the group’s mission system:
“We further the enjoyment in all facets of hobbies that surround LEGO products, including, but not limited to: building official sets, building MOCs, collecting, artistic expression, investing, reselling, designing, robotics, sorting, and anything else that would drive someone to seek membership.”
This sounds like a group I would appreciate if I lived closer! Do you belong to a Lego group? I would love to hear about it! Find Make The Journey Fun on Facebook to see more photos.
Last weekend I watched Santa Claus sing and dance across a stage, reminding Pittsburghers they better not pout and they better not cry. A ballerina pirouetted to the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, captivating us all with her grace. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Mendelssohn Choir, conductor Byron Stripling and one extremely talented organist took us to church with an inspiring rendition of Go Tell It On The Mountain. We all stood for the Hallelujah Chorus and we all transformed into bright eyed children with a singalong of popular classics.
Not to mention, all this transpired in one of the most extraordinary music halls around.
There’s a sense of community at the Holiday Pops. There were people in jeans and those decked out in their finest. People from all walks of life gathered to join in the most festive night of the year at Heinz Hall.
By the way, yes, it’s THAT Heinz. If you come to Pittsburgh, expect to see lots of the ketchup company all over the city. What I wouldn’t give for their marketing budget.
But I digress.
The acoustics are outstanding and the place is absolutely stunning. Seeing it decorated for Christmas was nothing short of breathtaking and I was charmed before the door closed behind me.
I would go back in a heartbeat.
If you think a night at the symphony sounds too highfalutin for your tastes, the holidays pops is a great place to start because it’s fun and the arrangements of popular songs are more accessible to people who think they don’t like classical music.
In fact, I think everyone should have this experience at least once in their lives. My experience was in Pittsburgh but you can seek out a symphony in your own area.
This concert was one of several holiday themed activities that I enjoyed during my Pittsburgh adventure and a special part of my mission to embrace the Christmas spirit.
Not every community can claim to have its own amusement park and it’s rare to find one that’s as authentic and historic as Kennywood in Pittsburgh.
Kennywood dates to 1898 when Anthony Kenny leased land to the Monongahela Street Railway Company for a recreational trolley park. It started with a dance hall, carousel, athletic contests, and pony rides, growing over time to include things like roller coasters and bumper cars.
While the place has a vintage flair, the 2019 Steel Curtain ride is the tallest roller coaster in the state, has the most inversions in North America and the tallest inversion in the world.
But that’s not why you go to Kennywood in December. Instead, the park is all decked out in Christmas lights so bright and glorious that even the Grinchiest among us will be pleased. We rode the Thomas the Tank Train around Thomas Town while strangers broke out into spontaneous Christmas carols. We enjoyed life sized gingerbread men, saw Rudolph and admired beautiful carousel animals.
With over three million Christmas lights and the tallest Christmas tree in Pennsylvania, the electric glow of the holidays is visible all around. Kennywood is a time honored tradition for Pittsburghers and I can see why. It’s a charming place.
We were there on an extremely cold night but we dressed in layers and were fine. Some of the rides don’t operate under forty degrees but there’s plenty of fun to be found even without the thrills and chills of a roller coaster.
Holiday spirit has been elusive in my world but I finally caught the bug this week. These last several days I have spent with my East Coast Adventure Pal Nichola doing all the Christmasey things her town has to offer.
Friends, Pittsburgh knows how to celebrate the holidays.
Christmas trees in the Hall of Architecture at the Carnegie Museum of Art, lights at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, more lights at Kennywood, an awe inspiring holiday model train display at the Trolley Museum and Christmas With The Pops at the Pittsburgh Symphony were the big things.
We also enjoyed holiday lights across the city, sipped hot chocolate and enjoyed way more Christmas sweets than should be legal.
Looking at things unfamiliar was good for my brain and to jumpstart some creativity. A great example is Randyland, an outdoor art installation like nothing I have ever seen. There were bookstores, breakfast at a Mexican bakery and a slice of pop culture at the Andy Warhol Museum.
Oh, the stories I have to tell!
With Christmas on the horizon, I’ll show you some of the festive stuff first and we will circle back later to the things that aren’t so timely.
A change of scenery and time with my friend is exactly what my mental health needed. A few hours in and all the stress and anxiety of my regular life was nearly forgotten. I slept well and my mind went quiet. Also, after a few days of eating and drinking basically whatever I liked, going back to healthier eating habits sounds, if not welcome, at least tolerable!
My friend has family memberships to several museums around her city, an investment in the places but also a way to pop in and out at will, taking with her friends and family for fun outings. This made our adventure much more affordable as did staying at her house and cooking at home some. After being in and out of the cold all day, it was wonderful coming home to a warm meal.
All of this contributed to the affordability and fun of the trip.
This is my rather un-subtle way of reminding you that adventure comes in many, many forms. It doesn’t have to involve a cruise ship or a resort. In fact, I would encourage you to look for other things including places close to home or those where you have friends and family willing to host you for a few days. In fact, I have many friends who have moved away who complain that they have to come home to see loved ones and that no one ever comes to visit them. I think it means a lot when someone they care about cares enough to go to them occasionally.
And remember to start saving those credit card points and to figure out the hotel rewards program that works best for you so you can go further, longer! Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
