Summer @ CMU Newsletter: Issue II

Welcome to the second issue of our Summer Studies newsletter. We can't believe it's mid-June already! This issue comes with listings of June EvolveU workshops, Let's Ride! events, concert listings, a new Neighborhood Spotlight featuring the Strip District and the North Side, and info about our Instagram Contest.

Dive into summer! Stay cool! Choose the pun that works for you!

Instagram Contest

Summer Studies is running our second annual Instagram contest! When you post photos of on and off-campus events, use the #CMUsummer hashtag. Winners will receive fun goodies from the bookstore and be featured in upcoming newsletters, on Summer Studies social media pages, and on our website. Deadline for entry of our first round is Wednesday, June 20. Winners will be announced by Monday, June 25. (Photo courtesy of one of last year’s winners, Jiaming Cao.)

Tartan Passport

Tartan Passport is the Summer Studies guide to free and low-cost events around town. In Issue 1, we highlighted three on-going summer happenings to take advantage of. Here are three more!

• Butterfly Forest & Tropical Forest: Cuba - Have you been to Phipps Conservatory yet? If not, you need to go. It’s a giant greenhouse, and each room has a different botanical theme. They’re hosting two special summer exhibits: “Butterfly Forest” (yes, there are real butterflies fluttering around) and “Tropical Forest: Cuba.” Phipps is right across the street from campus and admission is free with your CMU ID.
• We Are Nature: Living in the Anthropocene - The Carnegie Museums are also free for CMU students. In addition to an awesome permanent collection, which features a dinosaur exhibition and some very life-like taxidermy, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History is showing “We Are Nature,” an interactive installation focusing on the ways humans impact the environment.
• National Aviary - The National Aviary is located on Pittsburgh’s North Side. Like Phipps and the Carnegie Museums, it’s free with your ID card. The Aviary is Pittsburgh’s cutest attraction (not an official designation). They have penguins! They have owls! They have non-avian animals including an armadillo and a sloth named Vivian (image courtesy of the National Aviary)!

Free Skin Cancer Screenings

Offered By University Health Services

On Friday June 22, University Health Services is offering free skin cancer screenings to CMU students, faculty, and staff. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, and it's important to catch it early so that it can be treated as effectively as possible. You can sign up here.

Here are some helpful tips for reducing sun exposure, courtesy of UHS:

Neighborhood Spotlight

Strip District & North Side

This issue, we’re spotlighting the Strip District and the North Side. These neighborhoods are a little way from campus, but they’re well worth the trip. If you love wandering up streets lined with an eclectic mix of food vendors, antiques dealers, and shops that sell unique odds and ends, the Strip District is for you. Then take a short bus trip across the river to the North Side and explore bookstores, contemporary art, and the most charmingly eccentric sculpture garden you’ll ever see.

(And remember to post pictures with the #CMUsummer hashtag to enter our Instagram Contest!)

Strip District

Sandwiched between Lawrenceville and Downtown Pittsburgh, the Strip is an old manufacturing and warehouse area that’s evolved into a historic market and restaurant district. The Strip is famous in Pittsburgh for the sheer amount of delicious food and fun attractions. This made it really hard to narrow down recommendations, but we’ve picked out three places we think you’ll love. (Photo at left courtesy of Strip District Neighbors.)

For the last 25 years, Enrico Biscotti Co. has been baking some of the best biscotti in the city. Enrico’s biscotti are slightly bigger and easier to bite into the biscotti you’d get in a grocery store, and the wide variety of flavors means there’s something for everyone. Enrico’s also runs a small café serving wood-fired pizza, torta rustica (think quiche) and other Italian specialties. It’s perfect for a date or a quiet dinner with friends.

Like good coffee? You’ll love La Prima Espresso. (If the name sounds familiar, it’s because they run a coffee cart in Wean Hall.) A Certified Organic Roaster, La Prima roasts their own beans in small batches to bring you the perfect cup of coffee. La Prima has several locations throughout the city, but the original storefront is located in the Strip, and it has an old-world charm you shouldn’t miss out on.

Smallman Galley is a relatively new addition to the Strip. A “restaurant accelerator,” Smallman Galley is a mix between a food hall and a small business incubator. Their philosophy is simple and generous: give four local chefs the space and start-up cash to run the restaurants they’ve been dreaming of. Smallman Galley a great option for large groups with differing tastes.

The restaurants at Smallman Galley rotate every few months as new chefs arrive with fresh concepts. Right now, they’re hosting Bahnmilicious, a modern Vietnamese restaurant; Home, which serves up “comfort classics”; Iron Born, a Detroit-style pizza place; and Joey’s Snack Bar, which serves light dishes perfect for summer.

But wait….there's more!

We did say it was hard to narrow down a list of things to do in the Strip. We would have felt bad leaving these highlights out of the mix:

• Kelly O’s: An old-school diner for the mornings when all you want are flapjacks, hashbrowns, and bottomless coffee.
• Goucho: Amazing Argentinian fare at a reasonable price. Goucho is new to Pittsburgh, and we’re really glad they’re here!
• Lotus Food Company: A Strip District staple, this market sells a wide range of East Asian produce, snacks, and other goodies.
• Salem’s Market & Grille: Part halal food hall, part corner store, Salem’s sells some of the best falafel and shawarma in the city. (Image above courtesy of Pittsburgh Murals.)
• Penzeys: If you cook, you need to go to Penzeys. Your spice rack will thank you!
• Roxanne’s Dried Flowers: Easily the prettiest store in the Strip, Roxanne’s sells both dried and live flowers, candles, perfumes, and pretty knick-knacks.

North Side

The North Side is a quick shot across the river from the Strip. If you’ve been to a baseball game or gone kayaking, you’ve been to the North Shore. Journey a little deeper in and you’ll reach the North Side.

Before you do anything else on the North Side, we recommend taking a walk around the Mexican War Streets. Part of the area’s historic district, they’re full of beautiful restored rowhouses and community gardens.

Once you’ve finished exploring the Mexican War Streets, walk over Sampsonia Way to visit the Mattress Factory Museum (your CMU ID will get you in free). The Mattress Factory is full of contemporary art, including two permanent installations by Yayoi Kusama. (Image courtesy of Mattress Factory Museum.)

City of Asylum: Pittsburgh is also located on Sampsonia Way. Founded by author Salman Rushdie, Cities of Asylum is a network of European and American cities which house writers persecuted in their home countries. Pittsburgh’s branch focuses on helping international writers become part of the local community.

Stroll down Sampsonia to see the beautifully decorated houses for writers, then head down to North Avenue and check out COAP’s bookstore, Alphabet City and the connected restaurant, Brugge On North.

(Image above courtesy of City of Asylum: Pittsburgh.)

You can’t talk about the North Side without mentioning Randyland, Pittsburgh’s most colorful backyard. A public art installation created by outsider artist Randy Gilson, Randyland is part interactive sculpture garden, part living mural. The work is created almost entirely from re-purposed trash painted neon colors and stacked into beautiful sculptures. Gilson’s mission is simple: make people happy and bring communities together through art. He is almost always present to say hello, give an uplifting speech, and warn visitors not to pet the adorable (but cranky) cats that roam through the sculptures. Randlyland is free, but donations are appreciated to keep the operation running.

(Image above courtesy of Roadside America.)