I love public art. I don’t think about whether or not my taxes are paying for it and simply enjoy the free pretties that have been created for my pleasure.

Pittsburgh has public art all over town, including murals on the sides of buildings, sculptures in public parks, and oddly-dressed dinosaurs in downtown courtyards. Pittsburgh also has quite a few statues honoring local heroes. These three can be seen along the North Shore of the Allegheny River just before it tumbles into the Ohio.

The Homerun

In 1960, Pittsburgh Pirate Bill Mazeroski hit a walk off homerun in Game 7 to win the World Series against the Yankees. Known simply as “the homerun” to baseball fans, the moment is immortalized outside PNC Park with a 14-foot statue of Mazeroski rounding second base. While always impressive visually, the statue may be even more intriguing now during an era when the idea of the Pirates making the playoffs — let alone winning the World Series — seems to belong way, way out in left field. Read More »

Cracker Barrels are a dime a dozen, what with the porch swings and the deep-fried everything, but a Pickle Barrel? That’s a house of a different color. Oh yeah, it’s also a house.

Well, it used to be a house on the shores of Sable Lake outside of Chicago. Now it sits in Grand Marais, Michigan as a tourist information center — probably the only one listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

No pickles were harmed in the writing of this post.

This post is part of UpTake’s Roadside Tuesday Series.

Photo: Kristina_5 via Flickr

If you’re heading west on Interstate 10 through the heart of Texas (between San Antonio and Houston) you might be surprised to see a dinosaur on the side of the road. Or maybe you won’t. I don’t know what surprises anyone anymore. Besides, there might be dinosaurs all over Texas, I don’t get down there very often.

Irregardless (see what I did there?), this T-Rex is one of the many fabulous roadside attractions along the I-10 corridor. Don’t worry, it doesn’t bite. Anymore.

This post is part of UpTake’s Roadside Tuesday Series.

Photo: CortneyMartin82 via Flickr

Just outside of Honolulu, Hawai’i is a place that lives in infamy, the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor.

Today the ship has a large memorial built around it and serves as a monument to the Americans that gave their lives on that fateful December day.

Apparently the Arizona is still leaking oil drop by drop into the sea, and the locals claim that each is a tear of the fallen.

The sailors above are participating in a reenlistment ceremony. They serve on the USS Carl Vinson.

This post is part of the UpTake Monday Museums, Monuments and Memorials Series.

Photo: Official U.S. Navy Imagery via Flickr