Pittsburgh

This middle weekend in May is traditionally filled with festivals, from the Pittsburgh Folk Festival at the Monroeville Convention Center, to the Pittsburgh International Children's Festival which turns Oakland into a wonderland of international music and performing arts. Individuals and families are invited to try their hand at a variety of outdoor activities at free Venture Outdoors Festival at Point State Park. The "world's longest festival," The National Road Festival, features entertainment, food and fun along the PA National Road. Plus, ethnic heritage and entertainment at Ambridge Nationalty Days, the last weekend of the Silk Screen Asian-American Film Festival, and the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community.

More May Festivals

Some of the best mountain bike trails in Pittsburgh. Clay tennis courts. The only public lawn bowling green in Pennsylvania. Take that and add 151 acres of wooded nature reserve, popular childrens' playgrounds, and the Pittsburgh home of industrialist Henry Clay Frick, and you have Frick Park. The largest of the city of Pittsburgh parks, Frick Park borders the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Point Breeze, Regent Square, and Squirrel Hill, and represents a great way to while away a weekend afternoon.

Across the street from the Reynolds Street entrance to Frick Park is the Frick Art & Historical Center, one of Pittsburgh's top cultural attractions. The Center features museums and historical buildings on more than five acres of elegant lawns and gardens, including the restored Frick family home, Clayton; the Frick Art Museum; the Car and Carriage Museum; the Greenhouse; the Visitors' Center; and the Café at the Frick. Best of all, everything is free to explore, with the exception of Clayton.

We are blessed in Pittsburgh to have several beautiful state parks within a 1-2 hour drive of the city. Most of us have been at least once to tiny Point State Park in downtown Pittsburgh, but have you been camping or swimming at rural Raccoon Creek State Park? Whitewater rafting or hiking in scenic Ohiopyle State Park? Sailing in Moraine State Park Climbed the rocks or visited the old mill at McConnell's Mill State Park? And that's not even all of them! Pittsburgh area state parks offer cheap fun for people of all ages!

With Mother's Day, graduations, confirmations, first communions, and other events on every's mind this time of year, Sunday brunch is a popular event. From buffet style to sit-down, and from less than $10 to well over $30, here are some of our favorite Sunday brunch options around Pittsburgh.

Do you have a favorite Sunday brunch spot that we missed? Click "comments" below and tell us about it!

The Allegheny County Summer Concert Series returns for 2012 with plenty of music at both South Park and Hartwood Acres. Highlights of the 2012 free summer concert series include multiple Grammy Award winner Lucinda Williams, Grammy-nominated funk jazz tour de force Trombone Shorty, and multi-platinum artist Joan Osborne, as well as several Big Band Bashes, and a bluegrass concert at Harrison Hills Park. Plus, old favorites such as the Pittsburgh Symphony and Pittsburgh Opera, and the 18th annual Pittsburgh Blues Festival at Hartwood Acres.

2012 Allegheny County Summer Concert Series

The extreme mountain biking trails that loop, wind, and carve their way through the woodlands, country roads and breathtaking scenery of Pennsylvania offer thrill-seeking mountain bikers the ride of their lives. So oil those chains, pump up the tires and get ready to test your skill on one of these 5 Fabulous Mountain Bike Trails near Pittsburgh.

If you're in need of something a little tamer than mountain biking, check out one of Pittsburgh's great Rail Trails!

Part of Pennsylvania's celebration of Earth Day 2012, the 9th annual Pick it Up PA Days are scheduled from April 21 to May 7, 2012, as part of the 2012 Great American Cleanup of PA. Register as a group or individual to spend part of a day picking up trash in your community. During the past three years, the Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania has yielded more than 25 million pounds of collected trash, involved 486,620 volunteers and resulted in 48,545 miles of highways cleaned.

Local Earth Day events and celebrations include special Earth Day activities at the Carnegie Museum and the Frick Environmental Center, Party for the Planet at the Pittsburgh Zoo, a cleanup of the South Side Riverfront Trail with REI, and a number of local community cleanup events - scheduled at various dates between Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 22, 2012.

The Pittsburgh Pirates open their 126th season today at PNC Park against the 2011 National League East champion Phillies. Erik Bedard will be starting pitcher. After the Phillies, the Pirates will head west to play the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants, followed by a trip to Arizona to face the Diamondbacks. The Pirates April Schedule doesn't get any easier when they return home, either - as they meet the world champion St. Louis Cardinals. Three games in Pittsburgh this weekend against the Phillies include today's home opener, a Saturday evening game, and an Easter Sunday afternoon game (Kid's Day). Will this be the year the Pirates finally break .500? Believe!

It's hard to believe another year has passed, but Easter is once again upon us. For those of you with children, there are plenty of Easter related activities and events to keep them happy, from the Zoo Hop to Spring at the Pittsburgh Zoo to the Bunny Trolley at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. The zoo is featuring its popular Breakfast or Lunch with the Easter Bunny, and the Easter Bunny is stopping by at the National Aviary as well. At the Carnegie Museum it is time for another Egg-cellent Museum Egg Hunt. On the Gateway Clipper, there's the annual Bunny Fun Cruise. And, of course, the assorted community and business Easter egg hunts and festivities!

Thirty-three years ago, America experienced its worst commercial nuclear accident - an "impossible" partial meltdown of the reactor core at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania. During the tension-packed week that followed, sketchy reports and conflicting information led to panic, and more than one hundred thousand residents, mostly children and pregnant women, fled the area.
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