There’s no doubt about it: the Pittsburgh Pirates stink. Fortunately, fans can endure the seemingly endless losing streak in a gorgeous stadium.

PNC Park sits on Pittsburgh’s North Shore just across from downtown. Like many stadiums used for professional sports, its location makes it perfect for TV-camera flyovers that highlight the city. But what makes this ballpark especially great for the people who ponied up the cash for tickets is the view from inside the stadium.

See what I mean? And this is a view from the cheap seats. If you pay extra to sit behind home plate, you’ll get a better view of the batter, but you still get a unique glimpse of the city.

How much will this view cost?

Good news – the park is huge and tickets are easy to come by when the team isn’t winning. For just $5 from a “reseller” across the street, you can get a seat on the third base line in the upper levels. While you’ve got your wallet out, buy a few bottles of water for $1 from the guy with the coolers; you can bring in unopened bottles or pay $4 a pop at the concession stand.

Photos Britt Reints

“I’ve lived here 40 years and I’ve never been down these streets.” My guide, a lifelong Yinzer, wound down the crooked streets of the Troy Hill neighborhood with the care and caution of a tourist. It was the first time during my Pittsburgh visit that I hadn’t had to hang onto the handle bar in the SUV while she drove. We were headed to St. Anthony’s chapel, a tiny building tucked away on Pittsburgh’s North Shore and the home of the largest public collection of religious relics in the world.

When the GPS signaled our arrival at our destination, we found a stone church on a dead-end street. Inside were three short rows of pews and, as promised, a massive array of… what, exactly?

A relic is an item that is in someway associated with a saint or holy person. The Catholic Church has multiple classifications of relics, depending on how closely related the item was to the person. The bulk of St Anthony’s collection was made up of 1st class — made of a saint’s bone or hair — and 2nd class relics — made from a saint’s article of clothing or item used in daily life.

Upon walking into the church, we were immediately underwhelmed by the collection. The building itself was beautiful and the Stations of the Cross circling the sanctuary were some of the largest and most elaborate I’d ever seen. But the relics themselves looked more like old lockets than sacred items and you had to rely on a volunteer flipping through a catalogue to tell you which bone fragment belonged to which saint.

“This one here is interesting,” the gray-haired woman with the catalogue pointed her laser beam at a case with an elaborate gold frame. “This,” she narrowed her beam on a speck of wood protected by glass and gold, “is a piece of the cross. And this kind of beige speck beneath it is a piece of Mary’s veil.”

We were no longer overwhelmed. Both my frenetic driver friend and myself were surprised by the tears that welled instantly in our eyes at the tiny recreation of a mother at the foot of her son’s crucifixion. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” my friend apologized and stepped away.

The volunteer turned and aimed her laser pointer across the room. Instinctively, I crossed towards the red dot. “That’s another piece of the cross, and these around it,” she circled the gilded splinter, “that’s one relic from each of the original apostles.” Unexpected chills again as I thought of friendships and bonds that outlast even death.

Yes, I was moved by these walls covered with bone fragments and hair samples. It may have been the hush of a church that always makes me feel sentimental or the stories that inevitably connected the relics with my own humanity. Perhaps the place is holy. Whatever the reason, I’m certain that a unique attraction is hidden among the cobbled roads and sharp left turns of Troy Hill.

Photos Britt Reints

As I was in my kitchen up to my elbows in apple juice that will become jelly tomorrow, travel was the last thing on my mind.  At this time of year, it’s hard to find time to run for groceries, much less think of something fun to do.

But then I started thinking about grapes, and how nice it would be to have some grapes so that I could make grape jelly along with my apple jelly.  We had nary a grape on our decades-old vine this year, so if I want grapes, I’m going to have to beg from my neighbors, or find a place to buy some.

One might think it could be difficult to find a place to buy some grapes for making jelly, but in Minnesota we have it easy.  We have the Minnesota Grown Directory, available in both print and online formats, to direct us to farms that sell grapes or apples or meat or honey or other farm-to-market items in the state.

With just a few clicks of the mouse at minnesotagrown.com, I’d found five places within a reasonable driving distance that sell grapes, some for wine, some for juice and eating at the table, as well as contact information to learn about pricing and availability.

I’ve used Minnesota Grown before, often in the fall when looking for a new orchard to visit.  It was through the Minnesota Grown Directory that I found Holmberg Orchard and others that have become favorites for family activities as well as sweet fall pickings.  If I want to find a pumpkin patch for the kids, I turn to Minnesota Grown.  Farmers’ markets, CSAs, Christmas tree farms, and more are also included in the directory.

The free print version of the Minnesota Grown Directory is updated each spring, and this year marks its 30th anniversary of being a resource for those looking for fresh, local food.  If you’re looking for a new source of good food, or even a fun family fall outing in Minnesota, Minnesota Grown should be your first stop.

Photo credit: minnemom on flickr

Linda (minnemom) writes about family travel at Travels with Children.

We were in Milan, Ohio to visit the Edison Birthplace Museum and had been invited to checkout the Milan Historical Museum while we were in town. The two museums were only a couple of blocks apart and there didn’t appear to be anything else in Milan, so we figured “what the heck.” Two hours later, we left in awe of the bizarre collection that had been amassed by Milan citizens and historians.

The Milan Historical Museum complex includes nine buildings situated around a courtyard. Only two of these buildings actually have any historical significance while the others were either built specifically to showcase collectibles or converted from garages and storage sheds for the same purpose. It seemed odd, at first, this forced reverence to a history that hadn’t been carefully preserved. However the sheer volume of the items that jammed these old buildings – almost all donations from past and present town residents – indicated that history had in fact been treasured privately, if not on a larger scale. Everything from dolls to old potato diggers (which were once manufactured in the area) are part of the exhibit, and you get the feeling you’re wandering through an episode of American Pickers in some spots.

Among the various odds and ends are a few spectacular pieces, like the collection of vaseline glass that glows neon green under a black light due to traces of uranium. There’s also an impressive model of a massive ship that would have been built in one of the old shipyards when a canal still ran through the town in the early 1800s. Along side the pressed glass and wood craftsmanship you’ll also find a blunderbuss, a rare firearm used primarily in the 17th and 18th century.

The very existence of a historical museum in a town the size and significance of Milan, Ohio is an oddity. The collection of artifacts, then, is perfect.

Photo by Britt Reints