Things to Do in Allison Park

Wildwood Highlands serves an all-ages buffet of adrenaline-filled rides and fun-soaked activities that visitors can access with fistfuls of tickets. For five-minute intervals, go-karts whip through a winding, 1,000-foot course that challenges mini-motorists' reflexes, hand-eye coordination, and familial bonds with each cutoff to the inner rail. Visitors can captain bumper boats through the 5,000-square-foot Wildwood waters, thumping vessels as they pass fountains and circumvent the island. Woody's Den enchants small children with calliope music and magical animals who steer tots toward the spinning slime-bucket ride and old-fashioned train. Two 18-hole miniature-golf courses school putters in the principles of geometry and psyching out competitors with inopportune coughs and cackles.

Wildwood's arcade entices button smashers with more than 70 games that they can play to win tickets, which can be redeemed for prizes such as stuffed animals, action figures, and pocket-sized copies of the Federalist Papers. While bouncing from attraction to attraction, thrill seekers can recharge their energy with pizzas, wraps, pretzels, and cotton candy at the snack bar.

More than 50 years ago, Mr. John E. Connelly set his sights on cleaning up Pittsburgh's polluted three rivers and returning them to their former glory as the Steel City's heart and soul. As then-treasurer of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority, John was in a prime position to complete his ambition. With the belief that he could get the public engaged and committed to a cleanup, he decided to give the local people access to the rivers via boat tours, knowing the city's characteristic architecture as viewed from the rivers would engender a genuine appreciation for the region's waterways and environment.

After getting his nephew, Captain Jack Goessling, on board, John purchased a 100-passenger fishing boat they would christen the Gateway Clipper, which would later launch from Monongahela Wharf for the first of its many pleasure cruises. Today, with Gateway Clipper Fleet, his dream of engaging locals and visitors in the city's history and waterways thrives with a fleet that has grown to five boats capable of accommodating 2,500 guests. Through the years, the fleet has ferried more than 25 million passengers, treating them to dinner cruises, sightseeing tours, and entertainment jaunts along the clean, blue waters of Pittsburgh's three rivers.:m]]

At Pittsburgh Improv, comics lure laughs from bellies in the hopes of following in the footsteps of standup legends such as Ellen DeGeneres, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, and Dave Chappelle, all of whom have graced the Improv club stages. The calendar schedules comedians as often as six nights a week, alternating between big-name headliners and up-and-comers who tickle funny bones with fresh material, abundant energy, and feathered reflex hammers. Audience members munch on their choice of a savory appetizer, such as spinach-and-artichoke dip or buffalo wings, while sipping a cocktail to avoid eye contact with the giant rubber chicken sitting at the next table.

With more than 700 public stairways, Pittsburgh ranks among the most-stepped cities in the United States, and the highest concentration of these antique escalators may be found in the South Side Slopes. Every autumn since 2001, the South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association has organized a walking celebration of the approximately 2,700 steps that make up the neighborhood’s pedestrian paths. Streets in the area are prone to change suddenly into tangled, narrow passageways and hard-to-spot hidden corridors, confounding drivers and fostering an old-time vibe underlined by the residents’ liberal use of the word “malarkey.” While exploring these paths with the help of a narrative program book, the curious enjoy a heart-healthy exercise and soak up historical tales such as those about the 1849 cholera epidemic or the home lives of workers at the local glass factories and steel mills.

Staffed by former collegiate and professional baseball and softball standouts, All-American Baseball Center helps students dominate the diamond with expert instruction and three state-of-the-art practice facilities. At Baseball University, players from age 8 to the college level hone their hitting and fielding skills through a comprehensive curriculum of courses—such as Hitting 101 and 102—comprising four one-hour clinic sessions that players must complete before advancing to the next class. With more than 52,000 square feet in combined space, the center's two indoor locations provide ample space for independent practice sessions with batting cages, practice fields, bullpens, and facilities for weightlifting and speed and agility training. The North Campus features an indoor regulation infield for live-action baseball and softball games, which are also held at Sardis Park, a four-field outdoor complex occasionally visited by the ghosts of legendary cornstalks.

Steel City Airsoft's safety-conscious staff hosts adrenaline-pumping showdowns for recreational warriors as well as for law enforcement or military groups looking to train in a close-quarters, indoor environment. A modular building design allows staffers to reorient the walls, hallways, and doorways that honeycomb the 15,000-square-foot facility, ensuring unpredictable, action-packed bouts amid a hail of whistling pellets. With an emphasis on responsible play, the staff members steadfastly enforce the facility's rules and advise patrons either to wear clothing that covers any bare skin or to don their family's coat of arms. Steel City Airsoft is open on Fridays from 5 p.m.–midnight, Saturdays from noon to midnight, and Sundays from noon to 10 p.m.