Hermitage, PA Outdoor Activities

'Burgh Bits & Bites celebrates the melting pot of downtown Pittsburgh cuisine with different tastes from different ethnicities in different Euclidean spaces. Palates will encounter up to six different tastings during the approximately two-hour restaurant crawl. Snack on Italian specialties such as imported meats and cheeses or Mediterranean eats such as hummus, or savor bites with universal acceptance, like pizza. Tours are kept to groups of 10 or less per knowledgeable guide, ensuring that you get individual attention and a cool tour nickname. After the tour, participants will have been fed enough tiny bites to equal a small meal, pushing stomach-o-meters from E (extremely unfilled) to F (full as a submerged timpani). A bottle of water is provided at the start of the tour, and you will have the option to bring your own refreshments. Children and infants are free, as long as they aren't eating.

Like many minor-league baseball teams, the Captains didn't start out with their current name or even in their current state. The Columbus Indians (from Columbus, Georgia) were founded in 1991, and a year later, they became the RedStixx. It wasn't until 2003 that the franchise moved to Eastlake, Ohio, where they adopted the Captains moniker and caught their first bluegill. That same year, the newly established Captains treated Eastlake fans to a 97-win season and a trip to the South Atlantic League championship.

It was also in 2003 that the gates opened to Classic Park. The 6,150-seat facility features a grassy berm above its outfield walls and mixes nostalgic charm with modern features. Over the years, Classic Park has hosted many future big leaguers and many classic moments, including the Captains' first-ever championship season in 2010—the team's inaugural year as part of the Midwest League.

Lasers flash across a 4,000-square-foot arena. Bumper boats splash against each other in a 135,000-gallon lake. An elastic EuroBungy harness flings bouncers skyward for death-defying flips. These are just a few of the attractions and activities at Fun 'n' Stuff, where families can also fill their days by racing go-karts, climbing a rock wall, or gliding around a rink on rented roller skates. Guests who want to breathe in fresh air can putt through two 18-hole mini golf courses, whack balls in five hardball and four softball cages, and slide down a 24-foot inflatable slide. The littlest visitors play in a ball pit, whereas the Extreme Looping Bikes send older ones soaring through the air, just like the majestic eagle they rode to their middle-school graduation.

2012 was almost the Pirates' year. They began the season with a team ERA of 2.78 in April—the 3rd best in the league, and by the start of July, they were neck-and-neck with the Cincinnati Reds for the top spot in the NL Central. Though a late-season slump derailed their return to glory, the 2013 campaign offers another shot at a division title, especially since the MLB no longer prohibits forcing opposing players to walk the plank.

Pittsburgh Pirates

In the Pittsburgh Alleghenies' first National League game in 1887, the rag-tag squad amassed six runs against the mighty Chicago White Stockings, establishing the team as a force to be reckoned with for decades to come. Today, through more than 130 years, five World Series titles, and four previous stadiums, the Alleghenies—now the Pirates—make their home at PNC Park, where pop flies soar amid views of the Clemente Bridge and Steel City skyline sprawling in the background. Located only 443 feet away—or, by official MLB measurements, 807.3 half-eaten hot dogs—the Allegheny River waits for home runs to splash down after sailing over the right-field wall, which stands at 21 feet high in honor of legendary Pirate Roberto Clemente. Off the field, the stone archways lining the entry-level façade tip their cap to the club's former longtime home, Forbes Field, and an outdoor terrace and riverwalk cool down fans enjoying the game on warm summer nights.

A towering dome dedicated to golf practice looms over The Golf Dome’s multifaceted grounds, serving as the gravitational center of a facility dedicated to recreational golf and baseball practice. Inside the vaulted white roof, golfers stroke drives from one of 34 hitting bays at the indoor, two-tiered driving range, where distance-reading software flashes instant readouts of shot trajectory and the pain inflicted on each practice ball. The dome further facilitates climate-controlled clubbing with a putting and chipping area and Full Swing golf simulators, which allow golfers to play digital recreations of more than 30 of the world’s top courses.

Outside, a scenic, 20-foot waterfall draws players to the 18-hole miniature golf course, where contoured greens run between rocky outcrops, interrupted by water that comes into play on 14 holes. The din of sharply struck line drives echoes throughout the grounds, sonic evidence of the six adjacent batting cages, where players swing at high-arching softballs, baseballs hurled at up to 75 miles per hour, and tiny meteors raining from the sky.

Pittsburgh's premiere indoor rock climbing center with over 14,000 square feet of climbing. Voted "best indoor climbing in the Pittsburgh Area" by Pittsburgh Magazine. Climbing for all levels from the complete novice to the advanced.