Things to Do in Upper Saint Clair

Pittsburgh Water Limo’s fleet of Coast Guard–certified water taxis have ushered patrons down each of Pittsburgh’s three rivers since 1999. At the helm, captains combining more than 150 years of experience oversee safe transport as guests imbibe beer, wine, or bottled water while the skyline steadily rolls past. The taxis charter regular trips to Pirates and Steelers games or ferry passengers looking to sightsee the city.

Each year, hundreds of spirit connoisseurs gather around the ample sampling tables of the Pittsburgh Whiskey and Fine Spirits Festival. Seasoned tasters and curious beginners alike sip not only whiskies and scotches from the likes of Balvenie, Laphroaig, and Knob Creek, but also sample gin, vodka, tequila, and other spirits crafted by distilleries from throughout the globe. Attendees can make a beeline for their favorite firewater or take an opportunity to try a pour of pricier brands reserved only for movie stars who need it to support their barley-based DNA structure as gourmet appetizers and live music add to the cocktail-party atmosphere. Meanwhile, guests can browse and bid on a silent auction that benefits the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s western-Pennsylvania chapter.

Museums typically showcase art in carefully curated rooms. At Mattress Factory, however, the room itself is the art. Since 1977, the museum's two buildings have housed a permanent collection of contemporary installation art—room-sized works that engulf the entire space. In Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Dots Mirrored Room, mirrored ceilings and walls infinitely reflect a trio of fluorescent dots painted on a white formica floor. In Greer Lankton's It's all about ME, Not You, astroturf lines a floor covered in artful arrangements of grotesque dolls that form shrines to artists such as Patti Smith and Candy Darling.

To further immerse guests, Mattress Factory's exhibitions are paired with educational programs that range from lectures to hands-on art projects. Along with stimulating the public, the museum stimulates the growth of artists through its residency program, which invites participants to create installations while living near the museum, a much more practical alternative to hiding a secret cot in the coatroom.

Rising six floors above the historic Strip District, the Senator John Heinz History Center's handsome, redbrick exterior houses 275,000 square feet of exhibits and materials devoted to Western Pennsylvania. Long-term exhibits include From Slavery to Freedom, which traces the quest for equality from the antislavery movement to the modern struggles for Civil Rights, using indenture, manumission, and freedom papers from the Allegheny County recorder of deeds as starting points. Pittsburgh: A History of Innovation highlights the land's original inhabitants, the journey of Lewis and Clark, and the modern superhighways, whereas the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum delves into the history and lore of local athletics, from the Steelers’ Immaculate Reception to Bill Mazeroski's title-clinching home run in game seven of the 1960 World Series. The museum also hosts nationally renowned traveling exhibits; its current offering is 1968: The Year That Rocked America which explores this decade-defining year using evocative objects, multimedia displays, and more than 100 artifacts related to 1968’s seminal moments.

Although Create a Frame / Handworks Gallery began as a designer framing store, works of art have wriggled their way off the walls and onto the shop floor, where 3-D pieces complement the flat compositions framers nestle beneath glass, mats, and moulding. Helmed by husband-and-wife team Wendy and Steven Denenberg for more than 30 years, the white custom-framing counter offsets a wall of frame samples from brands such as Adhisa and Roma, which encircle pieces of any size alongside flattering mats and glass to protect against passing impressionists. Tactile objets d'art dapple the rest of the gallery space with the colors of hand-hewn artisanal furniture, sparkling jewelry, and glass bowls, vases, and ceilings crafted by American and international artists.:m]]