by Elizabeth Tamburri
It was another beautiful July afternoon, and I was invited to have dinner with 2 friends at the Outback Steakhouse. The weather was warm with a soft breeze, an open-toe-shoes and cool-summer-dress kind of evening. At 8:00 PM Saturday night, we hit the North Shore (I hear the name was chosen as a romantic euphemism that would entice the fun-loving and cosmopolitan).
There was no game in town, and after driving around the block several times looking for a place to park, we realized parking in the lot was free. While the sun lit the sky in gold, we lingered on the sidewalk and spent 30 minutes or so talking with people who were looking for names on the stones they had purchased outside Left Field. Along with other newcomers to the North Shore, we shot some family portraits in front of the statue of Willie Stargell. By 8:30, we were in the doors of the Outback.
After a brief wait, we were seated. I couldn't determine why the wait, since we had walked past at least 8 empty tables on the way to our own. I asked Maria Amrhein, the Manager, where I could make a private phone call and was directed to a beautiful balcony off of the dining room. The view was fantastic, and I couldn't remember sitting anywhere in a restaurant in Pittsburgh and feeling as charmed. The tables and chairs sat empty.
After dinner my friends and I went down to the street and were thrilled to hear a band playing. The sounds bounced from one building to the next--sounds we could not ignore. Walking a mere block to the sidewalk tables we found ourselves at Atria's featuring the Johnny Angel Lounge. By the time we hit the door, the band, Dr. Zoot, was wailing a Cab Calloway song. One couple was dancing in earnest beside the bar while others swung on the dance floor beside the band. The waiter, hostess, barmaid and waitress were very friendly and quick to please. We found our seats on the sidewalk beside the plantation doors, where the wrought iron tables were filled with people in conversation whose knees and shoulders were moving ever-so-slightly in time with the beat.
The interior of the restaurant was beautiful. Wood, pastel colors and palm plants reminded me immediately of a nightclub on Bourbon Street. Oddly though, had we been sitting on Bourbon Street, the place would have been packed with onlookers, dancers, and people at the bar trying to buy tequila. While my friends whistled and cat called for the band (they're from Tampa), I looked around and tried to figure out why almost no one was around, and why those who were, seemed so…so, civilized. Except of course, the couple still dancing at the bar, who didn't give a damn what I or anyone else thought.
When the band took a break we went down to the River Walk. While there we saw 2 couples, Dr. Zoot, a second member of the band, and the empty boat-dock where pieces of Bruce Willis' movie about the River Patrol was filmed. Downtown Pittsburgh was unbelievably beautiful. The River Walk was well lit and clean and everyone (all 8 of us) smiled and said hello while we passed. We shot some more pictures for relatives and decided that was enough fun for the night.
As we walked back to the car, the sounds of Dr. Zoot, who was back on stage, became increasingly more muted by the rolling wheels of skateboarders. Young and beautiful, they, unlike their parents, know a good thing when they see it.
As we neared the car, the thunder of a headbanger band further up the street caught our attention. Although it was close to 11:00 PM you could see the poor guys sweating on the third floor of the building above a corner bar. The windows were open giving clear view into the pink-lit room and the musicians who were giving it all they had.
Across the street from the Pirate Shop we noticed Hi Tops (out of Chicago) looking as if it's about ready to open, giving people yet another place not to go when it isn't game day. The North Shore is a very cool place to be, with the exception of the people who aren't there. Long ago, in the days of Three Rivers, there was much speculation and planning of businesses--"spin -off "development--that would locate beside the stadium. A marina, a hotel, a Hall of Fame…none of which came to be. Before PNC Park and the Steeler Stadium were built, the same speculation and promises of business were heard. The difference is, there are businesses at the North Shore, and a Museum, and a Science Center that's about to undergo $90 million in expansion, and a River Walk, all of which are suffering when there isn't a game. The idea of "Build it and They Will Come" has not opened the doors of Pittsburghers' homes. And one questions why. Businesses support the community, and in turn the community must support the businesses. If the Pittsburgh community wants nightlife, choices, and people who will move into the city, we better turn off the television and move those private parties back into the streets.
The North Shore, aside from needing a flower cart, and 1 or 2 mimes, is truly attractive, with statues, wide sidewalks, glass, and colors that breathe. It has the potential to be a fun strip where people can hang out and lose themselves in romance, dancing, music, education and culture. But it also has the potential to be a beauty desolate. Even if Mr. Rooney's Arcade moves in, businesses won't be able to survive the loss taken when games aren't in town. Any money they make on game day will only balance what they lose ther est of the time. Consistency is the key to successful business--the highs are pudding but a smart investor won't use "the jelly" to pay the bills. It was a beautiful Saturday night, and people should have been out. Maybe I just haven't heard the special plan for when baseball season is over. The Steelers are a draw, but winter isn't. If we really want to promote our community, if we really want to make headlines that spread news about the good spirit of people rather than the humiliation of prejudice, we'd better start soon, because the dark side is definitely one up.
We spent the rest of the evening driving through town and to Mt. Washington. It was as if a plague had hit, with the exception of the occasional couple doing those things mama wouldn't have approved of; we found the same closed, quiet crowd deep in conversation no matter where we went. As we drove, I sat in the back seat listening to Hugh Masakala and the rich tones of Africa. I looked at the lights of the city and the stars through the sunroof. I thought about Bourbon Street, Cambridge, San Antonio, Mission Beach, Tampa, and Coconut Grove, and wondered what it will take for Pittsburghers to get into the streets and start having fun together--even if it isn't Game Day.
Elizabeth Tamburri
This article reprinted from the Northside Chronicle
