Duquesne Incline

When Jim and I were in Pittsburgh recently, we didn't have much on our to-do list since it was a short trip. But the one thing we both knew we wanted to do was to ride the Duquesne Incline. The incline was completed in 1877 to connect Pittsburgh's south side with the neighborhood of Mt. Washington.

The incline closed in 1962 but was reopened in 1964 by a non-profit organization. It has since been completely refurbished and is one of only two remaining inclines in Pittsburgh. The cars travel on 794 feet of track to an elevation of 400 ft at 6 miles an hour. Each car holds 18 people, although there was only one other passenger with Jim and me early on a Monday morning.

A roundtrip costs $5 and there's a cute little museum and observation deck when you reach the top. The museum consists mostly of photos, but for an extra 50 cents you can visit the "working museum," which is basically the underbelly of the incline. Seeing how the cars work is really neat—and really simple.

The views of Pittsburgh and all of its bridges from the observation deck are quite wonderful and more than worth the price of admission. The museum has a nice gift shop filled with classic souvenirs like big pencils, magnets, Christmas ornaments, floaty pens and various items emblazoned with the world's happiest mascot, Duke. They also have not one, but two penny squishing machines, so come prepared.