There’s still time for summer fun
It was last weekend when I already started noticing expressions of loss and sadness, and I could feel it, too, although I couldn’t help but grin when I read one friend’s shared Facebook meme:
“RIP to all my summer plans that never happened.”
Welcome to Labor Day weekend, which many of us solemnly consider summer’s last gasp.
If they haven’t already, on Tuesday students go back to school and laborers go back to labor. It can feel like the fun goes out of the too-busy, traffic-choked days along with the warmth and sunlight.
But do not despair. As another friend assured me as we lazily lounged beside her family’s pool in Sunday’s fade, summer isn’t over until its officially over at 4:02 p.m. Sept. 22. And some of us have this long holiday weekend to suck the last juice out of — to slurp up the last sips of — what to some is the sweetest season.
What summer thing did you not do that you wish you did? There may still be time.
I breathed deeply of the chlorine perfume on my son’s beach towel and regretted that I not once went swimming — no one else in my family much likes to — and it’s too late at some pools. But some are open for one more weekend, including the landmark Dormont Pool, which has its final swim from noon to 3 p.m. on Labor Day. The county pools are open for a last splash Saturday and Sunday (11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.) and Monday (11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.) after which they go to the dogs — for Pooches in the Pool events.
Many people already made plans to leave Pittsburgh for some end-of-summer trip, but if you did not, well, this relatively quiet weekend also is a good one to play tourist in your own town.
You could look for an organized outdoor event, such as the weekend-long Heinz Field Kickoff and Rib Festival. Keeping things really hot, from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, is the Festival of Combustion at the Carrie Furnaces.
Or you could just fire up your own fun. Have a drink outside while you can at one of our new restaurants — maybe the Biergarten, the open-air space nine stories up atop the Hotel Monaco, Downtown. I also would like to squeeze into Pork & Beans, the Texas-style barbecue menu of which sounds like summer should taste. Same with other places on Dan Gigler’s recent BBQ roundup in the Post-Gazette.
If you haven’t been Downtown in a while, come down and walk around, including around the fountain at the Point. Maybe you can come down for Monday morning’s Labor Day Parade.
But keep it summery. Stop for a scoop at the new Millie’s Ice Cream shop on