Clayton Tours at The Frick Pittsburgh; Voodoo Homestead Features HooDoo on Tap (Wed., 2/26/20)

1) In 1919, at the age of 31, Helen Clay Frick inherited the bulk of her industrialist father’s estate, including the family mansion, Clayton, on Penn Avenue in Point Breeze. This is the house she was born into, but it was one shadowed by the death of her older sister, Martha, whose long illness formed Helen’s earliest memories. When Martha died in 1891, Henry Clay Frick was grief
stricken the remainder of his years. Clayton became shrouded in mourning. In 1905, the family
moved to New York. Helen never married, yet she cherished her nieces and nephews,
entertaining them often on her farm in Bedford, NY.

This month, docents at Clayton offerthematic tours focusing on love and courtship in the gilded age. The Fricks were by no means a normal family, and so, the tour is by no means just a walk through history. It’s an unforgettable experience of gilded awe and Victorian sensibilities. Call (412) 371-0600 or visit The Frick Pittsburgh website for tour schedules. Tuesdays through Sundays. Also see The Frick Art Museum, Car and Carriage Collection, and The Café at the Frick, all on the grounds of Clayton and The Frick Pittsburgh. The current exhibit at The Frick Art Museum is Maker & Muse: Women and Early Twentieth Century Art Jewelry. 7227 Reynolds St., Point Breeze. (P. Orr)

Voodoo Homestead provides an open-air ambience.

2) It didn’t take long for award-winning Voodoo Brewery to outgrow its Meadville britches. The brewery’s not abandoning operations out of the small Crawford County seat. Rather, in January of 2015, the owners opened Voodoo Homestead, a satellite pub which sells only Voodoo beer. The pub offers at least eight beers on draft, though do check their website for availability. For the uninitiated, we recommend HooDoo. With this IPA, Voodoo promises your taste buds a journey down the seven “Cs.” (That’s seven different hops beginning with the letter C.) From the taste of things, we’re guessing one of those Cs is citra, making this piney brew the perfect summer beverage. As for the location, the chalked menu harks to their Meadville base; the old hoses under the cast-iron stairs hark to the location’s old function: firehouse and municipal building. Add in some ceiling art, including God granting Adam a bottle à la the Sistine Chapel, and you’ve got a space as funky as the suds served inside it. The pub also sells snacks and growlers. 205 E. 9th Ave., Homestead. (CM)

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