Today in Travel: Saturday, Oct. 25

Hope you enjoyed our visit to Schramm’s and writing about all things autumn.

I liked it so much I went back the next day to lose myself in the big corn maze.

And play Children of the Corn…

This week, our class will be postponing our North Side adventures so we can participate in this incredible steel-history focused event. We’ll travel to The Carrie Furnace to watch an iron pour and to learn about the way nature is reclaiming one of Pittsburgh’s most important and historic factory spaces.

Driving directions are here. Cost for the event and tour is $10 at the door. The site suggests bringing a lawn chair (or maybe a blanket) in case you’d like to sit, rest, and, in our case, have some writing time.

The tour begins at 2 p.m., so we’ll be leaving campus at approximately 12:30. Please be on time, dress comfortably (good shoes for hiking around the furnace, warm and comfortable clothes), and bring your travel-writing gear. For more information about the Carrie Furnace, today’s event (including the story of the Carrie Deer), and Pittsburgh steel history, visit the Rivers of Steel Heritage site. (Dan Eldridge has additional information in our Moon Pittsburgh guide, p. 220)

To compensate for the lack of in-class lecture time today, I’ll be doing individual conferences to go over each of your blogs, talk one-on-one about your writing, provide guidance for revision and so on. Conferences will be next Tuesday, Oct. 28. Please see me to schedule a time between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. or between 4 and 6 p.m. Conferences will be in my office. Please make sure your blog is up to date and that any entries we’ve already workshopped have been revised. Also, please be sure to link your blogs to our class blogs and other sites, per our last assignment.

Assignment for November 8:

One entry about our visit to Carrie Furnace. One entry (if you have not already done so) about the North Side. One entry on any travel-writing topic you choose. Read in Moon Pittsburgh:  North Side, pp 46-55. Read Brian O’Neill’s column about Randyland. Spend time at the City of Asylum site.