The Blast Furnace's One Year Anniversary

Pittsburgh it's time to celebrate.  The Blast Furnace turned 1 on March 25.  We started slow and ended slow, but had a lot of fun in between.  We had over 20,000 page views over this time period from countries all over the world.  Over the year, we have seen some of our favorite restaurants and bars close, sports teams win and lose, profiled some of our favorite 'celebrities,' reviewed our hot spots, and reported on strange Pittsburghers acting well, like.....Pittsburghers.  Surprisingly our article Furries Invade Pittsburgh was our most viewed.  So to recap, here are some of this contributors favorite and most popular stories.

1.  Famous Pittsburgh Mustaches:  This one drew national attention when it was referenced by the Huffington Post's article on America's Most Mustache-Friendly Cities.  This article was very enjoyable to research and write about, seeing all these glorious mustaches on a daily basis and having celebrities showcase their upper lip hair to a national audience.

2.  Lenten Fish Fry Reviews - It is that time of year again for a true Pittsburgh tradition....fish sandwiches.  Former Pittsburghers just can't seem to find a great giant fish sandwich in their new town, well Pittsburgh has plenty of them.  We have our favorites and many are reviewed here.

3.  Where have you gone Matrix? - One of the Blast Furnace's favorite meeting places in our 20's, sadly it is no more.  Dancing, 50 cent drink night, and all around good times. 

4.  The Best Bar in the Burgh......Kopy's - Another classic hangout.  Cheap drinks, darts, jukebox, and friendly service make this South Side bar our favorite.

5.  Gene's Place, an Instant Hit - Wondering around Oakland in our early 20's and discovering Gibbons Beer.

6.  Pittsburgh RibFest Underwhelms and Infuriates - We've all seen and experienced the annual RibFest, this article describes the event perfectly.

This Blast Furnace blogger hopes year 2 will be just as exciting as year 1.  Pittsburgh is a special place with unique people so there will never be a shortage of stories and experiences which we all can relate.   I challenge all contributors to keep on researching, writing, and commenting to make this a regular stop for curious Pittsburghers.