Well, we made it! We finally arrived at Hillary’s apartment at 10 pm last night. We started the day in Cleveland with a visit to the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame. You could easily spend hours there because they have a number of movies as well as listening stations devoted to different aspects of rock-n-roll’s history. However, we didn’t have hours so we visited the main exhibit hall on the first floor and then went up to the Bruce Springsteen exhibit and the Hall of Fame. All in all, we were there for almost 3 hours, and we didn’t come close to seeing everything.
The Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame
Pops outside the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame
Most exciting find for me at the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame? A row of framed concert posters by Derek Hess, one of my favorite artists.
Bruce Springsteen's Corvette
Lake Erie, outside the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame
When we hit the Pittsburgh area we got off the Pennsylvania Turnpike and drove downtown so Pops could see how the city had changed over the last 32 years. Around the time I was born, he was working on a case that had him traveling to Pittsburgh and Somerset, PA on a regular basis, so he wanted to take a quick walk down memory lane. As we drove around Pittsburgh we passed the square where Hillary and I went ice skating a couple of years ago during our trip to Pittsburgh. I guess I should say, “The square where I went ice skating and Hillary cursed my, Steph, and Dan’s names.” I had to stop and take a picture. Priceless. We also passed PNG Park and Heinz Field. I didn’t get any pictures of the fields because we were driving and it was raining and as a result the pictures I took came out very poorly. I am however already planning a weekend trip back to Pittsburgh this summer so I can go to a Pirates game. I can’t tell you how exciting it is to be back in a part of the country where there are multiple major league ball parks within a few hours drive. I’ve definitely missed being able to go to baseball games the past two summers.
As a brief aside… I think Pittsburgh is one of those cities that most people don’t think of much, if at all. I guess when people think about places to visit in Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh gets a little overshadowed by Philadelphia’s overwhelming place within our nation’s history. Not to mention that if you stick to the eastern side of the state, you have the Amish country, Valley Forge, and Gettysburg. Also, my assumption is that people still think of Pittsburgh as a steel town, so they assume there isn’t much to see or do there. When Hillary and I went up over Thanksgiving weekend back in 2005 we didn’t necessarily have high expectations for the city itself, but we wanted to get out of DC for a couple of days, go somewhere new and close, and we had a close friend living there at the time, so Pittsburgh ended up being the ideal choice. We were both very pleasantly surprised to discover a fantastic city. We had a great time during our two days there and I highly recommend adding it to your list of American cities worthy of a visit. Our favorites from the trip included the Andy Warhol Museum, the Nationality Rooms at the University of Pittsburgh, Falling Water, the Carnegie Museum of Art, and eating in Shadyside. I quite enjoyed ice skating at PPG Place in downtown, but Hillary, not so much.
PPG Place in downtown Pittsburgh. In the winter they have an ice skating rink set up on the plaza.
From Pittsburgh we got back on the turnpike and headed to Somerset so Pops could continue his walk down memory lane. While he stopped into the law firm he worked with there, I discoverd a little food store (I’m like a bloodhound… I have a nose for these things) tucked back a little ways from the road. The store was run by the sweetest little old lady who might be setting me up with her best friend’s son who lives in England (random, I know… but just one more reason to love small towns). I picked up a few gifts for friends and family at her store and then Pops and I headed to dinner at a place in town she recommended. I had been a little bummed at this point because in my two visits to Pittsbugh I had never eaten pierogies. Imagine my joy when the restaurant had them on the menu as a side dish. Whoohoo! Pops and I ordered a plate to share, and they lived up to all my expectations. To finish off our meal, we ordered the largest chocolate chip cookie skillet sundae I’m likely to ever come across. But it was good too.
At last, a plate of pierogies.
And dessert...
Today we’re heading down to Richmond for a visit to the White House of the Confederacy and the Civil War Museum. Which means I need to get out of bed and get ready for the day ahead. I leave you now with recent items of minor annoyance from the final leg of our cross-country trek:
- Speed limits on the east coast: 55 MPH on an interstate?! Come on!
- Turnpikes: It cost almost $10 to drive halfway across Pennsylvania. Grrrr. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to paying to drive on an interstate. Just one element of east coast living that I’m unlikely to ever fully accept.
- The weather: Its a pretty ugly day here in the Washington capital area. Lets hope things improve in time for the Orioles-Rays game tomorrow at Camden Yards. We were supposed to go to the game tonight, but somehow (and I’m not mentioning names here, but I promise, this was not my mistake) ended up with tickets to the game tomorrow instead. We might end up grateful for the mix-up though because I think the weather tomorrow is supposed to be nicer than the weather today.
