Short Trip to Pittsburg PA Journal July 2004

Pittsburg, PA, July 2004
 

n5 July 2004:  I returned today from a short visit to Pittsburgh, PA, so this will be a short journal.  It was about a 3.5 hour drive from my home.  I dropped off Lucy at our friend's house for the long weekend.  Tony was in Pittsburgh for training with Midatlantic Airways (he was recently hired and had been unemployed for over 1.5 years).  He usually drove home on Fridays and back up to Pittsburgh on Sundays.  Since this was a long weekend, I decided to drive up for a mini-vacation.
 
Tony's hotel was near the airport, so it took about 30 minutes to get to the city center.  We didn't see too much of the city, but did enjoy Strip Street on our first day out.  We loved all the markets and even brought home some delicious cheese and meats from one of the Italian shops.  We enjoyed lunch at Primanti's where they serve overstuffed deli sandwiches with a choice of meat and French fries and coleslaw.  It was a mess but very tasty.  After more window shopping, we drove around the city to see the area.  The park was quite crowded and it was very hot. 
 
In the late afternoon we visited the Andy Warhol museum - very interesting, yet he was very strange.  Prior to going into the museum, we walked to the stadium to see what baseball game was playing that evening and to see what the prices were for seats.  One scalper tried to sell us tickets for $45.  At the counter, Tony asked about prices.  The man asked Tony if he had been in the military (yes) so the guy gave us two tickets. Tony asked, "How much are the tickets?" thinking we would get a discount and the man said, "No charge, it's Military weekend." What real treat!! We got tickets for Sunday, but didn't get to the stadium. 
 
After our visit to the museum, we still had about 2 hours until the game.  We had some drinks at a couple of bars and I munched on chicken quesadillas at another bar/restaurant.  We enjoyed the game, but didn't stay the entire time.  The place was packed and almost every seat was filled.  It's a very nice stadium and from the looks of the seats, everyone had a good view of the game. 
 

For the 4th of July, we started our day at Station Square.  We expected to see lots and lots of shops and restaurants. There seemed to be ample of those, but we arrived before they opened.  This was a Sunday and it looked like most places opened around 2pm.  Because everything was closed and we were hungry, we walked back to the parking attendant and asked for our $8 parking fee back.  It was certainly not worth the money to visit a place with everything still closed.  We were there for only 10 minutes. The young attendant had to call her supervisor, but we got our money back without any fights.  Station Square was pretty disappointing.
 
So, we decided to head back to Strip Street for lunch (or should I say brunch).  The one place we wanted to dine in (Pamela's) only served breakfast on Sundays.  We saw some people the previous day eating large burgers that looked really delicious.  We were disappointed again and Tony said that he was beginning to hate Pittsburgh!  We walked out (owner didn't charge us for our coffee and tea), and found a place that served pizza.  Most shops and restaurants at Strip Street were closed for the day.  Pittsburgh is a dead city on Sundays.
 
For our 4th of July dinner, we made reservations at the Tin Angel on top Mt.Washington where we had an excellent meal and watched the fireworks from our table next to the window. Our full course meal began with Italian wedding soup (excellent - other choice was a fruit appetizer) followed by their signature vegetable boat - filled with cheese meat, various olives, artichoke hearts, and pickled peppers. I had the filet mignon with two lobster tails (absolutely tender and not overcooked at all), while Tony had the Delmonico steak with mushrooms. Both were served with rice pilaf or a baked potato, and baked tomato topped with parmesan cheese. For dessert, I had their cheesecake with strawberries and Tony enjoyed French vanilla ice cream topped with apricot brandy. For our full meal and 2 rounds of cocktails (and a glass of wine), it came to $150. It was a little pricey for us, but then for the quality of the food, the service we received, and a great view of the city and fireworks, it was well worth it.
 
I think I saw all I wanted to see in Pittsburgh.  We enjoyed the city views from Mt.Washington and enjoyed the baseball game.  I do love a city that has lots of ethnic restaurant!  I wish we had a Strip Street near where we live.

Monica