Good evening, kibitzers. Partly because I want to give nomandates a break, and partly because I miss hosting these diaries, I volunteered to take over for tonight and next Monday. Maybe there will be more where that came from (depending on how this brand-new semester unfolds), but I’m at least here for these two evenings.
As you may know if you read my comments, I recently returned from a trip to my ancestral homeland of western Pennsylvania. It was the first time I’ve visited since my mom passed away (these trips usually revolved around her), and it was the first time the BF has been to Pennsylvania or met my family in person, so it was kind of a big deal. Both of us were a little anxious (him more so than I was), but it ended up being a fantastic trip for both of us. Our little family has only become closer since our mom’s death, and it was really good to see everybody again—from talking politics on the porch with my brother to spending quality time with my niece and nephews. The BF, for all of his nervousness, blended into the family as if he’d always been there (I expected as much). If anything, I feel like I might be in his shadow now. Hopefully they still want me next time, even if he can’t come along!
We took a ton of pictures, so I thought I’d share some of my favorite ones in this diary. If you’re not into that, see you in the comments.
Our first stop was Pittsburgh. Originally, I was planning to fly into Pittsburgh and immediately drive to Warren, where my family lives (about 2.5 hours away, in northwestern Pennsylvania). But I know that, other than my family and the scenery, Warren doesn’t exactly...have too much to offer (I’m thinking about food, in particular), and I was worried about making sure the BF had a really good time. So we decided to spend the night in Pittsburgh. We were really glad we made that choice. We were able to take my niece and her partner out to a nice dinner at the Brazilian steakhouse restaurant Fogo de Chão (not our first choice, since we can get that here in Texas, but our more Pittsburgh-y option fell through since they weren’t open to walk-ins). Then, that night, we drove up to the overlook on Grandview Avenue:
We stayed the night at the Embassy Suites downtown, which was both (a) totally overkill and (b) pretty freaking sweet, so we don’t regret it. This was the view from our suite:
The next day, after getting some coffee, I had to have a virtual meeting for work (boo), so the BF took some time to explore the Andy Warhol Museum on his own. I’m very jealous, because I’ve never been. I asked him today if he took any good pics, and he didn’t. It’s for the best, I guess, because I don’t know that I want to fill this diary with penises.
I picked him up after my meeting and then we headed to Primanti Bros. (the original location, thank you very much), because there’s no way I could let him leave Pittsburgh without making him try one of their sandwiches. For the uninitiated, a Primanti Bros. sandwich comes with fries and coleslaw on it. They’re pretty massive, so we split one.
It wasn’t enough to get the sandwich, though. The BF had three specific things he wanted to eat in Pittsburgh: a Primanti Bros. sandwich, a burnt almond torte (I didn’t even know this was a Pittsburgh thing, but I guess it is), and pierogies. So we were hopping all over the city before we got on the road, and I was turning into Mr. Grumpy Pants trying to navigate Pittsburgh (I’d forgotten how much of a nightmare it is). But the food made it all better. First, we went to Prantl’s Bakery, where we each got a mini version of the burnt almond torte:
Then, to Cop Out Pierogies to get our pierogies. Which we got to-go. And ate on the road. Because pierogies are famously good to eat while driving (WTF?).
With all of our Pittsburgh food locations checked off, we began the drive to Warren. Since going to Cop Out Pierogies put us way off my usual track, Google Maps took us the scenic route instead of the interstate, which was nice. The BF still wasn’t used to the hills at this point, so there were lots of ooohs and ahhhs as we drove further north. I made sure to stop at a Sheetz, which in no way compares to Buc-ee’s here in Texas, so he was underwhelmed. A couple of hours later, we made it to Warren County, and one of the first stops was at one of my favorite spots, the Tidioute Overlook. It’s a beautiful spot in the Allegheny National Forest, and it’s a two-for-one—there’s an overlook of the Allegheny River, and if you don’t mind walking, there’s a second overlook of (part of) Tidioute. Back in the day, this is where I went if I wanted to get away from people for a while, since it’s so secluded and not many people visit.
Most of the rest of the day was family time. But the next day was packed—first, we went on a side trip to Erie, where we visited Dobbins Landing at the edge of Presque Isle Bay, Presque Isle State Park, and then my favorite place to get food in Erie, Molly Brannigan’s Irish Pub (just the best pretzels and fish fry, and I’ll fight over that).
That was half the day. As soon as we got back to Warren, we embarked on another side trip in the opposite direction, to the Kinzua Bridge. Or, what is left of it. The Kinzua Bridge used to be a railroad bridge that crossed the Kinzua Gorge and, at 2,053 feet long and 301 feet high, was once the longest and tallest railroad bridge in the world. When I was a kid, it took several trips to the bridge before I dared to cross it (because you could look down between the boards and see the gorge below). It was partially destroyed by a tornado in 2003—a date I still think is impossible (I could have sworn it was much more recent), but I guess that just means I’m getting older. The park reinvented the bridge as a pedestrian walkway, and you can venture out and even look through a glass floor. It was my first time visiting since the tornado, and it’s really cool what they did with it.
After the bridge, we drove south to Wilcox for dinner at a place my brother enjoys called the Dam Inn. It’s not actually in Wilcox—it’s in the middle of nowhere. We drove and drove and drove, and I began to wonder if they were going to kill us and dump our bodies or if there was actually a restaurant. But no, there really was a restaurant way out there, and it was popular. For good reason—this was our view while we were eating (there’s an actual dam in the creek, from which the restaurant gets its name, although not much of one).
I tried to balance out the fish fry for lunch with salmon and veggies (okay, and a potato, give me a break) for dinner.
There’s not much more of the trip to narrate. But here are some more pics:
Not pictured: Our quest to find the Amish. My part of Pennsylvania has a small Amish population, so we’d seem some Amish buggies already, but for some reason the BF got it in his head that he wanted an Amish person to wave at him. Why? I don’t know, but for some reason it was important. So we took a drive through our small Amish country, and just when I thought all hope was lost, we passed by an Amish house with two men on the porch. The BF waved at them, and when they waved back, there was much whooping and hollering.
Well, that’s about all I have. What’s on your mind this evening? As always, it’s an open thread.