Every Sunday I post a picture that encapsulates my last week. This is the second post of the year. This posting is late because I was on a little impromptu weekend trip for the three day weekend.
I have been having a really bad case of wanderlust recently and with the three day weekend, my mom and I decided to take a trip. We decided to go somewhere on Friday night, Saturday morning we decided where to go, midmorning Saturday we were on the road, headed towards Pittsburgh, PA. My mom and I have both never been to Pittsburgh and it is far enough away from us to make it different, but close enough that we could go for a weekend trip. We didn't have too much time to plan the trip and my mom's lack of internet savvy made me the driver and the planner. The only touristy things that we could find to do in Pittsburgh in the winter was go up Duquesne Incline and the Andy Warhol Museum. We didn't want to shell out $20.00 per person to see art, since that's not something that we are really interested in or fully understand, so we went to the Duquesne Incline.
This incline was used in the 1800's to transport the steel workers from the top of Mount Washington to the steel plants in Pittsburgh. If you don't know what an incline is (which I did not before going to Pittsburgh) it's basically a pulley trolly that goes up and down a mountain at a really steep incline. There are currently only two inclines (I think) that are currently in use in Pittsburgh, the Duquesne Incline being one of them. If you ever do visit Pittsburgh, I highly suggest paying the $5.00 round trip fare and the $1.00 parking fee to visit this spot. The views at the top of the incline are really great and you get to participate in a little bit of history. Just make sure you have exact fare, as they only accept cash and don't give change.
In all, the trip was nice and relaxing. We didn't have any timelines or itineraries for the three days we were there and basically just played the day out, seeing where we ended up. Since it was the winter time…and a snow advisory… there weren't that many tourists in the city. The only other tourists that we really had to deal with were swarms of hockey players. Apparently there was a big hockey tournament in Pittsburgh, so our hotel and the city was inundated by a bunch of preteen hockey players.
Another downfall of traveling in the winter was that all the outdoor market areas were not running. We wanted to go to Market Square, which is basically just a city center area, with shops and outdoor restaurants set up shop and people are all around milling about. We drove by the area to see if it was anything worth stopping in and we didn't really see a bustling area, so we moved on. Maybe during the spring time or the summer there is more activity in Market Square. Not so much in the winter, just after snowfall.
One thing that we noticed about the city was hot clean it was. Everywhere we went, the sidewalks were cleared and trash was in the cans. The city is fairly old and everywhere we went the buildings looked like they were built in the 1800's and haven't changed since then. If you are looking for a modern city, Pittsburgh is not it. I really enjoyed the trip, but I'm not sure if I would be itching to return again. However I am glad that I went.
