Getting Lost, Even With A GPS

Well, technically we weren't really lost. We just couldn't get to where we wanted to be. There was a fire on the bridge that the GPS sent us to and it was closed. Traffic was brutal so we just punched in Costco and kept going. We always check out the local Costco, especially if it has a wine and beer section. In Pennsylvania, they don't carry liquor but we went anyway. Then we found, to our shock and dismay, that Costco USA won't take our Canadian cards anymore. In Canada, they switched from Amex to Mastercard. In the states, they switched to Visa and we don't have Visa! We paid cash but this is going to be an issue as we go on. Who carries that much cash?

Ok, enough ranting. We love Pittsburgh! It's a great walking city, with beautiful scenery, history and lots of variety in beer and food. After the Costco mess, we drove to the top of Mount Washington which is part of the Appalachians and overlooks the city. There were some postcard views from up there. 

    This is Heinz Stadium (yes, of ketchup fame) where the Steelers play. 

   Here, you can see Point State Park where the three rivers come together. You can also see one of the funiculars that you can ride up the mountain. $5 round trip! The three rivers are the Ohio, Allegheny and the Monongahela. 

Back down the mountain to a boat ride. It was an hour tour in a ferry that was made to look like a riverboat. We always enjoy water tours if they are available. We travelled on all three rivers and heard some history and interesting facts. 

    As usual on boat tours, you get some great views of the city. 

   You can see some of the cool older buildings in this one. There's an interesting parking lot under the expressway that doesn't charge much. But, if the river floods, as it is prone to do, you have a problem.

 This is PNC Park where the Pirates play baseball. Our hotel is just to the left of this shot.

   These are a couple of the 445 bridges in Pittsburgh. If you look at a map of how the city is built, you can see why there are so many bridges.

    When the tour was done, we explored another area of the city called Southside. It's an older area that is just full of shops, restaurant and bars. It's mostly on Carson St. The architecture is really amazing to look at too. We wandered around for a couple of hours. 

   Lunch was here, at Fat Head's Saloon. They have a good selection of their own beers plus a large number of products from other breweries. 

   We're learning that "light lunch" in Pittsburgh is not all that light. We thought we'd have a snack type lunch and a beer. These are perogies and a pulled pork quesadilla. Not light. But the beers were good. 

  A short rest later, and we were back out walking. We decided to do the river walk and head towards Point State Park that we'd seen from the mountain and the boat. There is a great walkway along the river with a large park west of the downtown area. 

   Here's an artsy shot of the fountain at Point State Park. I had to shoot towards the sun and through the fountains. 

    And here's the regular view looking back towards the city. The fountain is computer controlled so that it shoots higher when the wind is calm. 

   This is what happens when you have a light lunch that isn't light. Dinner becomes beer and pretzels. Which were also way bigger than we expected. This is why we walked over 10 km today. 

   And finally, we really like the Holiday Inn Express here on the north side. It's 2 years old and very clean and modern inside. The rooms have an almost IKEA look to them. But, the smoke alarm has some kind of light that flashes every 30 seconds so that you know it's working! When the lights are off it's like lightning is going off in the room. I don't react well to that kind of stuff. Luckily, I always travel with duct tape. Blue duct tape. I've used it to repair my camera already. That's another story. Anyway, I very carefully covered only the light with duct tape. I did not cover the parts that would scan for smoke. And I will remove my handiwork before we leave.