The Burgh

I am at the end of my four days in Pittsburgh already. Sigh... Allow me a small rant really quick. For those of you not familiar with Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh is NOT "right next to" Philadelphia. It is a six-hour drive from Pittsburgh to Philly. The cultures are completely different, and they really have nothing to do with each other except for being in the same state. Got that? Pittsburgh. Philly. NOT the same city.

Anyway, right now it's gorgeous here. The fall leaves are fully on display. However, for every beautiful leaf, there also seems to be a construction cone. Good grief, there's a lot of road construction! Much more than in Seattle. It was a pain to get anywhere. I have never seen so much construction!

Some highlights of my trip include lunch at the Harmony Inn (it's haunted, Blythe!) in historic Harmony, PA. To anyone traveling through Western Pennsylvania, I strongly recommend visiting Harmony! My Dad and I went to see the movie "The Ides of March." It was fantastic, and really depressing (just FYI).

Today was a really fun and busy day. Through sheer chance, my Mom is in town for a wedding and to visit friends. I met up with her and family friends at the Chelsea Grille in Oakmont (Killy, look! Their home page has a squirrel on it!), which is just about the cutest town I've ever seen. It may also be the home of the most amazing bakery I've ever been to in my life: the cleverly named Oakmont Bakery. It may have been the hugest, most filled-with-baked-goods bakery I have ever seen. People, I could easily live there. And eat there. And live there.

This evening I met two high school friends, Kim and Chris, for dinner so we could catch up. Later this evening my Dad, his wife, Sue, and I all went to the 3rd Anniversary Party of the Bottlebrush Gallery, which is owned by my friend, Miranda. All of the art they sell is made by Pennsylvanian artists and craftspeople, and most of it is made in Western Pennsylvania. As usual, I bought way too much stuff. Please notice they have an online store!

My visit to Pittsburgh was very relaxing, but way too fast. Tomorrow already I leave for Philadelphia (yes, Philly, despite my above rant) to visit my friend, Sarah, who just moved there from Seattle (Kirkland, actually). Sarah is originally from Pgh and, in an interesting twist, the sister of the husband of the high school friends I had dinner with this evening. Did you follow that?

The oh-so-aptly-named Pennsylvanian leaves at the disgusting hour of 7:20am. Yuck.