Friday night after work, we packed quickly, and compactly. We were on the road to the Reeves homestead by about 5:45pm, only a bit late. We got to their place in time to catch the last bits of their own packing mania, trying to make a few last minute decisions about what needs to go and what doesn't. And off we went with Monty, our trustworthy Mitsubishi Montero of 96,000 miles and counting, in full gallop to the 'Burgh. Everyone seemed full of energy, and a steady chatter kept us all alert and excited about the weekend ahead. The turnpike was loaded with people apparently headed to Happy Valley for Saturday's game against Wisconsin. After barreling through the rolling hills and mountains of late night Western PA, we arrived at the Holiday Inn around 11:00 or so, checked in, and quickly headed back out to scope the scene. Our hotel was conveniently located on the campus of Pitt Univ., and there were flurries of student activity everywhere. There is electricity about college towns, and this one has it. We walked through some areas of campus that had been Becky's domain during her undergraduate years at Pitt, and we enjoyed the shared nostalgia of each place that she showed us. It was a warm night, unseasonably warm for November, and nothing like what we had expected, or packed for. I think it was probably in the mid 60's, even at this late hour of night. We meandered to a pub that Becky knew served good food late night. It was perfect. We had drinks, small pizzas and spring rolls, all of which were delicious. Being some of the oldest people in the place, we actually ended up being some of the last to go; not bad for a bunch of 10+year-out-postgrads at 1 or so in the morning after a 4-5 hour car ride. We did a late night tour of some more of Becky's campus spots and headed back to the room. The ladies hit the sack pretty quickly and Matt and I were determined to jam out to his new "iHome" clock radio until the wee hours of the morning. Before finally dozing off, we played a sort of "name that tune" with MP3s of 80's tunes, and Matt masterfully named each track except for the Toto stumper.
We had established a 10 am wake up rule, but that was easily breached, and it was nearer 11 before anyone stirred. It wasn't long before we were all ready for the day ahead, despite our grogginess. We tried breakfast at Pamela's, an obviously well-known spot, but because of a 20 minute wait, we decided to hit up Bruegger's Bagels across the street. After bagels and various morning beverages, we hopped the bus for a ripsaw ride downtown and got off at the huge steel building in downtown Pittsburgh. We snapped some pics of this impressive structure and made our way across one of the many city's many bridges to the "incline". The wait wasn't too long and we were whisked up the side of Mount Washington to a beautiful street on the ridge with expansive views of the city below. We walked out on a few of the concrete pedestals to get pictures and eventually wandered further up the ridge snapping pictures of the amazing Fall foliage, beautiful cityscapes, and impressive homes. Needing a little something to eat and drink, we found a little pizza shop with $1.50 slices and sat down for a bit of a rest. Matt seemed to have mastered the old school Galaga arcade game in the short time we were there, and then we set out for our walk back to the incline. Again, the weather was absolutely awesome, the sun bright, mostly blue skies, and amazing visibility everywhere. We wondered through a surprisingly vacant part of waterfront office properties and emptied restaurant bar establishments, then found ourselves at the foot of the "glass cathedral" where the watchful rent-a-cop reprimanded Matt for taking frontal pictures of the main building that apparently conflicted with their post 9/11 security policies. Interesting. The huge Christmas tree, lights, and skating rink under construction foreshadowed a beautiful mid-town Winter scene once the inevitable snows come to town. We walked more through the center of the city in search of the right bus stop, and once on board, went across town to a beautiful nook called Shadyside. We were all very impressed, again, and almost immediately went to Doc's for some drinks in what used to be one of Becky's main hangouts. We had a great time talking it up, taking some group pictures, and then were back outside to check out the scene and to find a place for dinner. We perused a few shops and then decided on Cuzumels for dinner. Once we finished our tasty Mexican meals, we decided to walk back to the hotel, since it was still quite warm outside and we agreed that a walk would be good for us after having stuffed ourselves silly. It seemed really late at this point, yet probably was not even 9pm yet. We walked by a boarded up old mansion that could have easily been haunted, and Vee swore she saw the silhouette of a dog-headed figure walk by one of the darkened windows...creepy!!! We took a detour up one of the streets close to the hotel and were very impressed with the beautiful homes. Back to the hotel where Matt and Becky went for a late night dip in the pool, and then dessert in the lounge. Vee and I, with bulging guts, and tired minds and bodies laid down for a rest and never got back up.
Sunday morning, I showered and got a Wall Street Journal and headed down to the lobby while the gang got packed and ready to check out. We loaded up Monty, checked out, and went back out to campus and got more pictures of the Cathedral of Learning, and one of the beautiful churches on campus. We hopped back into the car and headed across town to the Shadyside area again to see about getting into the Pamela’s there for breakfast, but this time was even worse with a 40 minute wait. So instead, we found another place tucked away down the block, upstairs in a building across from Doc's. We were seated immediately, service was fast and friendly, the food was delicious, and the environment was very inviting with beautiful paintings and sculptures on the walls. Once we finished and paid up, we headed back to the car, cruised through another nice part of town called Squirrel Hill, where Becky lived during her final two years at Pitt, and then got back onto the PA Turnpike for our ride home. Despite a vicious wind the first hour of the trip, it was a beautiful ride as the mountains were in their full Autumn glory. We made a stop for a few munchies, and drinks, and were back home in no time. It was a fantastic weekend trip, and I believe a great time was had by all.
