24 Hour Mini-Break in Pittsburgh

Dan and I figure out that not since our honeymoon have we actually gone away somewhere together – just the two of us alone. We’ve gone on group ski trips, family beach vacations, visited family, etc. But not alone. Just the two of us. In a hotel. We were hoping to go to Las Vegas this spring, but even if we used frequent flyer miles and hotel points, we really couldn’t afford it. So I decided I – we – needed a mini-break. I told him to keep last Saturday open, and that we’d be spending the day in Pittsburgh. Little did he know ( ha – we just watched “Stranger Than Fiction”) that I had booked us a room at the Marriot for the night. So it wasn’t just a day, it was 24 hours.

We left around 12 by the time we dropped Ned off at my parents. As we headed into town – me navigating – I said, “just head toward Magee” (the hospital we go to for fertility treatments). He looked at me and said “tower of learning!”. Yep – I told him if he guessed things correctly throughout the day that I would tell him what the surprises were as we went.

It’s actually called: University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning . You can’t miss it in Pittsburgh. It’s like the Washington Monument sticking up where ever you look. So we’ve always seen it and commented on it. Figured it was high time we actually checked it out. We got a sweet parking spot right in front. The tour was $3 I think. They give you an ancient hand-held cassette tape player with a key attached to it. Oh – back up. Once inside, its just like a ancient cathedral. I’ve only been to St. Paul’s and the National in DC, and it was very similar. Big, huge arching stone walls and curved archways. Huge fireplaces, giant wooden doors with iron cross-bolts, flagstone floors. Pathetic to say I know – but very Hogwarts. And it was filled with big old tables with students studying. It actually serves as a building of classrooms and libraries. The first floor has almost 20 classrooms. Each classroom was decorated and designed by different ethnic groups that had emigrated to Pittsburgh. The college invited them to take part when the building was being constructed. So back to the tour – you get the player, a map and a key. You go around from room to room, unlocking this big old doors to see what treasure is inside each room. Each room was completely diff from the next. Scotland was great with wood beamed ceilings and benches, wood paneled walls, with big stone fireplaces and the names of famous Scots engraved throughout. Greece had marble floors and 4 huge marble columns and a round study table. The Nordic countries had pitched wooden ceilings, with lots of painted. Decorated wood, lots of flowers and natural motifs around. The best room though was China. Bright red walls, an ornate red and gold ceiling with a giant dragon on it, grey granite doorway engraved with cherry blossoms. A statue of a dog on each side of the door when you left – if you touched it and made a wish it comes true. (mine did). Dan about freaked in this room - I was taking a pic of the ceiling when he yells out ‘dharma wheel!’. Engraved in the granite under the chalkboard was indeed the dharma wheel with the ying and yang symbol in it. Freaky cool.

It took so long to go thru all of those classes that we skipped the rest on the third floor and went to the observation deck on the 36th floor. Really amazing views of Pittsburgh. It was a very pretty day as well. At one point, looking down Dan says ‘hey, is that an arboretum?’

Yep – that’s our next stop:Phipps Conservatory . Again, the parking gods were with us and we got a great spot. We were starving so we split a wrap and had a beer in the outdoor café before we started inside. It cost $9 a person. (still have a hard time paying for things like this when everything in DC was free) The spring flower show was on, so along with seeing lots of great plants, flowers and just the overall smell of spring – there were hoards of little old garden club ladies. It was really enjoyable. The desert room was my favorite. I always like the succulents. Oh, and the orchids were great. I’ve never wanted to grow them, but they were beautiful. They had a huge new addition that was a Thai forest. Spent millions on it. Actually thought it was kind of lame. You can only look at plants for so long though, and it was time to move on. Check in was anytime after 3 and it was getting close to 4.

On the way up I made Dan stop and buy a bottle of wine. I told him I had someplace special in mind to drink it. That’s where we were headed next. I’d never been to the Waterfront area. It’s a big shopping, restaurant, movieplex area. You basically get to Carson street and the South Side and keep driving up river. Its in the Homestead area. We pull into the complex and I tell him to make a right into the Courtyard by Marriot hotel parking lot. Huge surprise! He just kept driving around – he was stunned. And very happy. We checked in and I made him stand in the hall while I checked the room. I wanted to make sure we got the correct room. This was the last surprise of the weekend. I splurged and got a room with a river view and huge Jacuzzi!! Who doesn’t love a Jacuzzi?

Only problem is we almost killed ourselves right away. We both jumped in with a glass of wine. The water was so hot that after at most 15 minutes we had to get out. We were parboiled and lightheaded. My heart was coming thru my chest. Not so smart. The tubs need to come with a gauge like they have for babies – if the rubber duck turns bright pink the water is too hot.

We eventually made our way out to dinner at Cheesecake Factory. We could have tried something more adventurous, but we had a gift certificate. And the food is great. We of course had enough left over for dinner the next night. After dinner we headed to what is quickly becoming our favorite bar, Piper Pub. Only place I know I can get Strongbow cider. Yummy! While we were hanging out, I overheard the couples next to us talking and mention ‘jesuit’. I nibbed and asked if they went to WJU. They did, ‘oh, so did he – pointing to D’. So he ends up talking to two people who went to Jesuit. One of which who married a Brit and lived in England for 4 years. Lucky girl. We didn’t stay too long because we had to drive back to the hotel. I think we were asleep by midnight. How sad is that? Getting old. But sleeping in the next day with coffee, a newspaper, flatscreen tv, the river floating by, and nothing to do, was great. We need to make sure we get one of these weekends in at least once a year.