Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- May 2003: Day 7 and 8

After breakfast, Enterprise Rent-A-Car came to pick us up.  The driver was very friendly, but we noticed he kept saying "Picksburgh" (and we thought we had funny accents!)  Soon, we were off in our budget rental to Laurel Highlands to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.  It was a nice drive and we were surprised to be so close to Kentucky.  The further we drove, the more spaced apart the houses got and then, we almost got in a major accident when a baby deer jumped in front of our car.  First a horse in Amish Country, now this?  Were the animals in Pennsylvania out to get us?

As it was very easy to get to Laurel Highlands, we were there early and got on the first tour.  The house, an Asian-influenced modern behemoth was set within beautiful woods, yet the massive concrete structure blended into nature with the help of natural landscaping and a waterfall running right through the house.  It was an amazing place and has forever changed what I picture my dream house to be.  The lack of closets might be a bit of a deal-breaker, but we were ready to move in if they asked us.  After a tour, we hiked in the woods, lunched in the cafe, and shopped in the gift shop (souvenir alert: box of Fallingwater notecards).  It was then time for our tour of Kentuck Knob, Wright's other masterpiece in the area.

Privately owned by Lord and Lady Palumbo of England, Kentuck Knob was a much simpler, yet more inhabitable house (which was good considering it was actually inhabited!).  One of my favorite features of the house was the sculpture garden/ walk including a large Claes Oldenburg apple core, a chunk of the Berlin Wall, and a army of red "people", like a paper doll chess set.  The walk ended in a meadow, looking out to the mountains.  After a final stroll, we drove back to Pittsburgh to return the car.  Part of me wanted to go to the Frick Art & Historical Center while we still had the car, but it was unrealistic with only an hour to go.  We dropped the car off and they in turn drove us back to the inn.

After a bit of relaxation, we took the bus downtown and then the subway to Station Square.  To get to the restaurants up the hill on Grandview Avenue, we had to take an incline railroad, or a little mini train up the hill.  There, we met the meanest man we've ever met.  Ever.  He was almost a caricature of a mean man.  We didn't understand how to buy tickets and he just let into us.  We eventually figured out we have to buy a dollar token (which we had to immediately give back to board the train), and we high-tailed it out of there.  He was funny and scary at the same time.

Finally away from the mean man on top of Grandview, we walked down the street and looked at restaurants.  The street ran along Mount Washington.  Many of the restaurants had gorgeous views of the three rivers (Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio) surrounding Pittsburgh. At a few of the lookout points, there were groups of kids getting their prom photos taken.  We decided to eat at the Grandview Saloon, where we were able to eat outside and watch the sun set over the rivers.  And, in Primanti Brothers-style, they put french fries in my salad!  Adam had a good steak and cheese, even though we were quite far from Philadelphia.  We took the incline railroad back down and there were more restaurants along the river.  There was a lot of construction and it was now dark out so we felt a little lost, but eventually we arrived at an entertainment complex, Station Square, complete with leaping fountains.  We ended up at Joe's Crab Shack, a cheesy theme restaurant with toys on the ceiling and souvenir cups full of frozen day-glo drinks.  We got back on the subway, back to downtown (it wasn't very fun waiting for the bus at such a late hour), and were very relieved when we were back at the inn.  We had to check out by 6 a.m. the next morning in order to be on our train, but the inn keeper sent us off with coffee and a bag of pastry.

On the train, we just watched the cows the whole way to New York City.  It was a mad dash to change to the Boston train in New York, but we made it and were back in Boston by 10 p.m.  We were very very tired.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylania -- May 2003; Day 6

After breakfast at the inn, we set out to walk two miles to the Carnegie Museum.  We weren't due to pick up our car until tomorrow (in order to maximize our car driving time) and it was a beautiful spring morning, so we hoofed it all the way.  It was a pretty nice walk, though a bit more strenuous than I was used to that early in the morning (with much much more walking to go for that day).  The museum, founded by industrialist Andrew Carnegie (or as they say in Pittsburgh "Car-NAY-gee", not the New York "Car-na-gee"), was interesting -- it was broken into two pieces: half art, half history.  We started with art.  There was a huge room where every square inch was covered with framed art, in the European gallery style.  Luckily, there was a helpful audio tour to help us understand what everything was.  My favorite was an Andy Warhol of Carnegie, reminiscent of the Marilyn Monroe painting in the same style.  After we had our fill of paintings, we headed to the history wing.  This collection was some serious competition for the American Museum of Natural History in New York: taxidermied animals, rows of birds behind glass, gems, dioramas of indigenous people.  There was so much to look at, so we just tried to pace ourselves.

After getting all museumed-out, we were on the hunt for lunch.  I had heard of a nearby sub shop where they put fries and coleslaw in the sandwich.  I asked around at the museum and the staff got all excited and said "You mean Primanti Brothers!"  They gave us directions to this little hole in the wall, within (short) walking distance.  The sandwiches were unbelievable good, but belly bombs. I had tuna (with fries and slaw) and The Hubby had corned beef.  We waddled out, too full to explore The Nationality Rooms at the University of Pittsburgh (a must see for our next trip -- they have 26 rooms authentically decorated to match different nationalities.  I think we thought it was just a few flags or something, but these are major achievements in design and detail).  Instead, we caught a bus downtown to begin our next walk.

The Warhol (a museum dedicated to Andy Warhol) was accessible via bridge (over the Allegheny River) from downtown.  Again, it was a pleasant walk.  We headed into this old warehouse.  There were six floors, each representing a different point in Warhol's life.  We headed up to the top and worked our way down.  The top floor represented his teen years with early sketches and influences (there was a Jackson Pollock), as well as his early work as an ad guy.  Another floor had silk screened canvases with subjects such as Elvis, to a car accident (a bit disturbing).  Two of the cooler floors contained a giant wall of camouflage and a room of silver Mylar balloons.  A room with every issue of  Interview Magazine  (of which he was a founder) helped us understand even more about his life.  We really enjoyed this museum and liked getting such a deep dive into the life and work of Warhol, especially as we were very interested in Pop Art.

We then walked back over the bridge and tried to catch a bus back to the inn, which was not as easy as in NYC.  Back at the inn, after brownies, iced tea, and a disco nap, we strategized dinner.  We were too tired to make it all the way back to Piccolo Piccolo Ristorante near the Warhol Museum, but we luckily found a cute Mexican restaurant in Shadyside, Fajita Grill.  Unfortunately, we didn't realize until we were seated that they didn't have a liquor liscense (which explains why it was so empty!)  We felt we had earned rather large margaritas with all that walking.  The big burritos with tons of guacamole helped make up for it a bit though.  After dinner, we were about to go on a drink hunt, but we were too worn out and crashed early.  So much for exploring Pittsburgh nightife!

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- May 2003: Day 5

It was time to board the train again, so my father-in-law drove us back to Philly to catch the Amtrak to Pittsburgh.  The train ride took all day and we arrived at 4 p.m. and were warned of taking a real vs. gypsy cab by the tour book.  We refused a ride by some sketchy guy in his own car and called a service.  Well, a few minutes later, who's calling our name but said sketchy guy.  Looks like the legit and gypsy cabs were one in the same. Our driver did managed to get very lost, but luckily, in a neighborhood of B&B's so we were more annoyed than freaked out.  He finally found our inn, The Appletree Inn.  It was located in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, which consisted of beautiful brownstones and Victorian homes.  We reserved the tastefully decorated Cortland Suite.  It was and still is to this day, one of the best rooms I have ever stayed in.  It had the required amenities a whirlpool tub, gas fireplace, and giant four poster bed, but they also had wonderful breakfast, not to mention homemade cookies and iced tea waiting for us every afternoon.  I think this place was worth the trip to Pittsburgh alone.

After we had unpacked a bit and freshened up, we strolled down the street to the Soba Lounge.  Another plus for the neighborhood was the plethora of great restaurants within walking distance as we were presently without a car.  This was an Asian-fusion restaurant.  I had an unbelievable cold sake sampler (where I discovered the joy of nigori, a milky-white unfiltered cold sake with a pleasant melon-like flavor), a saketini with lots of pickled ginger, and a perfectly rare seared tuna steak.  Adam had a vegetable filled red curry.  We sat outisde on the upstairs patio and just reflected about our travels so far.  When it got dark, we strolled home to the awaiting comfort of our cozy room.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- May 2003: Day 3 and 4

After a simple breakfast in the Latham Hotel's bar (which seemed kind of sad, like the morning after a wild party, still reeking of Key Lime martini's),  we caught the PhLASH bus to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  I had some major audio tour issues, but I did enjoy the museum, which had everything from suits of armor to Japanese gardens, not to mention a huge Impressionists collection.  We enjoyed lunch there, and then climbed the "Rocky" steps.  After spending the whole day there, we took the PhLASH back to our hotel and waited for our ride (The Hubby's Dad).

The next morning, we drove a borrowed car out to Pennsylvania Dutch Country.  It wasn't a very long trip from Bucks County (where we were staying with the in-laws) to Lancaster County.  I was surprised though by the rolling green hills and all the cows.  I couldn't believe such a short trip out of the city would be so rural.

We headed to Kitchen Kettle Village, which I joked was like an Amish strip mall.  We grabbed some grub and then walked around the various stores: quilt shops, candy shops and the Kitchen Kettle store, where we bought all sorts of canned veggies, such as pickled beets and corn salsa.  Did you know the Amish make excellent wasabi peas?  We bought a big sack of those, and some pretzel mix, for the train ride home.  We then wandered over to The People's Place for a short movie about the people of the area, but it unfortunately left us with more questions than answers.

We then drove around for a bit and found a great pretzel store.  We bought pretzels, ate them in the car, and returned for more to bring home.  The cashier thought we were nuts!  Next door was a notions store, which was like an Amish supply store.  They had everything from bonnets to undies, but my favorite part was the Amish romance novels.  At 1:00, it was time for our buggy ride at Bird n' Hand.  We crammed into the back of a buggy with a dozen other tourists.  It was fun except we got a little bit of the third degree from the driver regarding our religious upbringing and then the ride stopped at his house where his family had tables set up with their wares.  I felt a little of the "hard-sell."  On the way back,  there was some traffic confusion between our driver and another "buggy-ist."  We stopped short, horses reared up.  We thought we were going to die in a tragic buggy accident, but all was well.

After another stop at Kitchen Kettle for delicious ice cream, we bought some tacky souvenirs (our Intercourse, PA porcelain bell was tacky but the little handmade boy doll we got was quite nice).  We drove around a little bit, and took some photos (especially of the ironically named Amish town, Intercourse, PA), then we returned to my in-laws' for dinner.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- May 2003: Day 2

Early the next morning, we made our way from 17th to 3rd Street.  We were going to take the subway, but it was deserted, cavernous, and creepy.  We bumped into a woman, crying, who said, "You don't belong down here."  It was very ominous, so we high-tailed it out of there and walked the whole way.  We grabbed a bagel on the way and realized we were still a bit too early for the Visitor Center, so we waited outside the Liberty Bell at 5th and 6th.  When the center opened, we got some maps and went to Independence Hall.  I thought it was just an old building with some chairs and candle holders, but Adam was in awe of the history that went down there.  After a little speech by one of the park rangers, we looked at The Declaration of Independence (which may or may not have been the real thing), bought our tacky souvenirs (a Liberty Bell pencil sharpener) and then we went back to the real Liberty Bell.

I had been expecting crowds, which is why we were out and about so early, but it was really a ghost town in the Old City, including at the Liberty Bell.  This was before they built the new building around it, so it was a rather small structure housing the bell with most of the 'line" outside, so it was good that no one was there.  Because this was so soon after 9/11, security was extra tight still, but I was shocked at how small the bell really was.  We each posed for pictures, looked at the crack close up, and went on to our next stop.

Because the U.S. Mint was unexpectedly closed (due to 9/11, no doubt), we went directly to Elfreth's Alley, a small little alley with tiny little townhouses.   It's a perfectly preserved little street with dollhouse like proportions.  Many of the houses are still occupied, so it's mostly a photo op, but they also had a museum, which we skipped.  After peeking into Christ Church, we stopped to eat.  For lunch, we had cheese steaks nearby, in a little diner.  I got a chicken cheese steak, which was not very good.  But, I wanted to join the party without actually riding the Beef Express.

After lunch, we checked out the Benjamin Franklin Museum, which was strange.  You walk down this huge ramp into this basement.  There were tons of phones that you can listen testimonies about BF. Another room has inventions and family portraits. There was supposed to be a movie but one of the museum workers kept muttering about light bulbs being burnt out, so we missed it.  The strangest part was this little pit you look into that had little figures that danced around.  Before we left, we saw a printing press and walked around the grounds where his house once stood.

Still hungry for more, we went to the Atwater Kent Museum (now the Philadelphia History Museum).  It's namesake invented a gun, hat and a type of radio.  The first floor was a hodge podge of local history -- hats, radios and taxidermied animals.  My favorite part was the photo album of World's Fair from 1876.  It was fun to see all the different pavilions, like an old-fashioned Epcot Center.  The second floor was a Saturday Evening Post exhibit with tons of Norman Rockwell covers.  We were losing steam, so we enjoyed quietly looking at the covers, lost in our own thoughts.  We then wearily walked the ten blocks back to our hotel to rest for later.

For dinner, we went to South Street for dinner.  It was very hyped in our guidebook as "the place to be" but we were a little disappointed.  It seemed to be a lot of bars and not many good restaurants.  We ended up at a nicer place on the outskirts called Bridget Foy's.  It was good, but when we walked to 2nd Street and realized how many good places were nearby, we were kicking ourselves.

First, we had mojitos at Cuba Libre.  It was a cool Cuban restaurant with a buzzing bar.  The Hubby even got hit on by a cougar, which was funny.  Across the street was what is now my favorite places in all of Philadelphia -- The Continental Diner.  It's just an old fashioned diner, with low lighting and awesome cocktails.  The drink menu is extensive and as we sat at the bar/ counter and watched the food come out.  We drooled at the fries and realized next time we were in Philly, we needed to go there for dinner.  After a really good Key Lime martini at the Latham Hotel's bar, we called it a night.

Phildelphia, Pennsylvania -- May 2003: Day 1

Pennsylvania was an easy choice -- my in-laws had lived there for four years and we had never visited!  Our goal was to travel from one end of Pennsylvania to the other -- Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.  We would stay a couple days in each city, stopping along the way to visit the in-laws and take in Amish Country (I mean Pennsylvania Dutch Country). We took the train this time because though Boston to Philadelphia would only be around six hours by car, but Pittsburgh to Boston was going to be a major hassle and it would be better to relax, at least.  The train to Philly brought us in to 30th and Market.  We then took a cab to our hotel in Rittenhouse Square.  We were staying at The Latham Hotel, which was nicer than we were used to, but not as expensive as somewhere like New York.  When we arrived, it was too late to go anywhere, so I enjoyed a nice bath and got ready for dinner at Morimoto.

We were really excited about dinner at Morimoto.  We loved Nobu, where Chef Morimoto used to work, and we were also HUGE Iron Chef fans.  So, we took a cab to a neighborhood that seemed to teem with jewelry stores; buried in between was this small, unassuming restaurant.  Inside, however, was paradise: flowing hardwood ceilings, pulsing neon video screens.  It was natural bamboo and day-glo colors all together.  If the food was anything like the decor, we knew we were in for something truly different.

After we were seated at a Lucite table, we decided to go with the Omakase (chef's choice) menu as it is really the only way to fly when your a) eating the food of a celebrity chef b) eating food you've never tried before.  If we learned anything from Nobu, it made things easier and yummier.   After a sake-tini, we enjoyed Toro Tartare -- fatty tuna, diced (like little rubies), with wasabi and caviar.  Always a classic.  Next was whitefish capaccio -- silvery slivers of fish in hot oil.  My favorite (and very similar to what we had a Nobu) was the rock shrimp tempura.  It was melt-in-your mouth delicious.  Miso soup and sashimi salad was next (slices of raw tuna on greens).  A palate cleansing wasabi sorbet with a wasabi beignet (doughnut) rocked my world, straight out of Iron Chef.  It was mild and refreshing, not nose-clearing spicy.  The main course was a piece of black cod with miso sauce, sweet and mild.  The next course I did not care for -- foie gras with pickled peppers (I do not melt over foie gras as The Hubby does -- too meaty for me). It was too rich and greasy in my opinion.  After that, we were back to basic yet classic sushi.  Last was dessert.  It was all so good.  And, though very similar to Nobu's menu, this dinner had a little more edge on it.

During the meal, Chef Morimoto himself came by to see how we were and graciously agreed to a picture.  For me, it was like meeting Elvis.  He was so nice, he definitely belongs in the Cold Sake Hall of Fame!

After dinner, we took a taxi to Tank Bar on 21st Street.  It seemed to be rather, um, heavy on the gentlemen, but the upstairs was quiet and romantic.  We had cocktails and then took a cab back to the hotel.

New York, New York -- December 2002: Day 1 & 2

It turns out we could not stay away from New York for very long.  After scoring a deal for a ridiculous $150 per night stay at the posh Soho Grand Hotel, we decided to also catch Baz Lurhmann's production of La
bohème on Broadway.  We drove this time (after the train sat in Connecticut for an hour last time, we realized driving and training would be faster and cheaper).  We got there right around check in time only to encounter the wait from hell. Never, in all my life, has it taken me TWO HOURS to check into a hotel.  I think they were overbooked or something.  They started to hand out champagne in the lobby and I started to worry we were going to be late for our pre-show dinner.  When we finally got our room, it was small, but very tasteful and nice.  This was also the first time I saw a mini-bar with $8 Gummi Bears.  Come to think of it, this may have been my first mini-bar!  I don't quite know what I was thinking, but we didn't have reservations to any restaurant and after making some calls, we settled on Limoncello (now closed but replaced by the well-received Insieme).  It was a fast italian meal in a generically nice setting.  It was pretty good, but more planning would be smarter for next time.

Luckily, we got to La bohème on time.  I had never seen an opera before and this was a good introduction.  The stage set was very similar to the set of the movie Moulin Rouge.  It was the story and music of La bohème, but set in 1930's Paris.  It was funny to see the similarities between the plot and characters of Rent and this show. The show was beautiful and moving and I would love to see another opera.

Upon leaving the theater, we ran into Richard Schiff (again).  This was starting to creep us out, but luckily he doesn't notice us (ha!) and think we're stalkers.  We returned to the hotel and found the lobby and coffee lounge turned into a nightclub with DJs and $8 martinis.  We hung out for a while and people-watched.  The guy next to us was drinking Cristal and draped with women, but he did not look familiar to me.  I felt like we were going to get sent back to our rooms for being so uncool (I was wearing a $30 cardigan sweater from Petite Sophisticate for crying out loud!) but we managed to get sufficiently tipsy before sneaking away.

The next morning, we set off at 9 to roam the streets of Soho in search of some good eats.  We realized that everyone must sleep late on the weekends in Soho and nothing was open.  We ended up with blah bagels at a corner shop and headed to the Whitney Museum of American Art via bus (3, to be exact).  Soho was empty, but the museum wasn 't.  We took the elevator to the top of the museum and worked our way down.  They had a solid modern art collection with some Andy Warhol's and Jasper John's.  The special exhibit featuring "The Quilts of Gee's Bend" really stood out to us, however.  It was a collection of quilts made in a poor, rural Alabama, but many of them had spectacular, modern compositions.  It made me look at quilts in a different way.

After the museum, we went back down to Soho to check-out and grab some lunch.  I had a wonderful veggie sandwhich at Anita's.  The restaurant was empty, which I was beining to think we par for the course in Soho.  We then did some shopping on Broadway at funky Yellow Rat Bastard, where I scored a cool Paul Frank t-shirt, and Pearl River, where they sold every Asian import item imaginable, from dishes to clothes, food, and art.  After we had sufficiently shopped, we jumped in the car to head back home!