Welp, here it is. The day my sister, my chihuahua, and I have reached our last stop on the road trip. After weeks of driving, exploring, and one night of a bit too much alcohol, we have finally driven into Pittsburgh, PA. AZ to PA in about 12 days. Let me tell you: we are exhausted. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is a fantastic road trip route, taking you up Route 66, into Canada, out through Niagara Falls, and down to the Mid-Atlantic, BUT DAMN. Probably best done with a longer timeline to allow at least a couple milliseconds of rest. Although I cannot complain too much – driving across the country is one of the best experiences you can have. I am lucky that the perfect opportunity to do so presented itself, and of course that I had two lovely ladies to accompany me.
Where To Stay
The three of us ended up staying in La Quinta Inn and Suites, which was about 15 minutes north of downtown Pittsburgh. Like most of the other accommodations on this trip, we looked to stay outside the city to save money on lodging and overnight parking (the only pit stop in which we decided to stay downtown was Toronto, because we had drinkin’ plans and wanted to experience every little nugget of being in a Canadian city that we possibly could). The Pittsburgh hotel was extremely nice; it had a fitness center with quality equipment, and a wonderful complimentary breakfast in the morning. And free parking. The nightly rate was $92, on average, which was great for being so close to the city with all the amenities it had, as well as considering the fact that it was a very last-minute booking.
Highlights of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
I was particularly delighted by the imposing architecture on the University of Pittsburgh campus, and to Meredith’s embarrassment, was not hiding the fact as I squatted in my short dress to get pictures from the very best angles, while freshmen at their orientation, scared and confused, watched curiously (Meredith’s first choice school was Pitt and she has been before. Excuuuuse me that my four years of college were spent looking at the same three limestone buildings day after day, year after year). The Cathedral of Learning and the Heinz Memorial Chapel specifically were very easy on the eyes. How ya doin’, sweet thangs? You don’t see buildings like this in a lot of places in this country, especially not when you’re living in the middle of Scottsdale, Arizona.
Point State Park & Allegheny Riverfront Park
Yes, the parks are really doing it for me here in Pittsburgh, just like those sexy buildings. Even though the entire day was overcast and grey, we still enjoyed strolling along the waterfront (it is crazy to note how when we started our journey in the Southwest we were probably only a few degrees away from our blood literally boiling and our entire bodies catching on fire (clearly I have forgotten everything from my high school biology class), and now that we are in Pennsylvania we are met with dreary skies and chilly temperatures. This is what I am talking about! The United States is so beautifully diverse. Scorching desert, high mountains, oceans, rivers. It’s all right here.)
The Ohio River splits into the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River at Point State Park, and there are walking paths aplenty along each one river child. Pittsburgh is known as “The City of Bridges,” with over four hundred bridges throughout the city, which is easy to appreciate from this vantage point.
Market Square
Pittsburgh’s hub, and the ultimate place for grabbing a coffee or a bite to eat, sitting at a table, and people watching. Dine at Pittsburgh’s oldest bar and restaurant. Admire the beautiful shining PPG Place buildings surrounding the square. One of Europe’s greatest features is that every city has a main square, encircled by restaurants, shops, and incredible buildings. It is nice to not even have to hop on a plane to get a small touch of that European charm.
Mount Washington
The last thing we did on our road trip: climb to the top of Mount Washington, a neighborhood that offers some of the most striking views of the city that you can find. It doesn’t get much better than this, and it is no surprise that Mount Washington is one of the Burgh’s most frequently visited neighborhoods.
Additional things to do if you are not carrying around a chihuahua all day long
Andy Warhol Museum: the largest museum dedicated to any one artist in the entire country. Warhol was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and this extensive collection of his works is a tribute to his artistic genius.
The Mattress Factory: Maybe one of the coolest museums of all time (or so I’ve heard). It is an alternative museum, with large, interactive, room-sized exhibits of contemporary art, all for a $20 admission price.
PNC Park: Pittsburgh residents love their sports (which I found out from one of my sorority sisters, who is a die-hard Steelers and Penguins fan), so catching a baseball game at this park on the river (and maybe inhaling a hot dog or two) is a good Pittsburgh experience (you could also go to a football game at Heinz Stadium, but let’s face it. The Steelers suck and NFL games are absurdly overpriced). (You think I used enough parentheses in that paragraph?)(Or no?)
Overall, we drove about 3,000 miles over the course of 12 days, and after another 4 hours (and $22 in a single toll! Curse you, East Coast), we pulled up in front of our mom’s townhouse, done with being on the road for a while. The one contingency of going on this road trip with a traveling companion was that we had to get back in time for Meredith to move into her dorm at University of Maryland, only two weeks after my last day at my job in Arizona, so it was a bit rushed. But my alternative was foregoing an excellent girl-bonding opportunity and going alone, or shipping my car across the country to my new home in DC and booking a flight back east — and where the heck is the fun in that?? Regardless, the experience turned out even better than I had hoped, and we got to see so many different places and meet so many different and eclectic people.
Have you ever done a cross-country road trip? Did you hit any of the destinations we passed through? And what was your favorite part? Gimme gimme gimme your stories!
