Day 8, Pittsburgh

Well Pittsburgh, we've gotten ourselves into a little laundry situation. No, it's not you, it's me. I meant to wash laundry in Hershey, but with all that amusement parking, I was just too tired. "I'll just do it when we are in Pittsburgh." I thought naively. The "Timeless European Elegance" offered by the your AC Hotel did not include a place to launder your "Old American Drawers".  I suppose I am looking a little worn from the road, because I was unable to persuade the powers that be to let me use one of the industrial washers that they use for the linens. I had my sites set on one of those puppies that could wash a weeks worth of laundry in one load! The concierge recommended a place where, for the right price,  you can just drop your clothes and they wash and fold them for you! What is this life altering, witchcraft? So, we set out early to drop the laundry so we'd be back to the hotel in time to meet our new friend, George. I'd found George in my research about Pittsburgh and he is the Go-to expert on the area. You can hire him to take you around the city and let you in on all the juicy tidbits. George is native to Pittsburgh and regaled us with sites and stories for the better part of the morning. We started our day with a trip up the Duquesne Incline. It's this little cart thingy (I thought it was called a funicular, but George corrected me) that hoists you straight up a mountain and has been doing so since 1877! 

View from the top

View from our little 134 year old death wish

George describing the innards of the Incline

After hearing all about the different buildings and bridges of the Pittsburgh skyline, we descended the mountain and piled into George's van. George was very disappointed in us when he found our knowledge of Pittsburgh sports to be lacking,  Take home message: They take the sports very seriously in the 'Burgh. George told us all about this crazy comeback story from the 70's. And, the we posed for it because apparently it is a thing... 

 

One my favorite stops was when George stopped the van and told us to go around this brick wall. He said, that he'd arranged for a friend of his to meet us. "Just ask for Fred". When we rounded the corner we heard a familiar voice echoing within this acoustic arch. It was the voice of Mr. Rogers telling the story of The Three Bears. And ahead of us, a huge sculpture of him. Mr. Rogers was filmed in Pittsburgh and the trolley was based on the Incline that we rode earlier in the day! 

Won't you be my neighbor?

My Childhood, sculpted.

George dropped us in the Strip District which is NOT full of strippers as the name would lead you to believe. It is a lovely little shopping district that highlights all types of wares, foods both regional and international, and of course, anything and everything with The Steelers emblazoned on it.  We sampled some pierogies from a polish deli for first lunch. Second lunch was a visit to the famous Primanti Brothers restaurant for one of their famous sandwiches. Given that we know George, we are pretty much experts on Pittsburgh so, we weren't surprised when one of the key ingredients of the sandwich was ....yep. Fries. 

First Lunch, not to be confused with Second Lunch

How do I even eat this?

Primanti Brothers know how to make a sandwich!

Grandpa Joe's was a great source for more sugar! Just what we need when we are 5 people deep in a hotel room...

Seriously someones car, and it's not even football season

I had built up our next stop after a strong recommendation from my friend, Casey, who lived in Pittsburgh for a time. Wait for it......The Cathedral of LEARNING! Learning is my favorite!  When I revealed our afternoon stop, the reviews were mixed. Actually, not as much mixed as unanimously staunchly opposed. "Mom, no more learning!" "Mom, we've learned enough for one day!", "A tower of learning seems like a lot of learning!". The Cathedral of Learning is a magnificent structure on the campus of The University of Pittsburgh. It is the second tallest educational building IN THE WORLD and is 535 feet tall! The bottom two floors showcase the Nationality Rooms which as I understood it, are classrooms set up as they would be from countries all over the world! Doesn't that sound cool?  I had talked it up to the point that the kids were semi-quasi-interested!  We got there and the little baby child working the front dest told me it's closed to the public. 

Me: What the haystack? I looked at your website and it said you were open. 

Baby Child: We are only open to students and faculty. 

Me: Well, what if I got a student to walk me through, would that work? (visions of me running outside and snatching up the first student that passed and coercing them into taking my family into the Cathedral). 

Baby Child: No, everyone has to have a Pitt ID. 

Me: Well, that is dumb. Because your little Cathedral of Learning is but a house of lies if you don't let me LEARN in it!  And, we are fully vaccinated and will double mask! 

Baby Child: (While barely looking up from the phone on which he is gaming) Sorry, not my rules. 

Me: Huffs out. Day two vacation Sarah might've fought the good fight, asked to speak to a manager, but I am tired. I threw my hands up and broke the news to the children.....they were okay with it. We walked around the Pitt campus that is rather lovely doesn't really care about outsider learning and then headed over to Carnegie-Mellon just for good measure.  College tours done for Pittsburgh. 

Tower of Lies  Cathedral of Learning-outside only-not much to learn out here....

We stopped by The Laundry Factory to pick up my clean laundry that was clean and folded! And I DIDN'T HAVE TO DO IT!!!  Now, I have experienced the laundry fairy! 

Many of the restaurants in Pittsburg are closed on Monday and Tuesday, so our options were limited on this particular Tuesday night. We struck out with our first two choices but scored big with our third choice,  Sienna Mercado is a restaurant specializing in Meatballs and all of the jokes that ensue when an eleven-year-old boy gets to read a menu where the word "balls" appears about 80 times. Food was delicious, waiter's t-shirts and Thomas' humor were a bit crass. 

Tomorrow we will check off our 46th state! Almost heaven, West Virginia!!

Day 7 Gettysburg, Pittsburg

 Party's over, wee-Bullingtons. Hope you liked the tilt-a-whirl, because today we will start our Magical Mystery Tour with a trip to the hallowed ground of the Battle of Gettysburg. If you've forgotten what they taught you in school, not to worry! We've an audio book that will help you brush up on your knowledge of the most pivotal battle of the Civil War! We started our visit with the wonderful film narrated by Morgan Freeman (and I could listen to him read the phone book!) We saw the cyclorama, and toured the museum. It was incredibly well done. We took to the battlefield and visited the cemetery where Abraham Lincoln delivered The Gettysburg Address. 

Aren't we cute?

Cyclorama dating back to 1883

Pew-Pew

Site of the Gettysburg Address

We had to depart the battlefield to reach our next stop, Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water, for our timed entry. But, there were other plans for us....

We were driving through beautiful central Pennsylvania when we were the second car to the scene of a horrific car accident. A car with two women and three children ran a stop sign and struck a car with an older couple inside There was one other car in front of us and the driver had jumped out of the car and was trying to get the older couple out of the car. He literally cut through the air bags with a pocket knife to get to them. Mr. Bullington got on the phone with 911, and I jumped out of the car with a container of wipes. Because, even when your kids are teenagers, you will always need wipes. The older man in one car was fine but his wife, Daria,  had been on the side of impact and was confused and bleeding excessively from two wounds on her head. I started applying pressure to her wounds while the other guy started getting the children out of the other car. The two elementary aged girls were fine but rattled (one girl and her mother were Deaf and communicating with ASL). A little boy a few years younger than Thomas was bleeding and stunned, lying on the ground but breathing.  While continuing to try to stop the bleeding on Daria's head, the wrecked car that she was in caught on fire. Another bystander ran from car to car trying to find a fire extinguisher while Daria's husband and I attempted to move her farther from the car for fear that it would explode. She was unable to stand, but crawled about 20 feet until she was far enough away from the flaming car. Because we were so rural, it took awhile for emergency vehicles to arrive, but many volunteer civilians arrived on the scene. All I could guess was that there is some sort of volunteer EMT/fire/rescue alert system in rural areas that can radio for help. It is hard to describe what happened today. A bunch of strangers, thrown into a really scary situation, coming together for each other because it's what you do. Abraham Lincoln's words rang in my head all afternoon, "A house divided against itself will never stand". But today, people who had nothing in common and didn't even know each other came together. We can offer comfort to strangers, we can act on behalf of people who can't help themselves. The second best quote of the day came from Thomas, who dutifully delivered some band-aids from our car's first aid kit to try and help. "Mom, I wish you would've let me use some of the first aid I learned at Boy Scout Camp... Then I could be in Boys Life Magazine!" 

Hemmed in

Stuck in the middle with you.

We missed seeing Falling Water but Mr. Bullington said it best.  "We were where we needed to be". 

The water fell without us

The ride to Pittsburg came to an abrupt halt when we arrived at Charlotte's destination of choice. Nestled in a not-at-all quaint section of metro-Pittsburgh, The Abby Lee Dance Company inhabits at least an 1/8 of an acre of pot-holed parking lot.  If you are a fan of the reality show Dance Moms, which I am not, you will recognize this spot. It is the celebrity birthplace of JoJo Siwa and a bunch of other little fresh-faced scantily clad dancers. Apparently, the mom's of these gyrating tots get a little spicy with each other and they made a show about it. If the "nice" lady running the gift shop is any indication,  "Dance Moms" live up to their reputation! And, we are two t-shirts richer and 80 brain cells poorer.   

The girls listening to a class in session.

eye roll emoji

I am not sure what I expected, but Pittsburgh is surrounded by beautiful mountains.  This city is gorgeous! And, so clean!  Despite a little road construction that sent the GPS and Mr. Bullington into an almost hissy. We arrived! 

And on the 8th Day, God created beer! 

Our first stop was The Church Brew Works. I couldn't decide if I was happy or sad about this one. I guess I'm glad that this beautiful church isn't sitting empty and falling into disrepair, I am saddened by how she got this way. A house divided? But, our waitress, Rachel was delightful and the food was delicious! Pirogies all up in here! Charlotte's salad was served "Pittsburgh" style. That means it had french fries on it. On her salad..

    

Healthy!

Day 6, Pennsylvania (Hershey)

 Time to bid adieu to this fair city. We decided to pacify the tyrants with a day free of museums and full of amusement parks and chocolate.  Hershey, PA, we are coming for ya! We arrived a little later than scheduled because around mid-trip we all start to lose some of our fervor. Our travel zeal replaced with additional blows to the snooze button. 

We side-tracked into Lancaster County because we wanted to experience the Amish Country. I may or may not have played Weird Al's Amish Paradise (I favor an immersive experience)  whilst combing the landscape for a horse-drawn carriage or two. It was Sunday, so not much activity. Way to honor the Sabbath most Amish people. But, not so much you, Ezekiel. 

Our next, less Amish, locale was going to be SWEET!  Hershey Park dates back to 1903 when Milton Hershey created a leisure park for his employees. It has morphed into a thrilling destination and if ever you find yourself in central Pennsylvania, you should go to there! I enjoyed the combination of old and new coasters. We rode an old rickety wooden coaster, The Wildcat, that was built in 1923! And, with most amusement parks, the people watching was next level. We learned that Spandex isn't just for the gym, and can be purchased in a wide variety of sizes.  No point in leaving anything to the imagination at Hershey Park! 

Wheeee can't wait! 

 Upon arrival, we stopped at the first mammoth coaster and jumped in line, estimated wait time 189 minutes......We waited for about 40.  Given the ample crowds gracing Hershey Park on this particular Sunday, Mr. Bullington decided that in order to make the most of our limited time at the park we should definitely purchase Fast Passes for the Family. It felt a little cheaty to lawfully cut to the front of the line, but it did allow us to ride all of the rides as opposed to the 2-3 rides we could've ridden if we'd had to wait at  3-hours a pop. One thing we had not considered was that in Thomas' short life, he has grown into the "right" height for big rides during Covid, so he hasn't really ever ridden a big coaster. We forgot that little tidbit as we forced urged him to take his seat on a rather gnarly coaster entitled "Candymonium". The longest, fastest, tallest roller coaster that this park has to offer. Let's just say that years from now, this might come up in therapy. We tried to atone for the trauma with ice cream and a walk through the attached really lame zoo.  It featured such unique species as deer, hawks, and coyotes. So, kind of like a normal day in Marietta but with cages. The good news is that Thomas recovered and was riding anything we threw at him by the day's end!  

I think I'll stick to the swings for now!

I hate it when you are short and dumpy and the fun house mirror makes you look short and dumpy. 

Mr. Bullington and his gal, Freaky Sal

We rode rides until they kicked us out and then headed for the Chocolate Factory Tour! The Factory Tour isn't really a factory tour, but more like "It's a Small World" and Chuckie Cheese had a baby.  We rode in a little car while animatronic cows sang this catchy little tune that encourages you to "Taste the Love All Over The World" and much like It's a Small World, it works its way into your brain and you sing it the rest of the day/night. Mr. Bullington was able to secure the chocolate shake that he had been craving and then at 10:00 we realized that we'd forgotten to eat dinner! Whoops! 

Until next time, Hershey!

Time for everyones favorite, gas station dinner! We stopped at Sheetz, we don't have them in Georgia, and they take gas station dinner to the next level!  We made it to our room for the night and I started my nightly routine of making a hotel room suitable for 5 people to sleep. This particular room had the pullout sofa as well as the  rollaway that we'd requested, but the pullout sofa was a twin. Soooo, I quickly fashioned a floor bed for Thomas out of sofa cushions and we were right as rain! I sat down at 11:45 to start writing the daily Mileophile and fell asleep with my computer in my lap.....We tired. 

2021 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Day 5

After the girls went on an early morning run with Mr. Bullington trailing them on a bike, it was time for our first stop of the morning! Pick up the phone, the American Revolution is calling! We spent a few hours pouring over the exhibits at Museum of the American Revolution. This is going to sound weird but one of the highlights of this museum is George Washington's Tent. Like, the one he schlepped all over tarnation trying to win our independence and start a new gig, free from the control of  Taxi Mctaxalot, George III. The museum presents the tent in a spectacular multi-media presentation that would spark awe in even the most sullen teenager  anyone! To think, night after night, while his bed at Mt. Vernon was empty, he slept, and studied, and paced, and planned in this humble canvas tent that is much like it was 250 years ago.  Chills! 

From there, we headed over to Independence Hall where the FREAKING DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WAS SIGNED! If those walls could talk! I stress about planning my menu for the week, I can't fathom laying out the ground work for an entirely new nation and government.  I spent a few moments chatting up the little park ranger. I've recently decided that if I were to ever have a second career, it would be a Park Ranger. My new friend was a cute little gal from Louisiana who is making it her life's work to inform about and protect our nation's historic sites. She told me that second only to the Grand Canyon, Philadelphia employs more park rangers than any other site in the country. This is on account of the high number of buildings (her words) and the high number of dimwits wanting try and take their picture in George Washington's chair (my words). 

No, it's cool, girls. I'm sure whatever you are watching on the TicTac is more interesting.....

In the room where it happened

Mr. Bullington and I sensed that the family's political tide was turning when we announced that our final destination for the day would be yet another fascinating museum, across town.. Fearing a teen coup, we relented to trade in our walking feet for bike riding feet. I still have PTSD from our first foray into urban biking in the year of our Lord, 2014.  We'd biked in Portland, but with a guide, and the bike riding lanes in Philly are limited and a skosh unpredictable, meaning, sometimes they abruptly end and deposit you in to traffic. Anyhooo, we acceded to the demands of the tyrants and a few minutes later we were each perched atop our very own rent-a-bike. 

Our next stop was a more agreeable one. The Reading Terminal Market is an indoor market with food stalls of every culinary genre. You want Empanadas? They have it! You want flowers? Tea? Fish with faces still attached? You've come to the right place! We settled on some spicy Thai food, because what better to fill up your gullet before riding a bike in the scorching heat to the Medical Malady museum.  

Charlotte being cheeky

Wait, don't take our picture until we're ready. Payback is hell. 

#1! 

We biked to the The Mutter Museum without disclosing to the children exactly what it was about. The element of surprise is often lost these days..... Unfortunately or fortunately for you dear reader, I was unable to take any pictures. They were very serious about the no picture policy. Meaning, they had cameras with someone monitoring them.  But some highlights included, slices of Albert Einstein's Brain, a tumor removed from Grover Cleveland and an extensive collection of objects fished out of folks. We learned not to swallow safety pins, fish hooks, and the like.  Thomas found himself in and out of the tools of child delivery section quick as a wink and Charlotte stared at the ground as not to have her eyes meet a jar full of gangrene hand. Another fun family outing is in the books! 

Tour De Bullington

Speaking of books, we ditched the kids at the hotel and ordered Uber eats for them so we could have some adult time. We met up with our buds, Joel and Chrissy Helmke who've recently moved to the Philadelphia area from California. Joel picked the perfect spot! The Old Bookbinders Restaurant and Bar. Located in a historic building and dating back to 1893, this restaurant's history can be traced back to when it was an oyster house owned by Samuel Bookbinder. Currently, it serves up delicious lobster and other delectable bites! Are we really to a point in parenthood where we can ALL ride adult bikes unencumbered through the city AND  can leave the kids for a few hours for a grown-up dinner?!? I feel like a trophy is in order....

Friends for LIFE!

New Jersey to Pennsylvania (Philly) Day 4

Rise and Shine, Bullingtons! Time to see where Washington crossed the Delaware!!  Fun Fact: There is not one, but TWO parks bearing almost identical names that explore this historic event! The Washington’s Crossing State Park in New Jersey (where the troops landed) and The Washington’s Crossing Historic Park in Pennsylvania (where he started). Another Fun Fact: We didn't know that. 

We bounded into Washington Crossing State Park on the Jersey side and startled the gentlemen working the front desk.  He brightened at the prospect of visitors as there were no other cars in the parking lot. He gave us some brief instructions and I indicated that I had paid online for a 10:00 tour. His face fell and his shoulders slumped. In a slightly accusatory tone he said...."Oh. you meant to go the OTHER park. Like I'd intentionally shown favoritism! We quickly perused the exhibits at the New Jersey park and crossed the Delaware on our own. While not in a boat, through blizzard conditions, with 2400 of our closest friends, we did have to go over a very narrow rickety bridge and lived to tell the tale! 

We missed the movie, but we were able to bore the children with a minute-by-minute (or at least it seemed that way) account of Washington's 11-hour trek across the river Delaware. The harrowing tail was told to us by a young lady who is still cutting her teeth on her career as a tour guide. Her lackluster account of one of the most  pivotal moments in American History left us wanting more. Also, I was VERY disappointed that there was not some sort of costume situation where I could dress everyone up and pose them on a Durham boat like in the famous painting...There goes my Christmas Card idea.....

Now, just picture Mr. Bullington at the helm, the children and I with oars. It would've been epic. 

We loaded up the wagon and headed to Philly. First stop, our answer to the cheesesteak battle royale that has been brewing and festering since the 60's. Pat's claims to have the oldest cheesesteak sandwich in Philly having opened in the 1930's, 36 years later, Geno's opened across the street and claimed to have perfected the sandwich. We split up and bought several cheesesteaks from each. We met at a yellow bench between the two that we deemed "Switzerland" and proceeded to perform a neutral, non-biased taste test. The winner was unanimous! Pat's with cheese whiz and onions! It all came down to the bread. Geno's was also very good! And now, I need a Tums. 

Picture in the dictionary when you look up heart burn.

Taste Testers

Pat's for the win! 

We headed to our hotel and dropped the luggage. Time to see the Liberty Bell! Y'all it is Georgia hot in Philly this week.  But, ever ones to torture our kids, we decided to hoof it to all of our points of interest.  Hard to see a city from a car, kiddos! 

I see your crack.

If you could have heard the professions of thanksgiving from the Bullington lot when they learned we were headed to our third educational stop of the day.....you would still be listening intently. Little did they know, en route to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I'd planned a little surprise foray into the Rare Books Room at the Philadelphia Public Library.....They are going to be SO EXCITED!!!!

I had done my research into this next stop. The Rare Books Room of the Philadelphia Public Library had been closed because of Stupid Covid, but had recently re-opened to the public...or so the liar website said. I traipsed right up to the security guard and asked how to get to the Rare Books Room.  He responded, "Oh, that's closed right now". I said, "Naw, it's open. I saw it on your website". He said, yeah they reopened it, but it's not opened right now (mind you, this was during operating hours of the library) This is when Mr. Bullington and the wee Bullington's attempted to dissolve into the shelves and begin to flip through books as to not be affiliated with the crazy argumentative lady from Georgia.  A nice employee of the Library interjected and suggested that I take my request to the head Librarian. Point the way, sister! 

I met Richard who asked, quite directly, "What is it exactly that you want to see in our Rare Books Room?". "I came all the way from Georgia and have dragged my grumpy family from the Liberty Bell to see Grip." Richard got a little impish grin on his face and asked me why. "Richard, I have an interest in the Taxidermy Arts and would like to feast my eyes upon the stuffed Raven of Charles Dickens. You know, the one who inspired Edgar Allan Poe to write the poem? He is currently housed in your Rare Books Room. What's it going to take to get me in there?"

Richard then picked up the phone and made a few phone calls and while I couldn't hear exactly what he was saying, I am sure that he might've uttered the words "a little situation down here" and "crazed taxidermy lady". But, whatever he said worked! A few minutes later we heard footsteps echoing down the marble staircase. A slight little man with horn-rimmed glasses approached us and asked us to follow him. He had a collection of keys that he employed to unlock a series of doors. We eventually ended up in a sterile corridor with a glass case at one end. And, there he was! Grip! Joe told us all about the beloved pet of Dickens and how he had met his untimely end by snacking on some lead paint. He is wonderfully preserved and now my kids can tell their friends that their mom muscled her way into a forgotten hallway of a random library to see a dead bird....But, they probably won't. 

On our way out, I thanked Richard. He had written down the titles of several books about interesting taxidermy that he said I should definitely not spend money on, but check out from my local library!

Nevermore!

After the fam "Oh Mom'd" and eye-rolled me out the door of the library, I hurried them up the street for our timed entry into our next stop, The Philadelphia Museum of Art! As I was explaining the significance of the steps in the movie Rocky, I subsequently thought that I should've made them watch Rocky,  I thought I heard my name. Lots of Sarahs in the world....But, then I heard it again. I turned and SHUT THE FRONT DOOR, there was my friend, Sybil and her beautiful babies, Rehm and Ella from Marietta! Sybil and I work together at The Walker School where she is the amazing art teacher. Rehm and Ella are actually amazing young adults now, but will always be first graders in my head. I talked Sybil's face off because:

A. She doesn't currently hate me for forced museum visits and 

B. Is the first friend I've seen in 6 days! 

I heard all about her amazing road trip with her kids while John watered the grumpy Bullingtons. By the time we finished our chat, my family was super stoked about going to look at art on Opposite Day. I couldn't convince anyone to run up the length of the the magnificent steps and victory dance at the top in the style of Rocky. Oh well. Maybe next time.....

World just got smaller! 

I see you looking! 

Thomas trying to explain that this is actually a Meme, not art......

See the Nation! 

Come on, Man! One run up the steps for posterity??

 

We finished off our day with some delicious Mexican Food from El Vez, cue the Blood Orange Margaritas!   John and the kids spent the remainder of the night watching the Philadelphia Men in Blue trying to curb the appetite for dirt bike racing in the streets. We'd watch the Police set up a sting and then get hoodwinked by groups of youths on dirt bikes who would all go in different directions and speed up the street at 90 miles an hour running red lights and sending pedestrians jumping out of the way. I figure that risky behavior will work itself out, Darwin said so.