Three trips down, three to go

This is how I felt last night. After work on Wednesday, we drove 4+ hours to Pittsburgh. We got to bed after 1:00 AM, and got up the next same morning at 4:45. Then we drove 30 minutes, waited in line for the metal detectors, and waited some more for a school bus that would take us to the U.S. Open.

I don’t follow professional golf closely, but because I live in the same house as J.P. I do know a lot of the players’ names and faces. So it was kind of cool to see them up close in their natural habitat. We saw Tiger and Phil and Villegas (pronounced Va-JAY-gas, but I usually refer to him as Vajayjay when I’m talking to J.P.), and some awesome golf shots. Even though I’m not a golfer, I do appreciate the good shots.

After our day of sun and wind, and after our dinner of barbecued ribs, I could hardly keep my eyes open. We got back to the hotel around 8:00, and I was asleep by a little after 9. I think the last time I was asleep before dark, I was probably about eight years old.

I can’t say I’ve ever thought of Pittsburgh as a vacation destination, but we took some time to explore it before heading home today and I was impressed. Maybe it helped to have low expectations, but we had trouble deciding which activities we should do. We ended up taking the Monongahela incline from the river up to the bluff above, where we had gorgeous views of the city. It seems like it would be a touristy thing, and there were several tourists on it. But was originally built for commuters and is run by the Port Authority. Here we are waiting for our return trip:

We don’t always wear matching clothes, but as Suzie pointed out (click the photo above and read her comment), it’s not exactly uncommon.

After our incline trip, we wanted to go to the Three Rivers Arts Festival. We had seen some information about it in the touristy mall, so I asked a clerk where it was. She said, “Oh, I think it’s Donn and Donn Tonn.” At least that’s what I thought she said, but I had no idea what (who?) Donn and Donn Tonn were, so I asked for clarification. She said it again, and I repeated it to try and get some clarification. Then she said, “Yes, DonnTonn, near 9th and Market.” Ohhhhh!! DOWNTOWN! I thought maybe she was foreign, but everything else she said was in unaccented English. And people say Minnesotans have accents!

So the art festival, it was good. No purchases and no photos, but I did get a freshly-made corn dog, and it may be the only one I get this year because I don’t think we’ll be in Minnesota during the State Fair.

I know it’s probably considered sacrilege for me to say this, but I think this trip was better than Disney World. And the best part? We still have two days of weekend before we have to go back to work!