I ended up in Pittsburgh by accident. I was on A-days and had preferenced a TO, and when the automated call from crew scheduling came, it started by saying I had been awarded my preference. I was super excited, and then it said I was going to Pittsburgh. What?? Plus, the three-day trip was going to start late and end late each day. WHAT??? I didn’t preference anything of the sort! I am a morning person, and absolutely do not like days that end close to midnight, regardless of the fact that they don’t start until the afternoon. Give me a 3:30 a.m. wake up call and checking into the hotel before dinner any day.
Well, I still have no idea what kind of computer glitch happened, but the trip actually ended up being a lot of fun! I still didn’t like the late report and late release, but I never would have thought that Pittsburgh would be such a cool city if I hadn’t had this trip. Now it’s on Jeff’s and my ever growing list for a weekend getaway.
We arrived late in the evening but our pickup wasn’t until about 4:00 the next day which gave me time to check it out a bit. After Googling “top things to do in Pittsburgh” (and reminding myself I couldn’t do everything so I needed to limit myself to one or two things), I settled on the Duquesne Incline and the Strip District.
The Duquesne Incline opened in 1877 and was voted by USA Today as one of the top ten sites in the world for viewing a cityscape. It’s a funicular railway that uses wooden cable cars with a 794 foot long track that gains 400 feet of elevation at a 30.5 degree grade.
It closed in 1962 because it needed major repairs and the private owner didn’t want to deal with it. But the local residents were so upset that they launched a hugely successful fundraiser, and it opened up again the following year – this time operated by a non-profit organization.
I absolutely loved the editorial cartoons from when the incline reopened in 1963:
I didn’t expect to spend so much time at the top, but there was a very interesting museum there about the history of Pittsburgh and the incline. The views from the top were fantastic – you can see 8 bridges and the three rivers – and there was also an area where you could watch the machinery that drives the railway.
Honestly, I’d go back to Pittsburgh just to ride the incline again!
After that fun, I headed over to the Strip District, which is 1/2 mile long along the Allegheny River. The district has many produce stands, international markets, and restaurants, and I had a great time browsing and snacking – pepperoni rolls were a particular favorite!
So Pittsburgh was a lesson for me that just because a trip might not seem so great on the surface, it doesn’t mean that it won’t ultimately end up being a good time. The city deserved more than the few hours that I could give it, so Jeff and I will absolutely be returning at some point in the fall.
Nothing goes to windward . . . 