We've All Been There

It was a very action packed week, between my road trip, a very important purchase, and the wedding of the season, I have plenty of blog worthy material for the next few days.

I love checking out ball parks. I haven't been to a ton but every time I add a new one to the list, I feel very accomplished. When my friends and I discovered that the Dodgers would be in Pittsburgh to play the Pirates it became very clear that a road trip was in order. We also determined that we would make a detour and visit the famous Falling Water by Frank Lloyd Wright. I took my work cell phone with me so that I could do some work on the way.

Every road trip must have a theme song. You may remember from my trip to Cooperstown that Party in the USA was the big song. But Miley is so 2009. Everybody knows that what is really in right now is the one and only Justin Bieber.


We headed out at about 6:00 AM and with a short pit stop at the world's classiest McDonald's for breakfast and then we were off to FW.  Throughout the drive we played the hypothetical game. I'm sure most of you have played some variation, you set up a scenario, give options and find out what people think. For some reason most of our scenarios revolved around a reality show contestant named Liz, who is very emotional and likes to cry. It seemed that regardless of the scenario Liz always ended up being the choice. Joe gave me full control of the iPod, and I DJ'd the whole way. It became apparent quite early on that Bieber would be playing a big role in our trip.

 

Falling Water. I took this picture.

Falling Water was absolutely amazing. I have been intrigued by this place since Mrs. Klepfer taught about it in my seventh grade art class. Although it was built in the 1930's for the Kaufman family it has a very 1960's feel. It seems like the kind of place Don Draper would have vacationed it. Wright focused on organic architecture so it is built right into the rocks. Unfortunately you can't take pictures in the house but it is breathtaking. All four of us shook our heads at the level of genius that Wright displayed in his design. The only architect I know that can match Wright's prowess is Brian Barker*

Scott, Dan, Joe, Peter. (Not shown Justin Bieber, Liz)

We had a very knowledgable tour guide who showed us the house. I of course made an offer to buy the house but they didn't take me up on it. It was a truly a tremendous sight and highly recommend seeing it. In fact I'd like to go back in the winter time to see what it is like then.

Once we left FW we headed for the Steel City, none other than Pittsburgh.  We had been blessed with perfect weather and it seemed like a beautiful day for a ball game. We were all impressed by the new stadium. Although the Pirates have had something like 18 consecutive losing seasons the Franchise itself has a storied history, and many of the game's greats including Honus Wagner and Roberto Clemente were Pirates.

I was hungry again so I had a hot dog and soft serve ice cream in a miniature Pirates helmet. The game was a blow out as the Dodgers got a lot of timely hits and ended up winning 8-2. By the fifth inning or so it started to sprinkle and that lasted for the rest of the game. We moved up to higher seats (that's a first) so we would be covered. I tried valiantly to get on the jumbo tron but there were no cameras pointing in our direction. Joe blamed himself for preventing us from getting on because of his Dodger's hat. Nevertheless I really enjoyed PNC park and would love to see the Angels play there sometime.

A Honus Wagner baseball card can be worth $1,000,000. A Wally Joyner rookie card is priceless.

Before I left  DC I emailed my friend Anna who is a Pittsburgh native. I asked for a list of places to eat at. She suggested Primanti's and Joe had heared that it was delicous as well. Even though I was still full from the game we headed over.

 

I hadn't heard of it before, but it was so delicious. We ordered the steak sandwich. It came with tomato, cole slaw, and french fries on it. In fact I wish I was eating one right now. The only regret I have about eating there was the fact that by the time we made our last stop for dessert, I was completely full.

  Nom Nom

After lunch we only had a rough idea of what we wanted to see. Then in what can only be described as a little miracle we happened upon a Japanese Animation convention. Holy Cow it was amazing. Just the nerdiest bunch of people, and yet they were so happy to be there, and that made me happy for them. I like it when people find there niche. Unlike the baseball game where we were denied access to areas we were not supposed to be in, we had very little trouble sneaking passed security here. We definitely looked like fish out water as we had no tails, masks, gun swords, and yet we were asked whether or not we needed to "reg"  register or if we were pre-registered "pre reg". After about ten minutes we kept asking other attendees if they were "reg" or "pre-reg". We found this beyond entertaining and spent the rest of our trip trying to answer that question (that is when we weren't listening to Justin Bieber.)

 

HA DO KEN!

If that wasn't enough we headed to the Incline, which is an old trolley car that takes you up a steep hill and has a great view of the City.

The weather wasn't great for the rest of the day so we were less inclined to walk around the city. We drove by the universities downtown, stopped for some delicious desserts which I was mostly too full to consume and then headed back to Washington. We listened to one of my favorite Bill Simmons podcasts with Adam Corolla. Adam talked about what he likes in movies, and how he always enjoys a scene where government types come looking for the star, and when the star asks "Why me?" the government type answers "Because you're the best." Needless to say we added that one to the rotation, as well as "You don't have to." which is replied with "Yes, I do." This accompanied by several more rounds of One Less Lonely Girl and the approval of a tool booth operator got us home despite rain the whole way.

We got home around midnight and it was a very long, but very satisfying  day. I'm thankful to have a job that allows me to have the flexibility to take fun trips like this and friends who have the same adventurous spirit. Now I am trying to finalize my plan for memorial day, home for Bronte's baptism in June, a trip to Seattle, and maybe an Angels game in Chicago. It should be a great summer.
 
*He's also the only architect I know period.