Sunday morning (e:paul) and I got up and walked around Pittsburgh for a bit before heading to the Phipps Botanical Garden with my family. Their building was very similar to Buffalo's but much better layout. Paul says they were all designed by the same person. It was located in the fancy, Delaware Park style neighborhood near U Pitt. It looks amazing for hiking and oogling rich people's mansions so we'll have to do that next time.

After that we stopped at Whole Foods for lunch. I was very underwhelmed compared to the one in University Heights, OH, although the peanut butter dessert we had was amazing.

We headed home after that. I actually managed to drive for most of it - I think it's a new record for me. Paul and I talked about the Radical Faeries and pretty much everything on the way home.

I can't wait to go back to Pittsburgh, with (e:terry) too next time.



The Harvard-Yale-Princeton Club. So fancy.





The tiniest little buildings squeezed by skyscrapers.


A lot of new buildings going up

The Omni Statler hotel we stayed at

An ugly/cool retro/futuristic looking skyscraper.











T-Rex got game

After dinner (e:paul) and I checked into out Hotel at the William Penn Omni. I tried to get my sister Mary to come back and come out with us but she wouldn't have it. The hotel was this crazy fancy old Statler hotel downtown, and we got it for only $80 instead of the normal $320. We figured out how the Priceline "name your price" tool worked, and got a price we wanted at the hotel Paul wanted to stay at. Sometimes cheapness pays off. (e:paul,58824) wrote more about the hotel here.

We were going to go out early, but Paul was feeling blah from dinner so we watched TV while his stomach settled. We watched ameuter wrestling for way too long.

Pittsburgh had a huge amount of places open downtown. We settled on Real Luck Cafe, or Lucky's. It was like a bigger better version of Cathode. The music was cheesy but fun, the crown was way more diverse, and everyone was singing, dancing together and having a good time. There was an upstairs bar that had three naked men flopping around on it. I wonder if the bartenders ever get sick of it? Only downside to the bar was that it closed by two and everyone smoked there. I felt like I was getting cancer just by dancing.

Since it was early Paul and I spent the rest of the night touring downtown Pittsburgh. All their buildings are dense, tall, and stone. It felt way more impressive and less like a ghosttown compared to Buffalo although there weren't that many people out walking. I guess when Carnegie and Rockefeller build your city it turns out pretty nice. We finished the night at this fun, shady store.


This drag queen was pacing up and down the street and kept setting off a car alarm. I guess we were just walking back and forth too

No lake but the rivers seem nice





Every side of downtown had a totally different view - it's hard to capture how much there was

The downstairs bar - seemed fun and had cheap drinks, too bad about the smoking

If you squint hard enough you can almost see the outline of a butt

Secret entrance to the underground club





Hotties kissing

At the Carson Street Rita's, (e:paul) and I went with my family and Emily's friend Laura for water ice, a flavor ice type thing. Although they were out of the Swedish Fish flavor today. Paul and I split a black cherry water ice with vanilla custard.

I went to go pay for the water ice and the cashier handed us these cards and told us that it already had been taken care of. Someone from the Pittsburgh Kindness Initiative covered the bill for a bunch of people. Ridiculous, but awesome. We're supposed to take the cards and pay it forward. I wonder how we should?

After Mickey's reading, (e:paul) (e:terry), (e:flacidness) and I headed over to the rave at the Wastelands
The place was set up pretty cool, possibly an old bank vault? The music was decent and so was the dacing but the smoke was terrible. I don't know how people smoke.

We got a little crazy but especially Terry. It made it a crazy good time. We went to bed about 4 when Paul and I were supposed to leave for Pittsburgh the next day at 10.

(e:paul) and I drove down to Pittsburgh this morning to meet with my family for Emily's birthday . We started at Duquesne to pick her up. It was 50 and sunny unlike Buffalo. Her campus has a crazy amazing view over Pittsburgh on the highest hill downtown. Her dorm was brand new and ridiculously nice.

We went out to dinner at the Pittsburgh Steak Company. I had an alright vegetable wrap. You'd have to ask someone else if the steak was any good though.

After we went down Carson Street to Ritas Water Ice. Its similar to Elmwood except way more yuppified and a lot nicer looking. Most of the buildings are brick too. Pittsburgh seems cooler than Buffalo right now, but the grass is always greener right?