We're leaving this morning for our annual anniversary extravaganza, but while Hank catches a quick nap, I'm going to give this trip a quick prelude. Instead of our more usual planes or trains, we're driving this time, so we can make a large northern loop, see some friends, and attend Hank's quarterly ER director's meeting in Ann Arbor. The trip that usually takes him less than an hour from Roanoke is going to take us three days, because we're stopping for a while in Pittsburgh. It's been about three years since we were last in
the former steel capital of Pennsylvania, but on that trip, among other things, Hank, John Mowder, and I broke into the Frick mansion and fondled the dishes before a docent caught us and politely, but firmly, directed us to a tour. I have been in love ever since. This photo, swiped from About.com, shows what you see when you pop out of the Mt. Washington tunnel. At night, it takes your breath away.
Pittsburgh has done a lot of things right. When it lost the steel business, it bulldozed the factories along the river and planted parks. It nourishes a bunch of colleges and universities. It has cherished its neighborhoods and its blue-collar roots. I'm looking forward to going back, maybe driving east to Fallingwater, and seeing John and Other John. Further bulletins as events warrant.
2 comments:
As a little kid, driving through that tunnel and seeing the city at the other end of it was pure magic. It was my favorite thing in the world. Today it is still pretty magical, and I still get all giddy going through the tunnel and having the city unfold before you like that. There's nothing like it.
There really isn't. The first time we did that, we both gasped out loud. I NEVER get tired of it.
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