My wife and I figured we would go to the Strip District in Pittsburgh this week as part of our anniversary celebration since it was one of the first places we had a “date”. I used my spiffy new printer and plotted a course for us and off we went. Less than ½ mile from our apartment I realized I had forgotten the directions. It was like the scene at the start of Harold and Kumar as I pondered going back that looooong way. I said screw it and told my wife we could find it on our own. Famous last words I suppose. We both knew it was near the shore line so we thought it would be easy. It would of been easier if the city had only one river but with 3 rivers and therefore 6 shores….the odds were not in our favor. We drove in circles for almost 2 hours slowly winding down the possibilities. We had finally spotted one of two signs in ALL of downtown that tell you where the fuck this place is. We thought we were home free. Then as we were trying to find a parking lot for the day we made a right turn and all of a sudden we are back on another goddamn bridge headed back to another shore. It felt like there were either 20 or so bridges downtown or there were a few mystical ones like the staircases in the Harry Potter series. Each time we turned around we were crossing over yet another steel structure over yet another body of water. There really is no city like Pittsburgh and everyone not living in Pittsburgh is so thankful for that.
The good thing about this adventure is I am pretty sure we got to see about 90% of downtown on our way to our destination. I finally got to drive near PNC Park and Heinz Field. Bother seemed neat and maybe in the future I’ll get inside them. We got the driving tour of the University of Pittsburgh. I’m not sure what degrees of classes they offer but on orientation day each and every student should be strapped down Clockwork Orange style and watch a video about crossing the street and yielding to cars. Common sense needs to be a part of their academic program. I also now know where Blush night club is and the next time I want to visit the strip in Pittsburgh I think I’ll get more satisfaction out of the club than I did the district.
The actual visit to The Strip wasn’t as eventful as the journey to it but we still had a good time. We ate at Enrico’s and it was a great little place off the main road a bit where we enjoyed a fine meal….once the waitress remembered to bring us forks. I met an old man who loved to talk about coffee. The sad part of that was that he talked about coffee while trying to eat a very messy sandwich. At what point do you stop being attentive and just scream at him to shut the fuck up and chew? The strip was far less epic than I remembered it. Back in college it seemed like their was some great market every few feet. This time I felt as if I was missing a side street full of cool shops. I also realize while in culinary school my mind was all about cooking and creating therefore the area left a bigger impression. These days I still enjoy cooking but after doing it as a job for so long the shops remind me how much of a chore cooking at home can be. I still enjoy creating but I’d rather head into Monroeville to McGinnis Sisters to shop than fight poor traffic patterns and iPod wearing college zombies.
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