Smart Sunday

Sundays are great exploring days. Have you noticed? Sunday masquerades as a quiet, gentle day but pounces to land a doozie of a day at the most unsuspecting of times.

One April Sunday decided to revolt from Winter to bless Pittsburgh with a summer preview. Out came my new summer dress. On went the wedges. Off we went into Downtown.

My dress and I found ourselves before a massive building with staircases and intricate stonework. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, started by Mr. Andrew Carnegie in 1895, opens its doors to explorers of all ages and interests. We made our way to the museum after seeing an advertisement for an exhibit on human race and diversity but found ourselves swept away by the birds and polar bears.

We, unsuspecting visitors that we are, took our photos just in time...a grumpy native loomed, ready to attack!

Thankfully, he was busy being dead at the moment.  He was definitely ferocious up close. I found his companions to be much more welcoming.

Photobombed!

Even dinosaurs have a sense of humour.

All this exploration made my tummy rumble so we made our way out-of-doors. To our delight, we stumbled upon a park which led us to the most interesting little restaurant.

Conflict kitchen mixes food and politics creating food for thought outside of university campus walls. It's a little takeout place creating wonderful dishes from countries with which the United States is in conflict. Afghanistan, in honour of their recent elections, was the country of choice. The line for food stretched out along the pathway, giving me time for a few photos.

The food. Oh, the food. Aushak (according to the menu) consists of leek dumplings with ground beef, sauce, and yoghurt. I think it consisted of love and harmony.  

We enjoyed the first spring sun with the enthusiasm of a toad on a lily pad. All of this enthusiasm made us hungry again so our cravings took us to Fuel and Fuddle, a local beer and food shop. My handy app Foursquare told me that F&F has a unique pizza that I must try. 

Those reviewers know a thing or two about food because the smashed potato pizza was excellent. A beautiful pastry-like crust (the best I've ever had) created a scene of mashed potatoes mingling with rosemary chicken, cheddar cheese, applewood bacon, homemade ranch sauce, and fresh greens. This pizza alone will draw me back to the Oakland side of town.

Pittsburgh, the springtime looks good on you.

I can't wait to get to know you better.

New River Gorge Bridge

In honour of the continued American Government shutdown, let me tell you about the National Park I visited the day before it was closed.

(And let me just say that I'm very thankful to be Canadian today on Thanksgiving Day. Miss you Canada!)

The New River Gorge Bridge is located in West Virginia and is the world's longest single-arch steel span bridge. I've driven over this bridge multiple times on our journeys up and down the East Coast but never stopped to explore until Justin's dad suggested it.

The bridge is huge. It's 924m (3,030 ft) long and is 267m (876 ft) above the Kanawha (New) River (making it the third highest bridge in the US, preceded by the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado and the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge spanning between Arizona and Nevada...in case you wanted to know). The arch alone is 518m (1,700 ft). Beside its sheer size, the bridge is beautifully situated among a tree-filled gorge and a lovely river. I've heard the river is great for whitewater rafting...perhaps an adventure for next summer?

A few leaves had turned colour but the trees were still green. I imagined what the place must look like in a few weeks...then decided to let google image search show me.

The park had a trail leading partway down the gorge to give a better scale view. A few designated viewing spots along the trail included placards complete with fun facts, drawings, and history of the bridge. (Two Statues of Liberty and one Washington Memorial could fit underneath the arch!)

Photo via http://www.sasha-digiulian.com/blog/page/6

Happy Thanksgiving!

Great Allegheny Passage & Crawford's Cabin

Northeast America is beautiful in the fall. I'm beginning to understand why so many people hype up this season. (I still don't understand the obsession with pumpkin spice lattes and fall wreaths... some things can't be understood.)

Pennsylvania seems to be holding onto summer. The temperatures have been in the high 20s for the last few days. I'm told the weather will cool down tonight though I'm not holding my breath. I hope it stays warm. I love summer.

Because the weather has been so nice, Justin wanted me to visit an amazing bike trail in a town nearby. I'm not much of a biker but agreed to come along. The afternoon was warm but a light breeze kept the air fresh and breathable.

The Great Allegheny Passage is part of a series of bike paths connecting Washington D.C. with Pittsburgh. The GAP trail is 150 miles of the 334 mile trail that travels from Pennsylvania, partially into West Virginia, through Maryland into Washington D.C. The Allegheny Passage portion of trail used to be a railroad track but has since been repurposed into a multi-use public trail. The advantage of its history is that the ground is fairly level, flat, and clean, making it an easy trail to ride. I was thankful for history that day.

Rather than tackling the beast of a path, we took a casual ride a few miles down the path, took photos, and enjoyed the views.

Some cool murals lined the path, presumably painted by local artists. The bright, cheery colours beautified an otherwise nondescript section of pathway.

While on our ride, we passed the little cottage belonging to Col. Crawford. After a bit of digging, I found out that William Crawford was a land surveyor during the late 1700s for Gen. George Washington and fought in the French and Indian War as well as the American Revolutionary war. This cabin is a reconstructed version of Crawfords and is the site of a battle reenactment of the Major General Edward Braddock's crossing of the Youghiogheny River in 1755 (you're welcome, history people).
A beautiful bridge spans the river next to the cabin, geese hang out at an amazing historical site, and all the while the bike path continues on north to Pittsburgh.

Photo from connellsvillehistoricalsociety.com

I'm not much of a history person but walking around places that have such historical significance is pretty cool. It reminds me that so much has happened in the past, lots will happen in the future, but all I can control is today.

You can read more about the Great Allegheny Passage here, Col. Crawford's Cabin here, and General Braddock here.