So I posted on Friday that Liz and I were headed to Pittsburgh for the weekend for an playoff game between my beloved Penguins and the New York Rangers. The game was on Sunday afternoon but we decided that we would drive down Saturday and spend the evening in Pittsburgh. Here is our tale.
We woke up Saturday morning with plans to meet up with Shaun at our favorite local diner for breakfast. We did but actually didn't meet up with him until after 11am. It was good as always, and is always a place we take out of towners who want to do breakfast. The food is good and really cheap.
After breakfast we set out on the road. We left Rochester around 1pm or so. We drove for a couple of hours and made a bathroom/snack stop at the Wegmans in Erie. I have driven through this area before and know where some things are, so I knew Wegman's would be a good rest stop for us. What I hadn't noticed before are the number of gold painted vehicles in this area. It seemed as we looked around the parking lot that more than half of the vehicles were painted gold color. It caused us to point out gold colored vehicles throughout the rest of the trip.
We entered Wegmans to get some snacks. Liz is a huge fan of their half moon cookies so we picked some of those up and I lamented the fact that they sell ultimate chocolate brownies that they sell for $5 that are relatively small and do not seem worth it. I too decided on half moon cookies. We went to the chip aisle and snagged some chips. Liz selected some BBQ Fritos and I decided to get the Troyer Farms Kettle Cooked Buffalo Wing Potato Chips. I had never purchased these chips before so I had no idea what they would be like. To do them justice though I need to describe the packaging. On the front of the package is a plate of chicken wings, with a bowl of bleu cheese, and pieces of celery dipped into the bleu cheeese. So by that picture I would guess that they are trying to give you an idea that these chips taste like the full Buffalo Wing experience. Well guess what? They don't. Upon opening the bag we dsicovered that while they do smell like Buffalo Wings, however they actually do not taste like buffalo sauce or bleu cheese. They curiously enough taste like celery.
So after the stop in Erie we start heading south to Pittsburgh. The skies open up and boy does it pour. It rained almost the entire way from Erie to Pittsburgh and was a heavy rain at that. We finally arrive to our hotel, park in the garage across the street, and check into our swank hotel, the William Penn Omni ( http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/PittsburghWilliamPenn.aspx ). We lucked out in that we were able to book this hotel for much less through Hotwire than what the normal rates are. It's a nice place and we'd definitely use it again if we choose to return. It's very close to the arena.
So we get all settled into our room and decide that we want to go somewhere to eat. We check with the concierge for some place casual that might have a good beer selection and he suggests a microbrewery. The place is called Church Beer Works ( http://www.churchbrew.com/ ) and it is interesting to say the least. They took an old church kept some of the fixtures and such and made it into a restaurant and brewery. The food was great, their beer was great, and walked away with a few souvenirs. Unfortunately we did not bring the camera with us, but we will if we return.
Sunday was the day of the game. We slept in until 9am when the father and daughter team next door decided to wake us up by being way too loud for their own good. Thankfully they left soon thereafter, but the damage was done. We got up showered, packed up our stuff and checked out of the hotel. We loaded the luggage into the car and headed towards the arena for the game. We stopped off at a restaurant where tons of other Pens fans were eating and had lunch. It was tasty and a good meal prior to the game.
We went to the game and it was great. Our seats were good, even though Liz didn't like the heights. I'll spare you the details but the Pens won in overtime and we were happy. A guy next to us hugged us. There were high fives from people we didn't know. They won the series and will face the Flyers in the next round. Game one is on Friday and I will probably preview that series on Friday. We headed home around 6pm, stopped in Erie for gas and Steak and Shake, and made it home by 11pm. We gave Shaun a tshirt and pint glass from the brewery thanking him for watching the house. We made it to bed within an hour and fell asleep fast.
After breakfast we set out on the road. We left Rochester around 1pm or so. We drove for a couple of hours and made a bathroom/snack stop at the Wegmans in Erie. I have driven through this area before and know where some things are, so I knew Wegman's would be a good rest stop for us. What I hadn't noticed before are the number of gold painted vehicles in this area. It seemed as we looked around the parking lot that more than half of the vehicles were painted gold color. It caused us to point out gold colored vehicles throughout the rest of the trip.
We entered Wegmans to get some snacks. Liz is a huge fan of their half moon cookies so we picked some of those up and I lamented the fact that they sell ultimate chocolate brownies that they sell for $5 that are relatively small and do not seem worth it. I too decided on half moon cookies. We went to the chip aisle and snagged some chips. Liz selected some BBQ Fritos and I decided to get the Troyer Farms Kettle Cooked Buffalo Wing Potato Chips. I had never purchased these chips before so I had no idea what they would be like. To do them justice though I need to describe the packaging. On the front of the package is a plate of chicken wings, with a bowl of bleu cheese, and pieces of celery dipped into the bleu cheeese. So by that picture I would guess that they are trying to give you an idea that these chips taste like the full Buffalo Wing experience. Well guess what? They don't. Upon opening the bag we dsicovered that while they do smell like Buffalo Wings, however they actually do not taste like buffalo sauce or bleu cheese. They curiously enough taste like celery.
So after the stop in Erie we start heading south to Pittsburgh. The skies open up and boy does it pour. It rained almost the entire way from Erie to Pittsburgh and was a heavy rain at that. We finally arrive to our hotel, park in the garage across the street, and check into our swank hotel, the William Penn Omni ( http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/PittsburghWilliamPenn.aspx ). We lucked out in that we were able to book this hotel for much less through Hotwire than what the normal rates are. It's a nice place and we'd definitely use it again if we choose to return. It's very close to the arena.
So we get all settled into our room and decide that we want to go somewhere to eat. We check with the concierge for some place casual that might have a good beer selection and he suggests a microbrewery. The place is called Church Beer Works ( http://www.churchbrew.com/ ) and it is interesting to say the least. They took an old church kept some of the fixtures and such and made it into a restaurant and brewery. The food was great, their beer was great, and walked away with a few souvenirs. Unfortunately we did not bring the camera with us, but we will if we return.
Sunday was the day of the game. We slept in until 9am when the father and daughter team next door decided to wake us up by being way too loud for their own good. Thankfully they left soon thereafter, but the damage was done. We got up showered, packed up our stuff and checked out of the hotel. We loaded the luggage into the car and headed towards the arena for the game. We stopped off at a restaurant where tons of other Pens fans were eating and had lunch. It was tasty and a good meal prior to the game.
We went to the game and it was great. Our seats were good, even though Liz didn't like the heights. I'll spare you the details but the Pens won in overtime and we were happy. A guy next to us hugged us. There were high fives from people we didn't know. They won the series and will face the Flyers in the next round. Game one is on Friday and I will probably preview that series on Friday. We headed home around 6pm, stopped in Erie for gas and Steak and Shake, and made it home by 11pm. We gave Shaun a tshirt and pint glass from the brewery thanking him for watching the house. We made it to bed within an hour and fell asleep fast.
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment