Road Trip: Day One

Ah, nothing like a Sister Road Trip! The National Recycling Congress was in Pittsburgh this year - a GREAT excuse for a road trip! Our plan for day one was to leave Columbia and make it to Morgantown, West Virginia, where we planned to meet our friends Carol and HR Scott for whatever meal worked best.

It took us longer than we thought to get ready and get out of town. We were both busy the week before the trip, so we packed and prepared pretty last minute. But finally we were ready to leave.

Beth discovered AAA travel services many roadtrips ago, and while it may sound geeky, they provide great Trip Tiks and travel guides. Trip Tiks are Map Quest-like directions with local info. As you can see, Sister was ready again this time!

As always on roadtrips, Sister navigates, and I drive. She always offers to help with the driving, but you other Type-A personalities know how important it is to be behind the wheel!

We love to stop along the way and goof off. Here we are at the Virginia Welcome Center with Thomas Jefferson.

Tunnels! We traveled through several between Columbia and Pittsburgh, and they were cool. Every time we went through one, I thought of Princess Diana and how awful it must've been with the paparazzi chasing her and Dodi down in the Paris tunnel.


Here's just one of the beautiful views in West Virginia, which is one of the most beautiful states I've ever visited.


We stopped for a quick dinner and found ourselves on Hank Williams Sr. Memorial Road. You know we had to stop for a picture! This is Sister's best "air guitar" stance, but I told her she looked more like an arthritic Hank Williams' Sr.


We finally made it to Morgantown, a bit later than we expected. When we checked in our motel around 10:30 p.m., there was an Indian man wearing pajamas and slippers sitting in the lobby. We think he was the owner, but weren't sure. I should've gotten a picture, but I was just too tired.

Coming soon, Day Two, which includes Sarris Chocolates, Perry Como and the Pittsburgh Pirates!

Road Trip: Day Two

Morgantown in the morning!

After a restful night, Sister and I met Carol and H.R. for breakfast. We met them several years ago when I spoke at the West Virginia State Recycling Conference, and we've stayed in touch with them. They come through Columbia each January on an annual trip to Florida and stop by for dinner, so this time it was our turn.

Morgantown is the birthplace of Don Knotts, but you'd never know it! Our waiter at breakfast told us about a "star" downtown, so we drove in to find it. This was it. A small little star outside of the local theatre. That's it. Carol did show us a newspaper clipping about a festival held in July, and it mentioned something about a statue fund. I would think that would be the least they could do to honor Don Knotts!

On the way to Pittsburgh, we stopped in Canonsburg to visit Sarris Candies, which a co-worker recommended. It was like chocolate heaven. We bought a box for the office, but despite our best intentions, they didn't make it back to Columbia, thanks to an accident with our "cooler."

Turns out Canonsburg is the birthplace of Perry Como, a famous old singer. THEY did it right - unlike Morgantown - and had a SINGING statue of him.

We finally made it to Pittsburgh!

We only had a few mintues to check in, change and walk over to the Pirates game!

Road Trip: Day Two, Pirates Game

Once we checked in and freshened up, we hit the river walk to walk over to the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game! The stadium was only about a mile from the hotel, and it was a beautiful day for a walk and a baseball game!

On the way over, we saw these shoes on the river walk by the Convention Center. I bet there is a great story behind these shoes!

It was a great day for a game! Even though Houston beat the Pirates, we had a great time.

We walked back through town and came across this quirky park with really cool benches that looked like eyes!

After dinner in the Strip District, we turned in early. I had an early morning at the conference, and Sister had plenty of places to play while I conferenced.

Road Trip: Day Three

I spent the entire day at the conference, while Sister played!

Sister visited the South Side and shopped!! No pictures, believe it or not! Oh, except she did take these of paintings in the Obama headquarters. Thank you, Sister - I LOVE them.


That evening, we rode over to the Incline. We didn't actually ride the rail up the Incline, but drove it. (The thought of riding the rail left me feeling a little loopy.) We got these great pictures from the top.


Afterwards, we drove over to the South Side, and then ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe on the river. We ate outside, where there was a "dancing fountain" that changed according to the beat of the music.

After dinner, we walked the riverwalk. It was a nice, cool night - sweatshirt weather.

Road Trip: Day Four

Another full conference day for me, but a day of fun for Sister!

She spent the morning at the Heinz History Museum. And the afternoon at the Aviary. (Or maybe it was the other way around.) She did some great Heinz shopping and said the Aviary was one of the most relaxing times she's had in a while.

That evening, we went to dinner at Church Brew Works with Jane and Nick Hiller from Columbia. Jane is my partner-in-grime from Sonoco Recycling. It was a restaurant and microbrewery housed in a historic church. Very cool and yummy, too.