After a very stressful and busy two weeks at home, we were more than ready to leave Ohio behind and head to Pittsburgh on Saturday May 20. We got up and got ready quickly and were pulling out of the park around 10:30. We stopped off for food and gas just before crossing into Pennsylvania and arrived at Smith Grove Campground around 3:00 without any major issues. We had encountered some CRAZY rough roads around Akron and there were a few messes to clean up in the house (and several cats to comfort) but nothing too bad. It did take us several tries to get lined up in our spot due to some really uneven ground and some freshly laid gravel but we finally got it figured out and were able to level the house and get hooked up.
We drove into the town of Butler to grab some dinner and explore. We had found a decently reviewed restaurant on Yelp called Anna Marie’s Winery and Cafe that was only about 15 minutes away. I had the Grilled Steak Salad and a glass of Moscato and John enjoyed an order of Chicken Parmesan. The food was pretty good and the wine was delicious. After dinner we headed into the downtown area and took a stroll around some of the local businesses. Many had closed for the evening but we did stop in a great comic shop called New Dimension Comics to fill in some of my Firefly comic collection.
On Sunday, we spent the morning lounging around the house then decided to explore Pittsburgh for the afternoon. We got to drive through TWO tunnels (I love tunnels and bridges) and cross a few bridges on our way to the West End Overlook Park. We walked up a pathway covered by a beautiful trellis and came out to a gorgeous view of the city. John flew his drone and we got some great photos of Pittsburgh.
We decided to treat ourselves to lunch at Primanti Bro.’s in the Strip District. We got a Sweet Sausage sandwich and a Roast Beef sandwich to share. We also had to order one of their cocktails – the Duck Duck Juice (banana and raspberry liqueur, coconut rum, and more) – which came with a little rubber duck floating on top. After lunch we walked through some local shops before calling it quits for the day and heading back home for naps and relaxing.
Before we started travelling, neither of us were super into birds. John has always wanted one as a pet but hasn’t really had much interest outside of that and I am honestly a little afraid of them. Once we hit the road, I have definitely taken more of an interest in birdwatching and enjoying all of the plant and animal life around us. Because of this newfound love of birds, we decided to visit the National Aviary on Thursday – which happens to be located in Pittsburgh!
We did a little research ahead of time and found that the National Aviary offers a few animal encounter opportunities. If you know us AT ALL, you probably know that we enjoy animal encounters as often as we possibly can. We had a hard time choosing but ultimately decided on the Owl Encounter. We booked earlier this week and John took a half day so we could go. We got there around 12:30 so we had about an hour to kill so we spent a little time checking out some of the exhibits on the way to the meeting place for the experience. We also spent about an hour walking around after the encounter, too. The exhibit spaces include Canary’s Call, Condor Court, Eagle Hall, Grasslands, Penguin Point, Tropical Rainforest, and Wetlands. We got to see some really beautiful birds and were even splashed in the face by a mischievous penguin named Bettie.
At 1:30, we met with a staff member for our Owl Encounter! We were taken to an igloo shaped tent outside along with 2 other guests and were given a wonderful presentation about birds of prey and owls specifically. We learned that if humans had proportional eyes to owls, our eyeballs would be the size of softballs! We also got to touch some owl feathers – they are so incredibly soft! The softness and the fringed edges mean that when the owl flies, it is much quieter than other birds-it hardly makes any noise at all! This “stealth flight mode” along with their amazing camouflage helps owls to get the drop on prey!
After the educational presentation, we got to meet our owl! Cedar is an 8 year old Eastern Screech Owl who was found as a baby and was had raised by his rescuer, who wanted to keep him as a pet. While they did mean well, there are laws prohibiting keeping owls as pets and he was eventually surrendered and ended up at the National Aviary where he enjoys top notch care and serves as an ambassador for his species. He is absolutely adored by everyone he meets.
We all took turns wearing leather gloves and having Cedar’s handler place him on our arms. He was so light that you barely even noticed that he was there. We would have definitely felt his presence if it weren’t for the special gloves, though, as his claws were super sharp and looked terrifying. He was very calm and curious and just sat there casually examining us and the rest of the room. When our turn was up, the handler coaxed him back to her using small bits of meat (mouse, we were told) and would then hand him off to the next person. The whole experience was so fun and the staff did a great job of educating us about owls and making sure that we all had plenty of time to spend with our new friend and that we got tons of great photos.
After leaving the Aviary, we had a nice lunch at Bae Bae’s Kitchen – Tempura Veggies, Korean Fried Chicken and Beef Bulgogi before heading home to review over 700 photos that we had taken that day and spend time loving on Harley.
On Saturday, we got up early and decided to visit the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium. It was about a 45 minute drive to the zoo from our park and, by the time we got ready and grabbed some breakfast, we were pulling into the park around 10:00am. It was a little busy already but I think we managed to beat most of the crowds by getting there about half an hour after they opened. We waited in line for just a few minutes for our tickets (half price thanks to our Nashville Zoo Membership!) and were quickly on our way.
The entrance to the zoo is at the bottom of the hill but the zoo is at the top so the first thing guests experience after getting their tickets is a very tall, very steep escalator that takes you to the top of the hill. They do have the option of an elevator for guests in wheelchairs or strollers or they also have a hiking path to the top if you like long walks up steep hills. We opted for the escalator. We also got to walk through a pretty cool tunnel once we got to the top of the hill. I am a sucker for cool bridges and tunnels.
The zoo itself was okay – not a huge selection of animals but the habitats were nicely done. We stopped to watch an educational program and were shocked to learn that the zoo is 125 years old! With the help of a few animal visitors we learned some neat facts about owls, snakes, and tortoises. We also got to see exhibits for rhinos, giraffes, several different primate species, leopards, elephants, sea lions and more!
We also really enjoyed the aquarium portion of the zoo. The building looked a little newer and more up to date than most of the rest of the park and they had a variety of aquatic life from several different environments.
Over all, we spent 3-4 hours at the zoo before coming back to the park to put Harley out and cook some dinner. We have eaten out a few times this week but have really enjoyed being home in the evenings to actually cook dinner. While we were in Ohio we didn’t really have time (or access to water) to do a lot of cooking at home and we were getting really sick of eating out. This week we enjoyed some shrimp and broccoli foil packets, the best tasting and easiest to make meatloaf, bratwurst (although trying to find a place to buy beer to boil them in was a NIGHTMARE), and some delicious salads with grilled chicken. We are also looking forward to grilling a TON over Memorial Day Weekend.
We have had a blast for our first week in Pittsburgh and are looking forward to our second week. We have some exciting (and slightly nerdy) things planned and some activities around the park to look forward to as well! Join us next week for the rest of our time in Pennsylvania.
