Visit with Keith III and Merrie

We had not seen Keith and Merrie for a while, so we wanted to get together over the Summer of '24. Well, time got away from us and we finally planned a trip for September. With them in witness protection, somewhere in Ohio (not Springfield), and us in central PA and central MD, Pittsburgh seemed like an ideal location to meet in. They headed east and Tom, Lynne, Meme, and Abigail headed west.

We all rolled in on Friday to our "AirBNB" courtesy of Yaya and Judgy. We had dinner at 9 PM! LOL. Meme had made meatloaf and vegetables, and found some sourdough bread at her favorite market, Oak Grove. We capped the evening with games of Uzzle and phase ten. Then we all snuggled into our beds, Keith and Merrie on the pull out couch and the rest us in two full size beds.

The next morning was naturally pancakes, and we indulged in gluten full and gluten free selections with pumpkin, chocolate chips, and blueberries in the mix.

After breakfast our adventures began.  The obvious first step was a breathtaking ride on the historic Duquesne Incline built in 1877. Looking down on the city, reading the history, and watching the machinery in operation kept us mesmerized (at least Tom was mesmerized) for a while, and then we headed down to start a little walk.

There was a great pedestrian path across the Fort Pitt Bridge. From the center of the bridge, you could see the three mighty rivers, the arriving Allegheny and Monongahela, and the departing Ohio. Fort Pitt park, Three Rivers Stadium, The Science Center, the Pirates baseball stadium, and much of the city spread out in front of us. At one point a barge passed under the bridge and under me. The temptation to test my ability to jump to the barge was hard to resist, but no.  On the other side, we found our way to Fort Pitt Park, walking around the historic foundations of the French fort, and considered the merits of jumping into the fountain that marked the juncture of the three rivers, but decided against it.

We had two goals in front of us. We needed lunch and we wanted extra virgin olive oil from the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company. So we began walking along the Allegheny riverwalk, taking in the art along the way. Eventually, we found our way to Emporio: A Meatball Joint where we enjoyed pork, beef, turkey, and chicken meatballs. YUM. After the rest and nourishment, it was time to continue our pilgrimage. We would all walk over two miles from the incline to the oil and there found a number of cute shops which we walked through before succumbing to the draw of a Lyft rather than a walk back to our car.

Dinner at the house was followed by games, Carcassonne and Uno No Mercy. Carcassonne was more of a methodical, thinking, strategy game which challenged us all. In the end Merrie won but it was very close. If Abigail had gotten the one right tile at the very end, she would have creamed everyone, but it was not to be. Uno No Mercy saw its share of pain, joy, and betrayal as spouses ejected each other from the game. It was a lot of fun, and by the last game we were all tired from a long, fun day and collapsed into bed.

Sunday morning we woke up refreshed and gulped down scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, and leftovers. After feverishly cleaning and packing, we headed off to the Carnegie science center. We played Legos, experienced an earthquake, learned about our human bodies (in  particular flatulating) and water, and finally toured a Cold War diesel submarine.

Finally though, two pm came and it was time to start our journeys back home. Hugs, prayers, and good wishes were exchanged and a great weekend was behind us and we had turned time into great memories.