2011 Christmas Vacation, Day 3: Pittsburgh, PA

The final day of our trip was the drive home from Wheeling, WV by way of Pittsburgh, PA. We had a three hour tour of Pittsburgh, but unfortunately it was raining, so we didn't get very many decent pictures of the city's sites.

By the time we stopped for lunch, the rain had stopped. Our best photographs are of the area where we spent our afternoon, PPG Place. Resembling a castle, PPG Place is a series of six buildings that are easily the most beautiful modern buildings in the city.

Pictured: tree and skating rink at PPG Place

Pictured: gingerbread house display at PPG Place
One of the PPG buildings had a food court, so that's where we headed for our lunch. It was very crowded, so we went for a vendor that didn't have a super long line. Jay and I both ended up having pizza from Sbarro. As usual, Jay's pizza had a lot of meat, and mine was a white pizza with fresh tomatoes.

Pictured: white pizza with spinach and tomatoes
After lunch, we went to a different PPG building in the complex. The Wintergarden was decorated for the holidays with a huge tree, a train display with more gingerbread houses and the annual "Spirits of Giving Around The World" exhibit. The exhibit consists of life sized figures representing the spirit of the holidays in various countries throughout the world.

Pictured: figure of St Stephen (Ireland)

Pictured: tree with train and gingerbread houses display
Jay and I tried walking around outside a little, but it was cold and very windy, so all we did was walk around the building before coming back inside. I'd love to visit the city again when it's warmer and more dry. I always imagined Pittsburgh being a dirty, run down city, but it's actually a lot nicer than I expected. It's a very culturally diverse city with many interesting places to explore.

The rest of our drive home was fairly relaxing. We watched a DVD of Elf on the bus before stopping at Bob Evans in Carlisle, PA for supper. I was still feeling fairly full from lunch, so I had a small cup of beef vegetable soup for supper. It was a welcome change from the buffet suppers of the previous two days.

This was the second bus trip Jay and I took with Transbridge in 2011. I have to say that I enjoy traveling with them very much. Their prices are reasonable, they have great tour guides and drivers, the tours are well planned and, while they seem geared toward an older traveler, they have enough activity to keep younger travelers well occupied. I hope to go on another one of their trips in 2012.

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Fall Foliage Festival, Jim Thorpe PA

Hubby and I went to Jim Thorpe on Saturday to see the fall foliage festival. It's being held every weekend in October. It was a nice opportunity to walk around the town, visit the shops, ride the train and see all the vendors in the farmers market.

The weather was perfect. It was cool enough to need a light jacket, breezy but not too windy, and slightly overcast. No one needed to worry about sunburn.

The farmers market was pretty typical of the kind of vendors we've seen at other farmers markets. Only one stand actually sold farm products. In the afternoon, Jay and I bought bought a cookie bar to snack on while waiting for our train ride.

Because we got to Jim Thorpe so early in the morning (in order to get a parking space), we had time to walk around town and look at all the shops and restaurants lining the streets. We didn't go into any of the shops, but we did have breakfast at the Bear Appetite Cafe.

After eating, we walked up the big hill to the Asa Packer Mansion. It wasn't open for tours when we got there, so we walked around the grounds until we could get into the mansion. Asa Packer made his millions as a railroad man and founded Lehigh University. His home was richly decorated with a lot of hand carved mahogany wood and beautiful chandeliers.

Right next to Asa Packer's mansion is the home of his son, Harry Packer. The Harry Packer Mansion is now a bed and breakfast hotel that holds murder mystery weekends. It's very fitting given that the Harry Packer Mansion was used as part of the inspiration for the design of the exterior of the Haunted Mansion in DisneyWorld.

By 1pm, we were ready to rest ourselves on a relaxing train ride. We boarded the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway train. We passed by many people enjoying the biking trail through the state park, as well as people in canoes and kayaks in the Lehigh River.

The fall foliage was very pretty, although we didn't see much of the bright reds we usually have at this time of year. Perhaps the rain and warmer temperatures had an affect on the coloring. Still, seeing the mountains full of beautifully colored trees was an awesome sight to behold. No one puts on a show that can top Mother Nature.

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Peddler's Village, Lahaska PA

I went on a day trip to the New Hope-Lahaska, PA area with my best friend on Thursday. It's been many years since I've been there, so I was looking forward to it quite a lot. I wasn't disappointed. The main attraction for me was visiting Peddlar's Village.

Peddler's Village is a series of specialty shops featuring all kinds of merchandise including clothing, jewelry, gourmet food items, kitchenware and so much more. Anyone who has ever been to Old Mystic Seaport in Connecticut will notice the similarity between the two, although I find Peddler's Village much more upscale.

Not only did the shops have their holiday items on display, but the village did, too. Outdoors was decorated for fall and Halloween, and we even saw workers beginning to put up lights on the trees and bushes for Christmas.

The lure of the coffeehouse was strong for me, especially when we went inside and saw the old coffee roaster and smelled the delicious aroma of the various coffees. We didn't end up buying anything there, mainly because we were still very full from our lunch at the Cock 'n Bull Restaurant.

I was going to post some pictures of the inside of the restaurant, but my photos didn't do justice to the place. Instead, I'd suggest looking at the linked website's pictures. It was such a warm and inviting space. I'll share pictures of our meals, which were both very tasty. I had a turkey sandwich and my friend had a burger.

Pictured: grilled turkey sandwich (turkey breast, caramelized onion and Brie on a grilled brioche bread), dill pickle and steamed broccoli and carrots

Pictured: applewood smoked bacon burger (longhorn cheddar cheese, red onion, green leaf lettuce, horseradish mayo and Applewood bacon) and french fries

The only thing that could have made lunch even nicer would have been being able to enjoy it outside in the gazebo on a warm sunny day. Maybe next time we'll buy our coffee at The Coffee House and enjoy it in the gazebo (along with a dessert from the Town Crier Bakery.

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Shady Maple, East Earl PA

Hubby and I went to Shady Maple this weekend. His sister said the smorgasbord there was amazing, so we thought we'd check it out while we were in the area buying aquarium supplies. I also wanted to see the Farm Market, which is part of the Shady Maple complex of buildings.

Pictured: outside of the Farm Market

Pictured: Menonnite buggy

Pictured: smorgasbord, cafe and gift shop

Pictured: my lunch (roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, beans, carrots, apple sausage, meat loaf)
The food was good, but I expected more Pennsylvania Dutch food, since the area is known for that. I had a second plate of food (one small piece of roast turkey breast, a spoonful of filling and one piece of strawberry bread) before having a couple spoonfuls of three kinds of pudding and a small piece of red velvet cake. I ate a lot of food, but I took the smallest portions I could find. I actually ate relatively little compared to what I saw other people eating. I try not to take "All-You-Can-Eat Buffet" as a challenge.

After we left Shady Maple, we stopped at another farmers market, Village Farm Market.

Pictured: outside of the Village Farm Market
This was just a tiny market, but it had some wonderful looking baked goods. I brought home apple bread and rice krispie treats. It was a high calorie day for me, but fortunately I offset it by walking over 10,000 steps.

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Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square PA

Below are a few pictures taken by myself and my husband at Longwood Gardens. It was a beautiful day for a visit. The sky was overcast, which was a blessing since the day was very humid.

More pictures can be found here
If I didn't already know that I still need to lose 35-40 pounds, that last picture would convince me. Every time I start to feel good about myself and what I've achieved, I get a photographic reality check. It scares me to think about myself at my highest weight.

We ate at the restaurant within the gardens. I know I shouldn't have had the dessert with my half sandwich and milk, but I figured I'd be walking a lot. I did manage to record almost 13,000 steps for the day. Hopefully, that was enough to use up a lot of the extra calories.

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