Before You Go, Blog, Experiences, Grab a Bite, PA, Uncategorized, USA

A Day in Pittsburgh with Mom & Dad

July 30, 2018 /

This past weekend, my parents flew in to PA from California. It was their first time coming to see me since I’d moved away from home, and I was so excited to show them everything our little part of Western PA had to offer. We spent the first part of our weekend showing them one of our local state parks, Moraine, and went out boating on Lake Arthur. It was a nice, sunny day but wasn’t too warm, so it was a perfect day to be out on the water. We had the girls with us that day as well, so they got a chance to spend a little time with them too.

We felt my parents deserved a nice, relaxing day out on the lake because we had a lot planned for our day out in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, like a lot of cities, has something for almost everyone, and with that being said, it’s just impossible to try and experience absolutely everything it has to offer in just one day. But, we certainly drug them around quite a bit and showed them as much as we could.

On the way there, we stopped to grab some pre-breakfast at Peace, Love and Little Donuts in Wexford. There’s a location in the strip district, which is actually the first one that was ever opened, and had I not had to go to the bathroom, we probably would have stopped there. But, nature called and so we stopped. But, you know what? I’m pretty certain that everything happens for a reason, and stopping at the Wexford shop just started the day right. The employees are always friendly when we go in and seem to really enjoy being there. This was our second time stopping in, and we were lucky enough to run into their store manager, Jamal.

Now, it should be said that Jamal is 100% the reason we are now the hugest fan of this location.

He started talking to us, and we ended up having a long conversation with him about his life growing up and how he has transformed into the man that he is today. One thing he said that really struck me – he tries with everyone he meets to leave them feeling like he was one of the kindest people that they’ve met. That’s quite a goal, especially in the customer service industry, but one that is worth achieving. And we certainly think he has. He was so sincere in his kindness to us, and we were so excited to be able to start the day that way with my parents.

From Peace, Love ad Little Donuts, we made our way into the Strip District of Pittsburgh. Sean had been dying to take me to Pamela’s Diner, but we had just never made it into the city in time. My parent’s are early birds though, so it was a piece of cake, even with our long stop in Wexford, to make it here before they closed. Pamela’s diner is open for breakfast and lunch seven days a week and quite the hot spot. We showed up on a Saturday morning around 10 am and there was a huge crowd standing around outside. Luckily, the wait wasn’t too bad and we were able to get a table in about 30 minutes.

Sean was a little bummed that we had stopped and ruined our sweet tooth ahead of time because Pamela’s is famous for their hot cakes. Apparently, while Barack Obama was running for President, he was taken here to eat. could have chosen anywhere in the city to take the future president of the United States, and he chose Pamela’s. Obama was so impressed with their hotcakes that when Michelle Obama threw her first brunch as First Lady, they flew the cooks out from the restaurant and had them make breakfast at the White House.

So of course, we didn’t have their hotcakes. LOL. But we did have something else their famous for: the lyonnaise potatoes. MMM. My mom and I did their greek omelette which had the potatoes on the side and oh myyyy gosh. They were so good. Sean and dad each got their churizo hash, another favorite, and we all left pretty much stuffed and happy.

After a breakfast like Pamela’s and some little donuts, we felt like we needed to walk it off a little bit. And what better place than the strip itself. We walked along past Wholey’s Market and managed to find ourselves at this chocoate shop that sells chocolate from all over the world.

Fun little fact: this seemed to be the theme for the day. Sean and I, of course, are big fans of traveling, and so when we planned our day in Pittsburgh with them, we planned to take them somewhere we could show them around the world so to speak. So, coming across this chocolate shop just fit right in.

They had chocolate that was made in Hawaii, where my mom had just recently visited. We saw the Butler’s chocolate from Ireland and different selections from Germany and Japan and France. They even have a whole section of organic and vegan options. If you’re a chocolate lover, this is the place to go.

Another of our favorite shops on the strip is Pennsylvania Libations. This store is really cool because all of the liquor they sell is made in Pennsylvania. And to top it off, you can sample absolutely anything in the store for free. Yes, free. They have a bartender towards the back that will make you drinks and provide you with samples of any thing they carry in the store. We had fun trying some of their limoncellos and learned that a nice citrus vodka with a squeeze of lemon is actually even better and leaves you without a hangover the next morning. We brought home a bottle of the Quantum Spirits Citrus Flavored Vodka.

From the strip, we took my parents to downtown Pittsburgh and showed them Nationality Rooms at the Cathedral of Learning. If you ever come here, we recommend skipping the rooms on the first floor and going straight up to the third floor instead. In our experience, the third floor rooms are just as cool, if not more, and they are completely free. We got to show my parents a little bit of India, Austria, Japan and more. Like I said earlier, we were really tying to show them the world. 🙂

While you’re here, we also recommend going up to the 35th floor. There’s a great view of the city from both windows up there. Just don’t look down if you’re like my mom and afraid of heights Ha!

We had some time before we felt like we would need to eat again, so we took them to the Phipp’s Conservatory to see the Botanical Gardens. This place was actually really cool, too. There are so many different rooms, all with their own themes and species of plants. One of my personal favorites was the butterfly room. There were so many flying around us, and they even have little glass cages where they hatch them. We watched one of the cocoons shaking back and forth for a while. I don’t know how long they take to hatch, but there was another girl there doing a time lapse of it on her phone, so I’m hoping for her sake it’s not too long .. lol

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

None of the rooms were as cool as the Cuba area though, in my opinion. That room made me instantly want to book a trip there soon. They had a car that you could sit in and take photos and a spot on the floor that you could teach yourself how to salsa with. Sean and I practiced quite a bit and had a blast dancing with each other in the middle of the room. Cuba also had some pretty waterfalls and tanks full of huge fish. It was such a relaxing environment, and I literally can’t wait to visit Cuba now.

After we left the gardens, we headed down towards Station Square and took them up the Monongahela Incline. We had my mom convinced that we were going to be climbing up Lol. So she was pleasantly surprised when the lift came down and we got in.

This was my first time riding the incline, too, and I feel like it’s just an absolute must for anybody who is visiting the city. You ride up and all of a sudden, you have this incredible view of the city buildings and the river. When you get off, you can walk along and stop at the different outlooks on Mt. Washington. It’s Sean’s personal opinion that that the third big outlook provides the best view. One of these days, we want to ride the incline up at night. Sean said he has never ridden it at sunset and would love to watch the sun go down from Mt. Washington.

We ended our time in Pittsburgh at the Hofbrauhaus. Sean and I had visited the one in Germany when we visited Munich last fall, so it was interesting to me to finally see what the Pittsburgh one was like. There was a lot of similarities between the two, but I definitely think that Munich’s is the best, and rightfully so. 🙂

We tried some of their flavored beers and really liked the blueberry stout. As for food, their broccoli and beer cheese soup was absolutely incredible and you can not die without trying it. Yes, it was that good lol.

It was so awesome to have my parents here, and to be able to show them where we live. It’s hard living so far apart, but perhaps it’s true that distance makes the heart grow fonder. ❤ We’ll be flying out in December to s California to see them again, and we just can’t wait 😊

If you’re planning a visit to Pittsburgh and in need of some more recommendations, check out our post on 2 days in PIttsburgh on a budget!

And if you’re looking for an awesome spot to take your pup, check out this local brewery!