So, I’m finally doing my follow-up post about our trip to Pittsburgh to meet (ex?) blogger Dave and his awesome pup-son, Cooper (aka “The Coop.”) I wanted to wait to post about it because, the day we left, David got sick (Boo! Hiss!) and I didn’t feel like posting about the great trip we had until he was out of the woods and back on his feet, which he is (Hooray!)

To elaborate on what I shared before,  we left on Thursday, September 1, around 12:30 pm, and arrived about 8:30 pm.  Dave met us the first night and took us to the Shiloh Grille on Shiloh Street, on Mount Washington, a cool little bar and grill with an outdoor deck that  looks out over Shiloh Street, perfect for people watching or checking out a great view of the city.  We had a bite to eat and a cocktail (of course), then walked to a nearby “pod” (a round cement overlook) with an amazing view of downtown Pittsburgh.

The Amazing view of downtown Pittsburgh

Dave dropped us off at the hotel and headed home, and we stopped off in the hotel lounge for a nightcap before heading to bed.

The next day, (Friday) Dave met us at the hotel and took us to the out to the West End Overlook for another (albeit daytime) breathtaking view of Pittsburgh.

See? Breath gone.

Pittsburgh Pals: Dave, me and Jeffrey

After that, we headed out to breakfast (Dave’s treat) in the Strip, a cool indoor/outdoor market place & shopping district, at a fun little 50’s era style diner called Pamela’s Diner:

Breakfast Buddies: Me and Dave

After breakfast, we did a little stroll and some light shopping on the Strip, before heading to our next destination: Station Square, a 52-acre indoor and outdoor shopping and entertainment complex located in the South Shore neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

Bet you didn’t realize I know how to fence.

Then we did the Duck Tour of the city. Our tour guide was very animated and charming and put on quite a show. We all had a great time.

This was our Duck-Mobile

This was our view from the river

This was Dave looking at porn on the Duck Boat and missing the view (*kidding*)

After the tour, we took the Duquesne Incline up the mountainside, where we did some more sight seeing and I marveled at the cool and unique house facades.

Looking up the Incline from the station at the base of the mountain.

View from the top of the Lift

View Heading down

Dave and I Rocking our Cool Sneaks on our walking tour

After the walking tour, we were all pretty pooped (cuz we’re all old) so Dave dropped us off at the hotel for some R&R before heading out that night. While back in our room, I was looking around for nearby comic shops (of course) and discovered one less than a mile away from our hotel, so of COURSE we had to run and check it out. I MAY have found and purchased a few items while there.

This not-so-bad-to-look-at shop staff person (owner?) ringing up my purchases

This is a $200.00 statue I got for $50.00 because of the crack in Hal (Green Lantern) Jordan’s wrist. What a deal/steal.

After that, we returned to the room to nap a bit before freshening up and heading out to dinner with Dave at a nearby P.F.  Chang’s in Settlers Ridge Mall. Then Dave took us to the Blue Moon Bar  in Lawrenceville, a bar at which he used to Bar-tend, for karaoke and cocktails. When we got there, Dave introduced me to his super-cool bartender friend, “Wolf” who collects super hero and sci fi statues and toys.

Super cool (and cute) Wolf doing his thing. In between slinging drinks, he showed me pieces from his awesome collection.  Color me jealous (and a bit smitten).

Apparently, Dave got a chuckle at the fact that, while I did not dare take the stage, I was having my only little dance and sing-along in the corner while others performed.

Look at us, out past 7:30 pm, at a Bar no less.

We closed the bar down and didn’t get home until about 1:30 am.

Sunday, Dave scooped us up and showed us literally every other corner of Pittsburgh we had not yet explored. First stop on our tour, was the  Toonseum! (I know, you’re all shocked I wanted to go there.)

Entrance to the Toonseum!

Me, doing ma thang, sketching a picture of the Human Torch to add to the wall of sketches by other visitors.

Not my best work, but it was a quick sketch with markers, so cut me some slack!

Dave standing, perilously, under a giant Anvil, purchased at Acme, no doubt.

As we walked by, I grabbed this shot of the August Wilson Center / African American Cultural Center. Love this skin tone display on the front.

Then we checked out the Andy Warhol Museum. No surprise that this was one of my favorite collections there:

Then we walked down to the North Shore Riverfront Park, where we were once again in awe of the fantastic views. I really loved this water feature, despite my finger photo-bombing this shot:

I also loved this view:

We wandered around a bit more before jumping back in the car. Then Dave surprised me by taking me to the biggest comic book store I’ve ever been to in my life:

I refuse to admit how much I spent there, but I basically got half the books I found for free, thanks to a kick-ass sale for bulk shoppers, so I left in euphoric comic haze (that still hasn’t completely worn off, to be honest.)

But, perhaps the most exciting moment of the weekend, next to meeting Dave happened right after this comic excursion…..

…I got to finally meet the one and only Cooper!

 

Sorry most of these are blurry, but The Coop was a little ball of adorable non-stop energy and it was hard to get a good shot of him standing still. Needless to say, I fell in love with him instantly and it broke my heart to say good-bye to him.

We ended the day with dinner at a near-by Bar-B-Q place before saying our good-byes and heading back to the hotel for an early bedtime so we could depart for home in the wee hours of the next morning. It was an awesome trip, and so incredible to finally meet David and Cooper. I really hope it’s not the last time we see Dave, the Coop, or Pittsburgh.