Pittsburgh, Gettysburg, PA, Antietam, MD
Oct 19-24, 2024
Saturday, Oct 19
Weather: Mid 70s, sunny perfect!
Travel Day
Easy travel day to Pittsburgh. We arrived mid-afternoon, checked into our hotel (Doubletree - airport) and walked to Primanti Brothers for a late lunch. Primanti's is famous for putting fries on top of salads and sandwiches. We split a Cajun Chicken sandwich and a chicken salad (both topped with fries!). Tasty taste of Pittsburgh!
Easy evening at the hotel. Watched an amazing documentary, "Octopus My Teacher", where a human and octopus created a special bond. Highly recommended. Then we watched the Tom Hanks WWII movie Greyhound. Also good.
Sunday, Oct 20
Weather: Sunny, mid 70s, perfect fall day! Fall colors peaking.
Breakfast - Eggs N-at
Walked down the street to a hole in the wall diner (Eggs N-at) for breakfast. Unfortunately, the tiny kitchen was too much for the Sunday crowd and service was very slow. Food was not great. Oh well.
Point Place State Park - Heritage Trail
Point Place State Park is where the Ohio river splits into the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers downstream (three rivers). Best place in Pittsburgh! We spent the day walking parts of the 33 mile Heritage trail system along the Allegheny section. Awesome!
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Black Flowers Art Work on the Heritage Trail
Heritage Trail Continued and Steelers Fans
We continued our walk along the Allegheny crossing over to the North side stopping at a Police Officer Memorial and a WWII memorial.
Both PNC stadium (where the Pirates play) and Acrishure Stadium (where the Steelers play) are right on the river. The Steelers where at home for a Sunday night game and the place was buzzing with Steelers fans 6 hours before game time! We spent some time hanging around the stadium enjoying the fun atmosphere and after beers and hot dogs we headed back to Point State Park. In the evening it was fun watching the Steelers beat the Jets on Sunday Night Football!
Monday, Oct 21
WeatherSunny, 70s, perfect fall day!
Slept in, breakfast was just yogurt in the room.
Carnegie Science Center
We spent a couple of hours in the Carnegie Science Center back in the three rivers area. Some fun robots, a Village and Miniature Railroad "which opened in 1954 in Buhl Planetarium, features hundreds of wonderfully realistic animated scenes that illustrate the Pittsburgh region’s rich and diverse history up until 1940. New models are added annually to the village", some space displays (hubble, space station, others) and I particularly liked the interactive "bodily sounds" display! Well done and we enjoyed our time there.
USS Requin SS 481 Submarine
The museum also docked the USS Requin Submarine which we toured. A Picket Radar Class submarine commissioned just before the end of WWII and was crewed by 10 officers and 70-95 enlisted men. Tight quarters!
Heinz History Center
We took the subway three stops and walked a few blocks through downtown Pittsburgh to the Heinz History Center. The museum was OK, we skipped the section on Heinz Ketchup and Kathryn enjoyed driving the bus!
Walked back through downtown, caught the subway back to the three rivers area and walked to dinner at
Burgatory next to the Steelers stadium. Had a beer and very tasty burgers.
Another good day in Pittsburgh.
Tuesday, Oct 22
Weather: Sunny, 70s, perfect fall day!
Antietam National Battlefield
We drove from Pittsburgh to Sharpsburg, MD passing through West Virginia and up and over the low mountains. The fall colors
were peaking so the drive was really nice (about 200 miles). Stopped in the small town of Sharpsburg (wasn't expecting a tiny town of only
600 with no gas station and only one open tavern for lunch). We had an OK lunch at Benders Tavern which has been open since 1936!
We then did the driving tour with ten stops along the battle (tons of monuments). The final being the cemetery. Very emotional.
You can read about the battle here: Battle of Antietam Wikipedia.
After the battlefield we drove about an hour to Gettysburg, PA again through mountains and fall foliage, very pretty.
For dinner we went just a couple of miles from our hotel to the Appalachian Brewing Comapny. Unfortunately, we ran smack into their Halloween Parade, streets
closed, tons of traffic and pedestrians, took 30 minutes to get to the restaurant very near the parade. The restaurant was super busy but,
worked out for the best as we opted for a picnic table out back on a beautiful warm fall evening. We both had Bowls that were very tasty.
A good but also sad day.
Wednesday, Oct 23
Weather: Same!
Gettysburg National Military Park
"The Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered the most important engagement of the American Civil War. After a great victory over Union forces at Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee marched his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania in late June 1863. On July 1, the advancing Confederates clashed with the Union’s Army of the Potomac, commanded by General George G. Meade, at the crossroads town of Gettysburg. The next day saw even heavier fighting, as the Confederates attacked the Federals on both left and right. On July 3, Lee ordered an attack by fewer than 15,000 troops on the enemy’s center at Cemetery Ridge. The assault, known as “Pickett’s Charge,” managed to pierce the Union lines but eventually failed at the cost of thousands of rebel casualties. Lee was forced to withdraw his battered army toward Virginia on July 4. The Union had won in a major turning point, stopping Lee’s invasion of the North. It inspired Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” which became one of the most famous speeches of all time." Excerpt from history.com where you can read more about the Battle of Gettysburg.
Arriving at the visitor center we watched a very good film on the three day battle (a turning point in the war). After, we experienced the Gettysburg Cyclorama Painting a one of a kind.
Next we joined a Ranger talk on "Little Round Top". She did an excellent job bringing that battle to life.
Finally, we did the driving tour with 16 stops on the battlefield with tons of monuments honoring all the various troops involved with the final stop at the Gettysburg National Cemetery.
After Gettysburg we made the 200 mile drive back to Pittsburgh staying at the same airport Doubletree we stayed in prior. More fall colors and a beautiful drive.
Thursday, Oct 24
Weather Same!
Travel Day
Noon flight, easy.
Home Sweet Home!