A Weekend in Pittsburgh
This past weekend, I visited my little sister for the first time in her Pennsylvania home. Long story short - John and I loved it. Not only because my little sister is one of the funniest, nicest, and most fun people you will ever meet; but having her show us around her phenomenal city was such a joy! Pittsburgh: I may not be a fan of any of your sports teams, but I am a fan of you!
Without any further ado, let me introduce you to our Weekend In Pittsburgh.
Friday
The start of the weekend was great.. if a little sleep deprived. We drove down to Pennsylvania after work on Thursday, arriving in the wee hours of the morning. So when it was time to start the day after a half-night’s sleep, coffee was needed. Enter: Moonbeam Cafe in Oakmont. This cafe was the epitome of the word vibes. Their almond milk latte was phenomenal, the artwork adorable, the baristas hilarious and so sweet, and the gut friendly brownie was delicious. They even host local businesses on the weekends (you bet I bought a whole new outfit from Straightline Boutique), and if I lived in my sister’s neighborhood, I’d be here every day.
After work, we were brought to the Duquesne Incline, a century old cable car that takes you from river-side to the top! The cable cars are the original wooden ones from 1877, and at the top you can watch the machinery operate! The view at the top of the incline was stunning, and it was such a fun little Pittsburgh thing to do.
Once we watched the sun start to set from the top of the incline, we went to dinner at the Industry Public House and WOW. First off, the ‘burgh-ers’ were phenomenal, but the star of the show was their fries. I don’t know if it was because we were hungry, but wow. These were some of the best fries I’ve ever had, so if you find yourself in Lawrenceville - give it a try!
Saturday
My sister wanted to show us her favorite part of Pittsburgh on our full day there, starting with Pamela’s Diner, her favorite ‘out to breakfast’ spot, which boasts “the best breakfast in Pittsburgh since 1980” - and I fully support their claim! I ordered the same thing has she (since she’s been there far more than I have) - the Pittsburgh Hash, and it was out of this world. It’s a giant plate of 2 eggs (over easy for me), and hash of kielbasa, potaotes & sauerkraut topped with swiss cheese. I ate nearly all of mine, and was so satisfied I wasn’t hungry until dinner!
Next up, she wanted to walk us down The Strip (her favorite part of the city), which is a collection of cool shops. My favorites were:
Roxanne’s Dried Flowers - I wish I could hire their decorators and also own everything in the store. It was stunning, and I could without a doubt see why it’s her favorite shop to go to!
Pennsylvania Macaroni Company - mamma mia. This is an italian imports shop; and I am not joking when I say we bought four huge things of pasta (one of which we’ve already tried and it was phenomenal). I was so tempted to buy olive oil too and some of the fresh cheeses… but I smartly did not grab a basket because I would’ve spent all day there and bought the store.
Pittsburgh Popcorn Company - I basically dragged my sister into here since she was talking it up so much; and the three of us absolutely demolished a bag of kettle corn when we got home! We also grabbed the Peanut Butter Cup ‘corn and…wow.
de Fer - before we left the strip, I definitely wanted another iced latte, so my sister took us to one of her favs: de Fer! Their almond milk latte was amazing; and next time I am absolutely giving one of their cocktails a try!
On to my favorite part of the day: The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Holy. Cow. I love Zoos to begin with, but this zoo in particular was such an amazing one! The aquarium is part of it (two for one!), and there’s so many amazing animals there. We even went during the Asian Lantern Festival, and the decor (while they weren’t lit up during the day) was so interesting and cool to look at!
After walking around for the most part of the day, my husband requested a beer, so my sister took us to Church Brew Works. This brewery was so cool - it’s built inside of an old church, with the altar & glass stained windows all still there! Some of the pews even remain and serve as benches for tables. Even though my sister and I both don’t drink beer, we had plenty of options between wine and cocktails - and the beer drinker of the three of us said the ones he tried were delicious as well!
Sunday
Before driving back home, my sister wanted to be sure we went to the infamous Oakmont Bakery. We got their signature pepperoni roll, some macaron cookies (the almond and pumpkin ones were my favorite!), and breakfast sandwiches - all of which were really tasty.
The bakery was giant, and the line super long despite being pretty early in the day! If you find yourself in Oakmont, I deifnitely recommend picking yorueslf up something sweet.
Are y’all planning on traveling anytime soon? If you are - consider Pittsburgh, and let me know in the comments below! And as always, feel free to follow along for all of the fun (and to see my must haves from the sale) on instagram by following @sarah.kowalchuk.
xx, Sarah
