While visiting in Ohio, we wanted to find something to do that would be fun for Andrew and his cousin Mikey. We decided spend an afternoon in Pittsburgh and go to the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. Some may say that going to the zoo in the winter is a silly idea. We figured there would be no crowd and besides, there was an aquarium.
The drive to the zoo was more exciting than planned. Once again, the GPS had good intentions, but missed a critical turn right after crossing the Allegheny River. OK, to be fair, I am the one who missed the turn, but I didn’t see it listed on the display. Thankfully, Mom was able to get us back on the right path.
There weren’t a lot of animals outside. We saw a Snow Leopard, a Tiger, and a pair of Lions. The elephants were inside and I don’t know where they hid the Bears and Giraffes. It was pretty cold, so we quickly moved from one area to the next. It was good to get into the Tropical Forest display.
Another thing that was missing was the food establishments. It was past lunchtime and we were all hungry. When we finally found one open, it turned out to be packed.
After lunch, we visited the Aquarium. The Aquarium was new since the last time I visited the zoo and it was very nice. I thought the Ray tank was pretty cool. It had a small opening at either side for kids to crawl through and under the tank. I think Andrew and Mikey had more fun playing near the rocks than looking at the fish.
Next came the Water’s Edge. This was also new since my last visit. This was home to the Polar Bear and the Sharks. The Polar Bear put on quite a show while entertaining himself with an old buoy. To our amazement, the display also contained an underwater section that included a large tube below the pools. We were directly below the bear as it jumped off the rocks into the water. It is completely mind boggling how huge those bears are! I certainly wouldn’t want to have one of them chasing after me.
The Shark tank was equally amazing. We were surrounded by about a half dozen Sharks, gliding by just inches away on the other side of the glass.
Back outside, we spent some time watching the Sea Lions play in their pool. I took a few pictures of Andrew in the nice afternoon light.
After the zoo, we drove through town and headed for the inclines. At first, we drove up to Grandview Avenue, overlooking the city, to ride the Monongahela Incline. The price for parking was too confusing, so we drove back down to Station Square. From there, we found the incline and got in line. Kelly decided to back out at the last minute and Susan stayed with her as the rest of us took to ride up and back. The boys really enjoyed it.
Finally, we were back on the road, headed for dinner at Aunt Patty’s. On the way, we called ahead to DiCarlo’s Pizza to fulfill a promise to Aunt Cathy and Uncle Dave. It is a long standing truth that anyone arriving in Florida from Ohio must bring along some “suitcase pizza”. We have been on the receiving end of this tradition several times. Now it was our turn to deliver.
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2 comments:
It is a nice Zoo. Unfortunately it is too far for me,You shoul check out one day the Myrtle Beach Aquarium. We saw it several tears ago. It was impressive.---Just an interesting interjection, and nationalistic bragging about Budapest,Hungary. We also have an incline,(beside the Metro subway), cograil train, chairlift, and a narrow gauge railway.--- Beside that I like PGH. because this was the first place I lived in the US, for 8 years at that.
I'll have to check out the Myrtle Beach Aquarium some day. Budapest sounds very interesting... why didn't you show us any of these things when we visited??
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