We are ready to leave! And it is raining. The rented van is loaded, and here we go! We had to drive fast for 3.5 h to make it to the car return on a Saturday. The van proved to be more than enough to carry our gear. When we returned the van, we biked through downtown Pittsburgh all uphill to the hotel. There was a big country concert so there were an unusual number of women in daisy dukes and country boots walking around.
Pittsburgh is really coming around and becoming more beautiful and appealing. The buildings in the downtown are architecturally stunning, even the ugly ones. On a Saturday afternoon, the downtown was bustling with life: shows were starting, baseball game was on, concert was playing, and a jazz festival was starting at The Strip.
Point State Park, at the confluence of the three rivers, is now a destination with views of the football and baseball fields and a lot of life around the water. The very tip of the park is the designated start of the Great Allegheny Passage. Pittsburghers have now lots of trail miles for recreation.
We checked into the hotel, walked around a bit and headed to The Strip for dinner. Then back to the hotel in preparation of day 1 of the big biking adventure.
Beer of the day: Church Brew Works Thunderhop IPA.We did not have time to go to the church turned brewery; we reserve that visit to when Lori and Paul can join us.
Dinner: Seviche, at The Strip. Good food, slow service.