The More Things Change

Percy came into town this weekend.  He met me in Pittsburgh as our prayer at the abortion facility ended and we took on the town.  By which I mean we found the nearest Starbucks, as I was in desperate need of caffeine.  From Starbucks, we took a trip down to the Strip District.  (A strip of shops, restaurants, and vendors.)  The venture from Starbucks to the Strip District should not have been as adventurous as it was, but it turned into a battle of wits between Percy and his GPS app.  As it turns out, Percy knows how to get from point A to point B if you don't need to stay on roads.  When we could see our goal but no way to cut across the railroad tracks, he agreed to follow the GPS.  If we had been in an SUV commercial, we would not have had to do so.

The Strip District was filled with loud vendors, lively shoppers, and too many food smells for a hungry vegetarian to manage.  Also enough Steelers love to inspire fear in me, even if I were not already anti-Steelers.  Although I was overwhelmed, I am also a little in love and want to go back, grab a cup of coffee, and people-watch for hours.

From the Strip District, we visited Roberto Clemente outside of the ball park.  I'm still not quite sure why, but it was one of the things on Percy's list.  It turns out that his hand is the right height to rest on my head when I am standing straight.  Not sure what means, but it made me smile.

Next, we headed toward the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh, but a series of unfortunate traffic and constructions events led us instead off track on our way to St. Anthony's Chapel.  St. Anthony's holds the largest public collection of relics in the world and will receive its own post.  After St. Anthony's, we stopped by a parking garage where The Next Three Days was filmed to pay brief homage before trying again for the Cathedral of Learning.  This time we made it, but the cool rooms were closed.  So we went up to the top floors to enjoy the view.

Next, we strove for another awesome view -- riding the Incline up Mt Washington.  Once again, the roads were against us, and when we inadvertently ended up on the other side of the mountains, we just headed back to Steubes.  With only a few minor detours, we succeeded in making it to the Festival of Praise and then out to dessert with a mutual Steuby friend.

The day ended, in true Percy form: an awkward conversation with Shelly that resulted in mutual good feeling between them and an inability to deal with the hilarity of the moment on my part.