For me, road trips are the comfort food of travel. Growing up this was the only way we traveled. Now, despite faster, cheaper options, every year we prefer a few of these. We go to Pittsburgh often to visit my mom, but instead of flying, we’ll drive. With road trips there is ample time to decompress, we make a few Cracker Barrel stops, wind our way through the hills of West Virginia, stopping in the cities up and down the 95 corridor. Unlike planes, where you are surrounded by people, the car provides a great quiet, private context for hours of conversation.
Thursday we drove to Charlotte, North Carolina and had a long relaxing dinner at the Brio Tuscan Grill. It’s become a bit of a tradition to stop there for the night.
On Friday we went the rest of the way to Pittsburgh. Found a couple of Tim Hortons tucked away in the West Virginia hills. Best surprise ever! Had a couple of Old Fashioned Plains and a triple triple, a little taste of Canada.
Had a nice long visit with my mom and her sister. After a long hospital stay plus rehab, my mom is happy to be home. We three kids weren’t sure if this was the best decision due to her decreased mobility, but seeing her dog and her garden confirmed for me that it was the right decision.
Saturday morning we tried the Square Cafe, one of my brother’s favorite breakfast places.
My brother met us at my mom’s place and had a nice long visit until she was ready for her nap. We did our annual tomato planting, which makes my mom incredibly happy. She can’t manage that part of gardening anymore.
After mom’s early bedtime, we went out with my brother–always great company. When he’s visiting he likes to stay at the Ace Liberty Hotel, a former YMCA, now a funky chic urban hotel. My brother’s room had a guitar and complimentary condoms in the mini bar. This was my favorite photo of the trip that my brother took–the old YMCA gym with a glass of whiskey and an old Rockem Sockem Robot from when we were kids. It’s not his screen saver.
While we were eating in the restaurant I commented on the huge church across the street. My brother surprised me, telling me that my mom and dad were married there. And so it was. We were in the neighborhood where my parents met and got married. I was born not too far away in McKeesport. My roots. We walked around the church to Millies to get ice cream and I was wondering which of these streets my parents walked.
My sister arrived on Sunday in time for us to get a photo of my mom and her three kids. I can’t remember the last time the four of us were together. We managed to overlap for a couple of hours before my brother went to the airport, we got on the road, and my sister went to the Penguin’s playoff game with her daughter. But we got the photo and some rare time together with my mom.
Celebrating 93!
We drove to DC to see friends from college and stay overnight. We went out for Ethiopian food, like we did when we came to visit when she first moved to DC in the 80s. Now our kids are in college are at the age when we became friends. We sat in the gazebo in their backyard with a lovely swirl of hard cider, reminiscing, politics, catching up about kids, family, common friends.
In Savannah Georgia we stayed in the Hotel Indigo in the Historic District. The lounge and restaurant area were open, a mix of the modern and historic. It was pouring rain as we ran across the street to the The Chart House happy hour. The restaurant was right on the river and we watched a river boat go by and then walked in the historic district. Got home in time for Cali’s awards banquet that evening. Great little getaway.
