🏒 The Amazing City of Pittsburgh: Part II 🐧

Hello, friends! I am back with my second post about our trip to Pittsburgh. (If you would like to read about day one on the South Side, look for my post entitled "The Amazing City of Pittsburgh: Part I.")

On Sunday morning we decided to go to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. I wasn't sure how long it would take to go through, but since it was supposed to be a minimum 90 degree day, our aim was to get there as close to opening as possible. This way we could see everything and get back to the hotel to relax at a reasonable time. I am okay with zoos as long as the animals are well taken care of. However, our whole family LOVES aquariums. I didn't know how the PPG Aquarium would compare to the others I had been to (Baltimore Aquarium, Sydney Aquarium, Georgia Aquarium, smaller ones in San Diego and other places). All I knew is that we had heard a lot of good feedback from friends who had been there. This was enough to put it on our "must-see" list for our first visit to the 'Burgh.

When we arrived we could see that our idea to get there early was definitely a popular one. People everywhere! We went in and started out going with the flow of traffic toward the exhibits, then decided to make our own route, even if it was indirect. We stopped by the giant pachycephalosaurus for a photo op with the kids before entering the park, as you should. 😊

The Pittsburgh Zoo is split up into areas according to habitat. They have the Tropical Forest, African Savannah, The Islands, Forest Passage, and the Water's Edge. They also have areas dedicated to educating visitors about the animals housed there, as well as how to support conservation efforts that protect the creatures and their habitats. We didn't visit every one of these areas on our trip, but I will give you the highlights of the areas we did.

Besides the Aquarium, I would have to say that our favorite habitat was the African Savannah. The flamingos were on the way to those exhibits and were AJ's favorite animal there. Both of the kids were fascinated by the elephants, and the giraffes were in the same area as they were so that was a bonus. There had just been an elephant calf born there only a week or two before we got there but she wasn't on exhibit yet. We were still treated with a baby animal sighting, though: Cee was especially taken with the baby rhino who was shyly trailing after his mom the whole time.

There were a lot of other animals we saw (lions, jaguar, Galapagos tortoise, beaver, barn owl, zebras, etc.) that we enjoyed seeing. However, we were really looking forward to seeing what their aquarium was like. We had no idea what to expect, and even if it was kind of lame our kids really would enjoy it anyway. Were we ever surprised when we walked in!

There were so many beautiful tanks full of gorgeous sea creatures throughout the building. It was unexpected, to say the least. We spent the majority of our time at the zoo in the aquarium. Part of that was because of how much we were enjoying the displays, and the other part of that was because it was air-conditioned. 😆 Although I could give you a play-by-play, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

The last picture of the penguins is one of my favorites. If you don't know, the Pittsburgh Penguins is a major league hockey team. Later that day the team was scheduled to be playing the final game of the Stanley Cup playoffs, which is the national hockey championship (the results of that later). This display of the flags was just showing who the penguins were cheering for, in case there was ever a question. 🐧

This is Cee demonstrating what it is like to be a polar bear being transported in this cage.

When we finally tore ourselves away from the aquarium we made our way past the polar bear, through the jungle habitat, past the red kangaroos, and into the Kids' Kingdom. It's a big playground with a seating area next to it. The kids played for half an hour while Tim and I took a quick break in the shade. We decided that we were getting hungry and would leave to find a place to eat. There was still a lot more we didn't see, but hopefully that will happen the next time we are in town.

We initially wanted noodles and thought about heading to a Pho place. Then in my searches I read about Robert Wholey and Co. Fish Market. Their reviews were varied, but it sounded like an interesting place and a long-standing Pittsburgh establishment, so we decided to go for it.

Being as it was a Sunday afternoon there were street vendors all over the place on Penn Avenue. We thought this was great, but it made navigating the roads pretty interesting. It was also tough to find a parking spot. Fortunately, we saw that Wholey's had their own separate parking lot right up the road from the market, which we found on our second go-round. Not too bad!

When we walked into the market you could tell there was seafood inside. We didn't know where to go to get food, so we walked around the store a bit until we found the seating area up a flight of steps in the back. After deciding what we wanted, Tim went to find where to order while I sat down at a table with the kids. They had framed posters on the walls of all kinds of fish, crabs, lobsters, and shrimp. This was fascinating to the kids and kept them busy for the twenty minutes we waited for Tim to come back with the food. I got crab cakes, AJ and Cee split an order of popcorn shrimp, and Tim got a po' boy. We enjoyed everything we got, we didn't over-order, and we still had leftovers to take back to the hotel. I would say that our experience there was a positive one.

From there we walked down the street toward one of the vendors we had seen on our way to the market. We wanted to get some Pittsburgh memorabilia, and their prices looked really good. We picked up a t-shirt each and a couple of hats, then turned back to make the drive back to the hotel. On our way through the streets we got stopped across the river in front of PNC Park, where we would be heading the next night for a Pirates game. Only a few minutes into the trip the kids were down for the count in the backseat.

The only reason I am continuing my post at this point is because of what happened for the town of Pittsburgh late on Sunday night. At that evening's hockey game the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Nashville Predators in the final minutes of the game to win the Stanley Cup. My best friend is a huge Penguins fan, and she said that there was a viewing party downtown near the arena since the game was being played in Nashville. If we had been less exhausted (and didn't have two young children in tow) we may have gone down to see the festivities that ensued, but instead watched them from the comfort of our hotel room. Even so, the city was electric with pride over the Pens' win the next day, which will be described in greater detail in my next post, and will talk about the conclusion of our trip to Pittsburgh. Until next time! 🤗👍

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