Well, what to say for our last full day in the USA? Well, as per any other day it started off by getting up in the morning. Jess had already gone to work so Mary, Mike and myself took ourselves down to The Strip where we had breakfast/brunch at Primanti Bros (also here and here). Now, it has been said that Primanti's is a Pittsburgh institution and I am quite prepared to believe this. The reason? The food is large (well, it is the USA) and it is cheap - horrendously so, even for the USA. How do they achieve this "much cheapness"? Well, for one thing there are no knives and forks - all they serve is sandwiches. Big ones mind you, so just make sure you can dislocate your jaw in order to eat them. Second reason for the cheapness is that they don't have any plates. "Sandwiches with no plates?" I hear you ask. Yea, for all they do is put the sandwich on a couple of sheets of waxed paper. Simple, really. Just wonder why they don't have places like this back home. Oh, for your information I had a Bockwurst & Cheese, Mary had a Cheese Combination and Mike had Jumbo Fish...or, in McDonald's parlance, Filet o' Fish. Not healthy, but filling.
Then we took ourselves off to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Can't remember much of my Andrew Carnegie history but he was a steel man in Pittsburgh and was, by all accounts, very generous with his money when it came to philanthropy and stuff - just take a look here. Also, consider that he originally came from Dunfermline in Scotland. Anyhow, we paid our money and went in. All I can say is that a lot of museums in the UK could learn a hell of a lot about displaying things in an interesting way by coming to this place and taking a look around. We spent 2-1/2 - 3 hours in there and only covered 1-1/2 of the four floors. Dinosaur Hall, African Hall, North American Hall aswell as displays about the geology of Pennsylvania and a rather large display of minerals. Pics are to follow. The main thing? A Tyranosaurus Rex. But not just any old T-Rex. Oh no - this one is the Holotype. Apparently what that means is that this one speciman is that one from which the description of the wee beasty itself was written. Good, eh? Oh, and musn't forget to mention the Architecture Hall - full of full-size casts of frontages of olde buildings. Now, if only Lord Elgin had though of that...
After leaving the Museum (and going back in to try and locate my supposedly lost passport - it was eventually found in the car!!) we met Jess back at her house (avoiding a landslip on the way there) and then travelled in convoy to meet her parents for a meal. We were supposed to meet them at 1730 but what with traffic (and Metallica playing at the Mellon Arena) it took about 45 minutes longer. But we got there eventually. Great people to be around. Food and drinks were had (ASW: sirloin steak sandwich, MFGU: Italian Hoagie) and then Mike, Mary and I had to split and get back to Columbus.
Got back at about 2315 and packed for tomorrow, 23/09/04 (or today, as I am typing) - a lot easier than packing at the other end, mainly due to learning how to pack for international travel. Due to fly from Columbus to Philadelphia at 1722 and from Philadelphia to Manchester, UK at 2015, arriving 0815, 24/09/04.
We've had a great time thus far and are sorry to be leaving. In fact, getting quite emotional about it...:-( But we'll see if we can put a line in the 'blog on 24/09/04 to let you know how things are.
Oh, and John, I'll see if I can get that photo I promised you...but no promises - depends on time available.
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