For spring break this year, we initially did not have any plans since we have some pretty big trips coming up later in the year but we saw the Guardians were playing in Pittsburgh & decided to kick off spring break with a little road trip!
My husband took a half day of work on Friday so we can include some extra activities into our weekend. We left in the afternoon & since we had some time to kill before checking into our hotel, we headed to the National Aviary. A few of you recommended this & I’m glad we went! It is pretty small but my favorite part was the tropical area where birds are free to roam all around you. I do think kids should probably be a little older to appreciate this but my teenage son even said Cleveland could use something similar! We only spent barely an hour there but I felt it was worth going to once.
After that I planned to stop by Randyland which is very close to the aviary. This is a free art “museum” which is basically on the outside of someone’s house. You can read all about it on their website but it’s a neat place to take photos. There is street parking & you’re free to walk around & take a look for as long as you’d like. Would I plan a trip just for this stop? Probably not but if you’re nearby it’s an interesting stop to make.
Next we headed to the Strip District & played a round of indoor golf at Puttshack. This was truly such an awesome place & we left wondering how we can open up a location in Cleveland. The course was so neat with such interactive rounds. What was super cool was the fact that each ball has a tracking system so everything is automatically updated. This was mind-blowing to me. We had a great time & I even got a hole in one! One thing to know that it is 21+ after 9pm on Friday & Saturday nights. We highly recommend this activity the next time you’re in Pittsburgh.
Before heading to the hotel to check in, we walked over to Primanti Bros which has a location right near Puttshack. We had been there many many years ago & wanted to see if it was as good as we remembered. It wasn’t. LOL We got ghosted by our server & it took forever to get the food. I also wasn’t a fan of the lack of dishes/silverware. They just give you your food on sandwich paper. The food itself was just meh as well. I would personally skip this one, it wasn’t as good as we remembered, it’s mostly a tourist trap.
We continued the night checking into our hotel: Renaissance. We chose this hotel due to the close proximity to the ballpark which was the main reason why we were there. After we rested up for a bit, I saw that Millie’s ice cream was in walking distance so we headed out to try it. Probably the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Puts some local chains we have in Cleveland to shame. Highly recommend. Afterwards, we headed back to our room to watch the baseball game on tv & out of our window. It was fireworks night so after we thought of just watching it from our room, we decided to go outside & watch them from the river. WHAT A SHOW. The Pirates sure do know how to do a fireworks show. I’m glad we ventured out past our bedtime to watch them. They shoot them off from a barge in the river so we had front row seats, it was spectacular.
Our Saturday started with breakfast at Pamela’s Diner for their world famous crepe style pancakes. We got there right when they opened & got seated right away. Be forewarned that it fills up FAST. Probably within 15 minutes, the entire place was filled & people that came in had to wait. It is worth getting up early for. Seriously those pancakes were the best breakfast items I’ve ever had. Please go & thank me later.
After breakfast, we had some time to kill since nothing opens until 10am (must be a Midwest issue lol) so we visited a couple overlooks to take pics of the pretty skyline. The weather was beautiful so I didn’t mind just walking around. Finally it was time for our first stop of the day: Heinz History Center. Be sure to get a checklist to get stamped at each level because they give you a pickle pin when you’re all done. This was a one & done type of museum for us. I was surprised by how small the actual Heinz exhibit was. I don’t know, I was just expecting more. They did have a little kid area which looked cute but overall, it was a lot of reading & not very interactive. We spent about an hour & a half there. They did have a Mr. Rogers exhibit which was neat to see.
For lunch, we headed over to Burgatory – a few of you recommended this place & it was great! You can make your own burgers or choose from their specials. If you go to the North Shore location, please double check the parking meters. It was a game day & street parking becomes limited after a certain time. If you get there early enough you can park but have to be out fast. We just so happened to be done with our meal once our meter expired & shortly after, we saw a bunch of cars being towed. It was wild. I had seen that the North Shore was known for their redbud trees so after we ate, I had my husband drop my son & I off at the park there to take some pics. He just drove around since there was no parking because of the game starting soon. There is also a Mr. Rogers statue there as well which was neat to see.
Afterwards we headed on a boat tour onboard the Gateway Clipper. We love a sightseeing tour especially on a boat so this was a must do for us. It was nice to sit back, relax, & hear more about some Pittsburgh facts while taking in the beautiful views. We chose their latest time slot so that can pass by PNC Park while a game was going on, this was so neat! I’d definitely recommend taking a tour.
It was a long day so we kept it easy for dinner & ordered takeout from Cafe Milano which was right near our hotel, it was SO GOOD. We then went for a walk around town & tried a milkshake from The Milkshake Factory.
Sunday was Easter so we had limited options but thankfully Smashed Waffles was open & we had breakfast there. Our next stop was the Duquesne Incline. We had last been there when my was little so we wanted to do it again. For me, it’s a one & done type of experience. It loses its appeal once your kiddo gets older so it was kind of boring but if you go, make sure you have exact change because it’s cash only. I’m glad we went but we don’t have to do it ever again to be honest.
Our final activity on this trip was the main reason why we were in town – the Guardians game against the Pirates! We are on a quest to visit as many baseball parks as we can so we were excited to experience PNC Park for the first time. This was a lot of fun & the section we were in had the most beautiful views. The park itself has lots of things to do for kids that are open to the public with no waivers needed to be filled out like it is at home. That was nice. There’s also just a ton of seating everywhere. If you’re a baseball fan, definitely catch a game there!
Overall, I’d say Pittsburgh is a great weekend destination no matter you plan to do there. Some places we’ve been in the past that would also recommend:
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