Girls' Weekend!

A few weekends ago, I drove down to Pittsburgh to meet up with my sister and our good friends, Carla and Amy. None of us had ever been there but we enjoyed how beautiful the city is and how surprising it is to drive out of a tunnel in a mountain-side and find your self overlooking the Three Rivers City. This is basically the view we saw as we exited the tunnel, although these pictures were taken from one of the only two inclines still working in Pittsburgh, the Duquesne Incline, which was originally built in 1877:
We all arrived from different directions on Friday evening. After getting settled into our hotel room (and snacking on some of the goodies that each of us had brought), we went to a local restaurant for a pasta dinner. Afterward, we strolled through Ikea... in the hopes of burning off some of the calories we'd just consumed, as we still had cookies, banana bread, M&M's, Skittles and other treats waiting for us at the hotel.
Saturday was just as sunny as predicted, although possibly hotter than the 84 degrees it was supposed to be. We took our time eating breakfast at the hotel and then headed into the city. We visited the Duquesne Incline that morning and enjoyed the history we learned about the city while visiting the top of the incline.
Our plan for the afternoon had been to get pedicures, but when we arrived at the place where we had reservations, we found out that they had lost power that morning and were told that it most likely wouldn't come back on until late in the afternoon. Disappointed, we set off in the hopes of finding a nearby restaurant that did have power. After we had driven a few miles down the road, we passed another nail salon and Carla and Alvana ran in to find out if they had any openings. They did! So we got our pampering after all! Later that afternoon, we drove back into the city to Station Square, where we sat and enjoyed the warmth of the day near this fountain. Every 20 minutes or so, the fountain would spray much higher and wider than it had been normally, and we laughed watching all the kids get soaked running around at the fountain wall.
We went to a Mexican restaurant on the other side of the Ohio River for dinner that evening where we were the only ones not wearing Pittsburgh Steelers attire. (There had been an NFL draft that day and crowds were gathered nearby at the stadium to learn the outcome.) We left the restaurant around 8pm and decided to walk down by the river before heading back to the hotel. We came across a decorative pool that just begged to be waded in, even though the water was quite cool.
Closer to the river, the pool was made to look like a waterfall and we waded there as well.
We headed back to the hotel a few hours later and again stayed up late talking (as has been our habit whenever we've been together these past 20 years!). It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend for me and I was so blessed to have spent it with three amazing friends!