This past week my brother, Kyle, his daughter, Iz, and M went on a whirlwind trip to Pittsburgh, Hershey, Baltimore and Monticello.  Those of you who know me on Facebook know that I did not go on this trip, however I feel as though I did since I provided Shea*Star(tm) services the whole time… complete with restaurant suggestions AND directions.

Sigh.

The life of a virtual traveler.

Anyway.

M & Co. had a grand time!  Kyle was speaking at the RPCNA Synod in Beaver Falls PA as a fraternal delegate from the ARP and had thought that M and Iz would enjoy exploring Pittsburgh while he was off doing the church thing. 

First they had a picnic:

Then they crossed the New River Gorge Bridge (notice the haunted look of terror in Kyle’s eyes:

 

After a delicious supper at Abay Ethiopian Restaurant they saw this lovely church and decided to have a look around:

This is the East Liberty Presbyterian Church.  Kyle said it’s the most ornate Presbyterian Church he’s ever seen!

Kyle and Iz inside the church… the stained glass windows look so lovely!

M took this knowing how much I love thistles.

The next day Kyle was off to speak at Synod so M and Iz were off to explore on their own.

 They hit Penzey’s

Happiness is a well stocked herb&spice cabinet. There’s a whole other side of the cabinet that I was unable to open due to a milk pail in the way so imagine even more spice-goodness and you’ll have the full picture 🙂 The only thing that I forgot to tell her to get was more ground ginger… oh well… I can order that!

Then they went to the Carnegie Science Center where Iz got to meet the “for-real” R2-D2 and C-3PO (I won’t go into the hilarity of M explaining to Iz who the iconic robots are, but seriously Kelly… aren’t you a Star Wars fan??).

Don’t you love the look of confusion on Iz’s face… it’s one of those “O…K… Mamama… if you say so” kinda faces.

And while at the Science Center Iz got all turned around and ended up here:

which she quickly discovered was NOT the ladies room.

Anyway, while M was looking around the souvenir shops she found a little something special for Sophie:

And really, doesn’t EVERYBODY need a posable Albert Einstein Action Figure???

So anyway, it was a full day! The next day they left Pittsburgh and headed for Hershey.

Chocolate World… how I wish you were Valrhona and not Hershey…
Iz had a grand time on the tour (there are photos, but I’m already pic heavy on this post so suffice it to say there’s lots of chocolate) and making her own little candy thingie.

And then they went to Gettysburg.

At this point, those of you who know my brother know that this is a near religious experience for him. For those who don’t know, Kyle’s major at Erskine was history. And he’s a regular Southern history guru. He knows amazing amounts of stuff. Seriously. It’s amazing.

Kyle took this pic and I think it’s really great. Good Job Kyle! Especially since you were using the little point and shoot.

Here’s Iz at Pickett’s Charge.

And finally here’s a pic of Kyle and Iz in front of the statue of Robert E. Lee and Traveller

And then they were off to Monticello.

Where Iz hung out with Thomas Jefferson:

And they had a fabulous meal at Michie Tavern

I love the metal plates and cups.

And that’s about it. Or at least that’s all the pics I have. M brought me back a cookbook from Monticello and two glass dip pens with several small bottles of ink. Jim got a space-ink pen from the Science Center and the boys got super cool Thomas the Tank Engine Flashlights (with Morse code button) that have a (not so cool) whistle on the other end. M picked up several other this and thats along the way. Several books, some seeds and a really cool inlaid wood stamp holder that she got for Martha.

All in all I think it was an excellent trip both for real and virtually 🙂