Pittsburgh Shittsburg? Part II

So far, my trip to Pittsburgh had been dreary weather, industrial looking bridges, flashbacks of The Deliverance, Heinz ketchup and crappy hot dogs.  Shitsburgh was starting to live up to it’s name…

BUT–my beloved Tar Heels won the football game.  And our seats were first row–right behind the Pittsburgh bench on the 50 yard line.  I was hoping I wouldn’t have to settle for that being the highlight of the trip.  But little did I know that the trip was about to take a turn…

We leave the stadium and are on the way to the hotel, which we got at a great discounted rate.  We end up on a highway of sorts and have to go about 3 miles out of Pittsburgh (or I should say away from downtown) before we can turn around.  We are about to enter the highway but have to stop behind a pick-up truck waiting to merge.  My friend (the driver) screams.

What?  What’s going on?  Is everything ok?

All she can say is OMG I can’t look.  I can’t look.  OMG that’s so gross!

But I’m not sure what, exactly, she is looking at.  She manages to say–‘look in the truck in front of us.’

And that’s where I see Bambi lying, hooves up in the air, blood about the face, in the back of the pick up–with handy advertising for “Big Daddy’s Wildlife Removal.”

My reaction wasn’t as dramatic as my friends–but I did laugh.  And laugh.  And laugh.  For about 20 minutes.  In my mind I’m thinking…”ok, I see how this weekend is going to go.”  As I try to snap pictures of the roadside pickup, I’m also amused by the Adult Merchandize Mart–and continue my fit of laughter as the owners didn’t pay enough money for two “M”s on the Marquis.

We finally make our way to the hotel.  We park in a dank, dark, dirty city garage (that was only $5 as opposed to hotel valet of $30…so I guess dank, dark, and dirty it is…) and make our way across the street with our bags to the hotel to check in.  Our hotel–the Omni William Penn.

All I knew was that we got this hotel at a great rate.  What I didn’t know was how amazing this place would prove to be.  This hotel was more reminiscent of  Downton Abby than downtown Pittsburgh.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve stayed in MANY nice hotels.  But there was something just…luxurious…about the crystal chandeliers, drapery, the Grand Ballroom…everything about this hotel said “old money” in a town where economic decay seems prevelant.

The room was possibly the largest non-suite I’ve ever stayed in.  Turn down service, free water, and comfortable beds gave the hotel room an extra touch of elegance that had already been captured a thousand times over.