PITTSBURGH TO PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

PITTSBURGH TO PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

�week�s worth of travels

By Swissvale72

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Pecking at my keyboard from my very favorite writing venue, that being my humble cottage in the tiny Canadian Maritime Province of Prince Edward Island .�� On my back porch, where it�s about 20 degrees warmer (well, about 11 degrees Celsius, eh) than 40 yards away at the top of the beachfront stairs�..where it�s windy as hell.

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Just last weekend, I was in the City of Cities , the Mecca , the center of our collective universe�.PITTSBURGH.

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I traveled down on a whirlwind weekend tour�.stayed overnight on the way at the Scranton Holiday Inn�.downed a cheeseburger, onion rings, couple of Yuengling drafts upon arrival, paid for it all night.� Remember when your parents would caution you about eating late at night�you thought it was bullshit�.lemme tell ya�you�re not there yet, you will be�.it�s not bullshit..

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Anyway, went a different route into the Burgh the next day.� Rather than my usual path of I-81 to the Turnpike, I went across Route 80, where I encountered bridge repair about every 5 miles, then down Rout 220, through Port Matilda�..interesting little town, then 99 through Altoona, and finally across 22 to my brother�s house in Murraysville, where�s he�s been residing in exile since his eviction from the Borough of Swissvale..

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Feaasted on my brother�s capicola, salami and provolone upon arrival (guess the heartburn had subsided), slept a few hours, then participated in Walk for a Greater Community� at the Pearly Gates of Heinz Field the next day.� �After various Allegheny County politicians of both stripes droned on about the virtues of the North Shore , the crowd was stoked with a few brief words from Heath Miller.� I opted for the 1 mile �Fun Walk� rather than the 5K as my foot was bothering me�.probably �cause my feet have had to support too damn much weight lately.� The Great Hall was open��and it was great to visit it without the game day throngs.� Mrs.. Swiss, the anti-fan even looked around, and when my sister-in-law asked her if she�d like to go to a Steeler game someday, Mrs. Swiss astutely answered, �Yeah�.one that�s not so crowded.�� Doi!!!

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Anyway, one of the sponsors, Chick Fil-A came up woefully short with their promise of chicken sandwiches for all walkers, so it was off to the Strip District for lunch.�� Went to Wholey�s�.walked out with a fish sandwich, fries, and a pound of smelts.� We stood, and unwrapped our fare at the wooden rail across Penn Avenue .�� Outdoor vendors cooked chicken, ribs�.the Asian gang had something going on outdoor girlls as well, some version of German Shepherd, I think�..wasn�t trusting that one.�� Checked out� Mike Feinberg�s�.Steeler pizza cutters, every damn thing.��

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Next stop�.just got the sense that I might be boring you�.too fuckin� bad!!� Anyway, next stop was Station Square so my daughter could check out Michael Jackson�s jacket at Hard Rock Caf�, then a spin through the SaSide, crossing over a bridge, through a tunnel (was that the Wabash Tunnel?), landing at Duquense on Forbes.

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The gastrointestinal (or is that gastronomical) feast continued that night with Vinnie�s Pizza, but from Tronic�s hometown of Plum Boroough.�� The Plum location is much cleaner than the Forest Hills original�..so it�s not as good, but�.still Vinnie�s.�

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Drove all the way home to New Hampshire the next day�.what a fuckin� ride�miserable.

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Ya know, the drive between� New Hampshire, and the respective locations of Pittsburgh and Prince Edward Island is the same distance, about 625 miles, takes the same amount of time, about 11 hours�.but�.the PEI journey forces the traveler to encounter about 300 less tractor-trailers.�� If there�s any such thing as a relaxing 11 hour dirve, the PEI jaunt is it..

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So�.here I sit��Sunday afternoon, about as far east on the North American continent as one could imagine, a helluva long way from Swissvale, Donora and the Hill District�..waiting from my friend Plaxicoiswacked to call me like he said he would.� Here�s the thing about Islanders.�� they say they�ll call, or stop over�.if they do it within a 7-day radius, it still counts.�� Doesn�t matter if you�ve long since gone the fuck home!!

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This is a solo PEI jaunt�.just me & the cottage�.it�s my Spa weekend�.gotta get less fat..� I�m doing okay, went to the gym this morning, which is in some guy�s house, but awesome equipment�..he gave me a to

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ur of the �ladies�gym,� to.� I�ve also existed entirely on chips & beer since Friday.� I think I�ll market that diet.� Might by myself a lobster tomorrow�.It�s the Spring lobster season�.had all winter, since November to fatten up, grow big claws�.put the poor bastard in the pot, 17 minutes later, real good feed..� Another funny thing about PEIers, Wacked excluded.� You bring up good beer, Newcastle , Bass�..they still want their fuckin� Blue�.what the fuck is up with that???

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Okay�.I�m starting to bore myself with this one.� On to my next one��.think I�ll write about RonnyRon�..recently retired from Stillers.com��stay tuned.

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By the way, if there�s a lot of typos in this one, tough shit�..I�m writing it on the back porch, in the sun, can hardly see the fuckin� screen, and, in keeping with my tradition�..I don�t proofread.