last call

We've been lucky in ducking light showers and drizzle all week, but yesterday ended that luck. On the day of our planned outing to the local amusement park Kennywood, it decided to downpour. Not to be deterred, we went anyway. We did get nice and soaked from on and off showers, but it was fun anyway.

People in Pittsburgh seemed to downplay Kennywood when I told them we were coming here, but we loved it. While its a small and really charming park, the coasters are world class - as good, if not better, than anything at Cedar Point or Magic Mountain. Most are old historic wooden coasters, notable for being built into the natural hills of the park and for curves and turns that take you by surprise. Some even start off with a drop out of the station with no incline before it. All the coasters have far more 'air time' (time out of your seat) than anywhere I've been in a very long time. Even the new metal coaster was built with many of the same turns and hills as if paying homage to the wooden ones.

Because of the rain and small crowds, they closed at 7pm (Kennywood has no set closing time - it changes daily depending on the crowd and weather - my only criticism of the park). We got rainchecks to come back, but that will be hard to do from LA. If you visit Pittsburgh, its worth experiencing.

We roamed around some other parts of town, including riding the Duquense Incline to get a full view of the city, returned to Primanti Bros for another taste of their famous sandwiches, and finished the night with Hoegaardens at a local bar. Pittsburgh may be small and sleepy, but at least its tasty.