Day 5-9 of our Family Trip

The trip concludes, we have arrived home after our nine day trip. The thing that I'm most amazed of during this trip is how awesome Toby has been. He's loved everything we've done. He's been laughing and story telling the whole trip. There is no doubt that we've received over 100 compliments on how cute he is or how good he is. It's so true, he's been great and it's been fun watching his facial reactions to new things are different sites we've seen. If you want to see all 300+ pictures, you may click here.

Day 5 - The Strip District, Kielbasa & Toby's Cuteness

This was one of our few non baseball/non travel days of the trip. Since we spent the day prior downtown, I wanted to do something a little different. We decided to hit up what is called the Strip District. It is an area of town that has fresh markets, restaurants and different shops. The two main reasons we went there was the original Primanti Brothers & Klavon's Ice Cream. We had the hotel shuttle drop us off right in front of Primanti Brothers and we have another fabulous lunch. I will definitely miss those sandwiches. After thinking about it, it is definitely the clow slaw that makes it such a good sandwich.

After eating we walked 11 blocks north to Klavon's Ice Cream. There are two interesting things to this, the first is that it was 95 degrees on this day and all commercial development disappeared. After about six blocks of walking the area become very industrial and somewhat sketchy. I kept look at my google maps app as a reminder that it was actually still there and actually coming up. We did finally arrive, to my amazement because it is an ice cream place in the middle of industrial buildings. Once walking in, I felt like I was in the 1920's. I LOVED it. I told Steph that it reminded me of an old fountain shop. The two ladies that were working were great. They loved playing with Toby and he was having fun with them as well. Steph and I had a banana split. Maybe this is the way they are suppose to be, but this thing was huge. It had a split banana, then it had a scoop of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream. It was topped with chocolate, strawberry & pineapple toppings. Finally, it had three different types of whipped cream that they make on location on it, vanilla, chocolate and some flavor I've never heard of before (but it was delicious). It was quite tasty. I was impressed on how good all those flavors were together. The ice cream in combination with the atmosphere was so much fun. I regret not taking any pictures of the place.

That evening we wanted to do something fun and something very apart of the culture of Pittsburgh. We unsuccessfully drove around for a while trying to find "it". We arrived back to the hotel a little disappointed, but Steph asked the hotel if they had any thoughts and they gave a recommendation to a true German restaurant just 4 blocks away from our hotel. Quick history, Pittsburgh was (and still has the spirit) of the blue collar labor worker and when many of the Immigrants to Pittsburgh were German, Russian & Scandinavian. They all lived segregated from each other. The area that were were staying in was Duetschtown. So we figured that a German restaurant would be perfect. I was a little scared about having only German food (even though I am mostly German). I ordered the Kielbasa, and it was phenomenal! The sides were bland and needed some salt, but the Kielbasa was so good.

That night we retired a little early to try to get Toby to bed closer to his normal time. I wanted to watch the Twins/Pirates on TV. Steph put Toby down, but he kept getting up and looking over this pack and play laughing. He thought it was a game, he would throw this pacifier at us and laugh. It was so stinkin' cute. Steph and I were laughing the whole time. Once the game was over I turned the TV off and he went right to sleep. I guess he didn't want to miss out on any fun or he just wanted to stay up and watch the rest of the game.

Day 6 - PNC Tour, Our Cincy Hotel & A Night Out
This day started with us having breakfast at the Priory for the last time. I will miss their cute breakfasts and eating by the fountain. After we checked out we headed back to PNC for a tour of the ballpark. I was especially excited to take a tour of PNC for two reasons, the first is that I'm very interested in hearing the deep history of the Pirates and was looking forward to learning more about their franchise. The second thing I was excited about was the views that we were going to see. The sight lines at PNC are the BEST. Better than Target Field, and even better than AT&T park in San Fran. I was excited and took a ton of pictures of PNC.

After our tour we headed off to Cincinnati. I was excited for our hotel stay in Cincy because I was able to get a Suite downtown for a decent price. When I went in to check in, I found out that they upgraded up from a one bedroom suite to a two bedroom suite. That means that Toby got his own bedroom for two nights in Cincy. Not only that, but we also were on the 15th floor so we had and incredible view of the city. It was pretty cool to be in a hotel that was bigger than Steph and I's first two apartments that we lived in during our first few years of marriage.

Since we arrived in Cincy at around 5pm we decided to take in a little bit of the city. We walked down to Fountain Square which is apparently a well known area of Cincy. There was a live Salsa band playing when we got down there. Toby loved the music, the number of people and of course the fountain. Steph and Toby danced to a few songs. Afterward we walked and had Graeter's ice cream. Graeter's has award winning ice cream in Cincinnati. Their signature flavor is Raspberry Chocolate Chip. I'm not typically a raspberry chocolate ice cream person, but if it's the best, I might as well give it a shot. I'm very happy that I did. It was extremely flavorful and had a great balance of fruit and chocolate. The texture of the ice cream was super creamy. So good! It was a great way to end yet another fun filled day.


Day 7 - Eden Park, Riverfront Area & Ribs
This was our only other day that didn't involve baseball or driving. It was great to have another free day to checkout the city. We slept in and slowly got ready for the day. We game planned our day out and after a brief Target run we were on our way to Eden Park. Eden Park is very similar feel as Como Park, except they don't have a zoo and they are right on the river. We stopped and walked around an area that had an amazing view of the river and Newport Kentucky. We walked along their, fed Toby lunch and watch the ducks.


We went back to the hotel to give Toby a quick nap and we were off again. This time we wanted to conquer the riverfront area. This had us walk down to Great American Ball Park. We probably spent 90 minutes walking around the ball park and enjoying the atmosphere of what it is like before a game. We then walked acrossed a bridge that separates Ohio from Kentucky. This bridge is privately owned and is only a pedestrian bridge. It was a lot of fun, it reminded me of the Brooklyn Bridge, except not as cool or as long. As we were walking we noticed some commotion on the Kentucky side of the bridge as we got closer to saw about 75 people dressed up for a wedding that was about to take place. Toby was just chatting away as we walked by. On the other side of the bridge was Newport Kentucky and they had an outdoor shopping center similar to Arbor Lakes here. Steph was extremely thirsty from our long walk and 90 degree day so we stopped in for a smoothie and walked back to Ohio.

Finally, we meet up again with Jeff & Julie for supper at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse. It is right on the river and is widely known for their ribs & bbq sauce. I got the ribs, Steph got a sandwich with rib meat in it. We were both happy with our meals. At one point Jeff asked me if they were the best ribs I've ever had and to be honest they were really good, but not the best. To me, my Grandma's bbq receipt is still the best on ribs. Overall, the meal was great, the company was fun and the view of the sun setting river was gorgeous.

Day 8 - Twins Game & Chicago Hotel
On this day we took in a Reds Twins game at Great American Ball Park. We arrived at the stadium about three hours early. We got something to eat with Jeff & Julie and then entered the ball park after the gates opened. It was fun getting their early and watching the Twins taking BP. It was cool getting close pictures of the players. The game was a Saturday game at 4pm on what seemed like a 90+ degree day. The sun was scorching, but I was excited to be at the game. I sat by a couple of cool guys from Cincy. They gave me some additional history of the Reds franchise, which was cool for me since I've never paid much attention to their history. I didn't realize that they were the first professional baseball team back in 1869. Such a deep and interesting history. The game itself was boring and somewhat depressing. The Twins played bad and uninspired baseball, but it didn't matter. It was still fun to see them play in another park.

Over the past 6 years I've seen the Twins play at:
1. Metrodome
2. Target Field (My Favorite)
3. Miller Park (Milwaukee)
4. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City)
6. Yankee Stadium (New York City)
7. Chase Field (Phoenix)
8. O.co (Oakland)
9. PNC (Pittsburgh)
10. Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati)

9 ball parks down at 21 to go.

After the game we left for Chicago. We booked a hotel through Hotwire and it placed us at the Swissotel. It was by far the nicest and fanciest hotel I've ever stayed in. Our view was of the Navy Pier, Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. It was so beautiful and such and very breath taking.


Day 9 - Millennium Park, A Long Walk & Our Drive Back Home

The last day of our trip we wanted to explore Chicago and kind of relax. After we checked out of our hotel we walked along the Chicago River turned off onto a side street and had lunch at Al's Beef. This is also a Man vs. Food spot. I've had it a few times in the past, but it is so good. It is an Italian Beef sandwich with peppers dunked into au jus sauce. Soooo good!


After lunch we walked to Millennium Park, took our picture at & in the bean. As we were walking through the park, we decided to stop by Fountain Park. It has 2 50 foot fountains separated by about 75 yards. In between the two fountains are about 6 inches of water that eventually drain on the sides like an infinity pool. It was really hot again his day and we decided to let Toby walk in it. Steph was holding onto him as he was walking. Toby then decided that he didn't walk to walk anymore, but that he wanted to crawl. So Steph let go and he went absolutely crazy. He loved it as you can see. That was definitely the highlight of Toby's trip. The most depressing part was 20 minutes later after we took him out of the water. He cried and cried. He was really upset by it, but at least it let us know that he had a great time and that he definitely isn't afraid of the water.


We then walked to Buckingham Fountain (famous from Married with Children). This was the first time I've seen the fountain during the day. It was peaceful just to stand there and look at it. It didn't feel like I was in the 3rd largest city in America. I could of stood there for an hour. Toby was sleeping, so he didn't remember any of it. We then walked along lake Michigan then the Chicago River to our favorite bakery Magnolia Bakery. We were introduced to it 2 years ago when we were in New York and we fell in love with their banana pudding. Trust me, this is the greatest banana pudding you've ever had, even if you don't like banana pudding you'd love this. About a year ago they recently opened a store in Chicago and every time we drive through Chicago we grab some for the road. Since we were there, we grab 2 containers for ourselves and 2 for my parents & Mike & Em. That was our last stop. We then walked back to the hotel, grabbed our car and headed back home.

Overall it was such a cool and memorable trip. I can't believe that we were gone for 9 days. I'm glad we did it and that everyone enjoyed themselves. I'm glad I took all 392 pictures and took a little time to document our experiences. It will be fun going through this with Toby someday when he is a little bit older. Our first Schwarz Family Vacation.

Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati

PNC Park in Pittsburgh

View from our hotel on the last day

First 4 Days of our First Family Vacation

Here we are, on our first family vacation. We are currently in Pittsburgh and we are about to start our 5th day of our nine day trip. So far the trip has been a blast as you can see here by our pictures (I will be updating this link as we continue on with our trip). 
So far we've had an absolute great time. Toby has been a really good road tripper. He's enjoyed his hotel stays, he's even sleeping in. I wanted to quickly summarize what we done each day so far.


Day 1 - Lena, Zeke & Driving to Chicago
Before we could start our trip we were greeted with the news that Mark and Katie had little Lena that morning. So we headed over to Waconia and celebrated with Mark and Katie and their new miracle. It was fun to see how excited Marky was. I know how uncomfortable he is around babies, but it was great to see how in love he is with his new babe.

Next on the pre-trip checklist was Zeke's first birthday party. Toby was excited to attend this cousin's birthday, he was bummed that mom wouldn't let him eat any frosting though. Zeke is the first of five "1st" birthdays that we will be attending this summer/early fall. It was amazing to not only see all the people that Mike and em had over, but that almost everyone had at least one kid with them. Parties multiply fast when kids are included. I can only hope for a nice weather day for Toby's party, because not everyone will fit in our house other wise.

At a little after 2, we hit the road. The destination was Chicago. We stopped in the Wisconsin Dells for supper. We just did Subway, but this wasn't any Subway, this was some sort of magical Subway. This Subway had the regular restaurant area, but then it had additional seating on the opposite side of the restaurant. This section had tall ceilings and ceiling fans. Those two features are favorites of Toby, so through the entire meal he would shout in order to hear his echo and then he would stare at the ceiling fan. So needless to say that was Toby's highlight on the trip down.

At 9 we arrived at our hotel which was just outside of Chicago. We met up with Jeff and Julie, chatted for a few minutes and headed off to bed.

Day 2 - Lincoln Park Zoo, Navy Pier & Driving to Cleveland
Our day began just north of downtown Chicago at the Lincoln Park Zoo. I guess I've heard people talk about it before, but never paid much attention to what they said. I thought visiting a zoo would be fun for Toby, since we haven't taken him to the Minnesota Zoo yet. Honestly, in my mind I was picturing that this zoo was going to be similar to Como Zoo: small, dirty and depressing. It was none of those three. It was tons of fun for everyone. It was fun watching Toby as he was learning new animals. I could only imagine that he thought most of the animals were more fun and playful than his lazy beagle at home.

We had one other destination in mind for the day, so we left the zoo after exploring slightly over half of it. It is definitely on my list of things to do again in Chicago and I highly recommend for families. As I mentioned, the other destination that we had in mind was the Navy Pier. Jeff has never been before, so we headed south towards the giant Ferris Wheel. We walked up and down the pier like every good tourist. We took pictures at the edge of the pier like every good tourist and we got some good pictures of the skyline like every good tourist.

Since we were in tourist mode, we finalized our trip by getting something to eat at The Goat Head. Interesting name I know, but it is fairly famous. President George H. W. Bush ate their while he was President and SNL created an sketch based on the restaurant's theme. The restaurant is essentially a burger place, they have other things on the menu, but at any given time there are hundred or so patties on the grill. The guy at the counter says "Cheeseborger, Cheeseborger, Cheeseborger. No fries, Cheeps". So we all figured that what we should get, except Steph, she got the single patty Hamborger. Boring! I got the quad patty! One we sat down and started eating, I opened my Serra Mist that I had with me and the bottle fizzed and exploded all over me. My shirt was drenched in Diet Serra Mist (thank goodness it was diet or that would have been soooo sticky). I laughed (after being embarrassed, then angry and then irritable), because everyone else was. Maybe the best part was that no one else in the restaurant saw it happen.

We headed off to Cleveland to spend the night. On our way there, we took I-80, which is a turnpike/toll road. I was amazed on how few exits there were along this road. Typically when I drive down I-35, or I-94 there are exits with towns every 10 miles or so (or so it seems). Here there was none of that. There was maybe 10 exits from Chicago to Cleveland and that is a six hour drive. To me it was amazing on how little civilization there was for such a long period of time of a major interstate.


Day 3 - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Progressive Field & Driving to Pittsburgh
This has been the casual day of the trip so far. We slept in and slowly got ready for the day as we only had 2 things to do for the day. Before tackling the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame we decided to grab some lunch. We walked to an office building about 2 blocks away with a food court. I didn't recognize any of the restaurants and to be honest most of them looked shady. We decided to take the sit down restaurant on the second level. Place looked nice, so we entered. We must have caught them off guard because, one wrap, two salads and a cheeseburger took them over 1 hour to make AND there were MAYBE 8 people in the place. UGH! The important thing was that we had time, so we laughed and joked at how Jeff's ceaser salad was holding everything up.

After our interesting lunch we tackled the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was fun, but the bummer of it all is that you aren't allowed to bring in cameras. While it was cool and I'm glad we did it, that part wasn't cool. Either way, I enjoyed walking through the history of Rock and Roll. To me what stuff is fun and interesting. It is also interesting to see how music shapes and reflects how society is. You go from Chuck Berry and Ray Charles to Elvis & the Beatles to lot of the 70's hippie music. I knew it would be something that Steph would enjoy and I don't remember a lick of it when we were there 12 years ago on our choir trip.

We then headed to Progressive Field to watch the Indians take on the Reds. It was pouring when we walked over to the game. It rained really hard for 90 minutes and I was thinking to myself, self, I hope it stops raining soon so we can watch a few innings of baseball before hitting the road.  It wasn't a few minutes later that it did stop raining, so we took a few pictures of the stadium, Jeff and I each had a 1/2 pound hot dog. It reminded me of the big shots that the Metrodome used to have from Hormel. To be honest, it was delicious, but it still wasn't a Hormel dog. Hormel how I miss you.... In Progressive Field they have the Indians Hall of Fame in the stadium, very similar to Yankee Stadium, except there aren't any really good Indians. Looking through the list, they had some REALLY bad teams and didn't have exceptional talent until the mid 90's. Shortly after seeing that, the game started. To be honest, because it wasn't the Twins it was hard to care or get really invested. Each team scored runs early, so that was exciting at least. Toby was starting to get tired and we still had a two hour drive to Pittsburgh, so we left early.

Then we headed off to Pittsburgh and on our way, we talked about how dirty and "eh" feeling we both had about the city. Outside of coming to watch the Twins play, I don't have much of a desire to go back to Cleveland.


Day 4 - Our Hotel, Hanging out Downtown Pittsburgh & Twins Game
Yesterday was definitely the best day yet. We started the day off by checking into our hotel. We are staying at a historic place about 3/4 miles away from PNC & downtown Pittsburgh. I can't quantify it with words other than it is really cool. The set up of the hotel is bed & breakfast (which we will be partaking in as soon as I finish typing or if Toby wakes up), with a lot of old charm and character. I love how friendly the staff here is. Last night after the game we bought some frozen lemonade popsicles from the grocery store and offered them to the staff. They loved it. It will be a bummer to leave here in tomorrow.

After checking into our hotel and getting settled, we walked into downtown to have lunch with Jeff & Julie. They were staying at the Wyndom hotel, which is extremely modern hotel. It was fun to see how different of places we are both staying in, but how we both enjoyed it. They are on the 12th floor with an amazing view of the bluffs. After marveling at how different our two hotels are, we went out for lunch. My buddy Matt Finley & Man vs. Food host Adam Richman told us that Primanti Brothers is the place to go. Primanti Brothers is known for their sandwiches. Let me paint this picture for you. They have thick, soft & fresh bread, then is your meat, I naturally got roast beef. Then they pile on their clow slaw which is a very sweet slaw. Finally it is topped off with provolone cheese and tomato (I wanted my sandwich to taste good, so I had the tomato removed and onion replaced instead). In my opinion, this was one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. I loved the flavor of the roast beef in combination with the sweet of the slaw to the melted provolone cheese. DELISH! I'm not sure if Jeff and Julie were as impressed as I was, but I definitely want to go back before we leave Pittsburgh.

After lunch we wanted to go to the top of the bluff. In Pittsburgh they have these cable cars or trolleys that take you from the bottom of the hill to the top and from top to bottom. It's like a cable car mixed with a ski lift. Once we got to the top we were able to see some amazing views of the city. I maybe took 50 pictures trying to capture the view, the skyline and overall how cool it was.

After that we went back to the hotel and got ready for the Twins Pirates game at PNC Park.We arrived at PNC early to watch the Twins take batting practice and to get some close up pictures. Toby loved crawling around on top of the dugout. He was just a singing and a laughing the whole time. We also got to meet FSN's own Robby Incmikoski. We got to chat with him for about five minutes or so. He gave Toby his first baseball. Robby's a super nice guy and wanted us to have a great ballpark experience. I felt bad for the guy because game time temperature was about 90 degrees and he has to wear a suit and tie for the broadcast, but I guess those are the struggles for a guy who gets to travel around with sports teams for his job.

I was really impressed by PNC Park. I loved the view of the city from our seats. I liked that part of PNC better than Target Field, but overall, Target Field still gets the nod from me. Overall, I really liked the park and would like to go back again. Even though the good guys lost (and played terrible baseball), it was so much fun to come watch them play. Maybe we'll come out six years from now when the Twins play in PNC again.

There you have it, our first four days, very quickly summarized. Take a look at our pictures if you have a few minutes. I will get one or two more posts in before we arrive back in Minnesota on Sunday night.