Day 1 was off to a somber start as our first stop was the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, PA. This was a good bookend to our visit to the 9/11 Memorial Museum in NYC earlier this year. Both memorials are beautifully done and I especially liked the outdoor setting of the Flight 93 Memorial - I think it lent itself well to contemplation and honoring the lives lost. "A common field one day. A field of honor forever".

We arrived in Pittsburgh in the late afternoon and checked into Distrikt Hotel, which had a nice rooftop and a really cool plant wall in the lobby. We met up with a friend, Sarah, who was a great tour guide of Pittsburgh. We got our first taste of Pittsburgh with dinner at The Yard, walking to the Strip, and finishing with sunset at Point State Park. Point State Park is located at the confluence of three rivers. Pretty spot! Pittsburgh was smaller than I had imagined and very walkable, which is always a plus.

We started off our full day in Pittsburgh with the funky modern art at The Mattress Factory (the Kusama rooms were a favorite), followed by stops at Randyland and lunch at Federal Galley. In the afternoon we went to the National Aviary. We enjoyed the exhibits, but especially enjoyed the add ons we purchased - feeding the lorikeets and aracaris and a raptor show on the roof. We were impressed by the demonstration of the various birds flying through the air and catching food. The birds fly free and have a tracker just in case. One time they had to track down a missing bird and found her with her head in a bucket of KFC in the nearby park. lol!

Afterwards we met up with Sarah and her kids at Grandpa Joe's candy shop (Norah was in heaven) and rode the Duquesne Incline (nice views!). We had dinner at BRGR and did the Great Escape Room. We could've used more time in Pittsburgh (a refrain common throughout our trip), but enjoyed what we were able to see. Great start to our trip!