GF Road trip PA to Michigan

Parent Cafe
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<p>I also recommend the drive along the Niagara River on the Robert Moses parkway.</p>

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<p>The driving partner will be spending four days in Cleveland after the Michigan trip, and would prefer to stop elsewhere on the way. Also, the driving partner (as noted upstream) will already have driven more than four hours to get to the OPs house. Adding time to the trip on wednesday isn’t all that exciting an option given that.</p>

<p>Wherever the travelers stop, they will not arrive before 5 or 6 p.m., and need to depart by 10 a.m. </p>

<p>What is there to do at any of these stops between these times…a nice dinner, a quiet breakfast, and maybe walk around in the evening and early morning. suggestions??</p>

<p>Given those limits…is Niagara Falls preferable to Pittsburgh?</p>

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<p>Okay, we’ve decided - No to Canada and NY, back to Pittsburgh. Perhaps we should just follow Pamela’s advice…</p>

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<p>So, who wants to share a meal/coffee with us on the way? :)</p>

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<p>Oh good - assuming you mean me and not someone named Pamela ;), because I didn’t know anything about Niagara Falls (it’s been maybe 20 years since we’ve been there). I did spend four years trying to find something interesting on the road between Chicago and Pittsburgh! I wish I could join you for coffee - if you ever pass by Chicago on the Tristate it goes right by me!</p>

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<p>Oops, Sorry Marilyn. Didn’t mean to change your name!</p>

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<p>I’ve never been to the RaRHoF but plan on going … some day …</p>

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<p>I’ve been to Horseshoe curve. It’s ok. Just railroad track that follows along the side of a mountain:</p>

<p><a href=“http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--nGFstoV6xk/TfK-J6TvYGI/AAAAAAAADQs/t-jtkqJbtGs/s1600/Horseshoe+curve+Altoona+PA.jpg[/url]”>http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--nGFstoV6xk/TfK-J6TvYGI/AAAAAAAADQs/t-jtkqJbtGs/s1600/Horseshoe+curve+Altoona+PA.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The story behind the Johnstown Flood is incredibly interesting. One should Google or read this great book:</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Johnstown Flood eBook: David McCullough: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Johnstown-Flood-ebook/dp/B000QTD642/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370007813&sr=1-1&keywords=johnstown+flood]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Johnstown-Flood-ebook/dp/B000QTD642/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370007813&sr=1-1&keywords=johnstown+flood)</p>

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<p>If they’re leaving Allentown and one has already driven 4 hours, then I suggest a northern route. It’s about 4 hours to Rochester, which leaves about 5.5-7 hours driving to Flint and thus the ability to stop at Niagara Falls for as long as they want. It’s slightly longer to drive to Corning and then up to Rochester but most of the drive is prettier, avoids Syracuse traffic and they can stop in Corning for food. An alternative if they’re tired is to stop in Corning or Syracuse. That adds about 80-90 minutes to the next day’s drive. Staying in Corning, which I’ve done more than once, is easy and they can either visit the museum before leaving or not. If they go to Syracuse, there are plenty of chain motels and they can go to Dinosaur BBQ, which is fantastic, or if they want a truly local experience, Heid’s in Liverpool (a western suburb of Syracuse) for the red and the white sausage.</p>

<p>The problem with a southern route with a time issue is that making it to Pittsburgh is 4 hours by itself and there’s nothing much north of that and along to Cleveland.</p>

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<p>IMO, the drive from Pittsburgh past Cleveland is kind of pretty, with winding roads, hills, farms, and lakes. (This is in comparison to the drive from Cleveland to Chicago, which is completely boring.) We’ve been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; took about 3 hours for us to see it. It was interesting but we had been spoiled by the EMP Museum in Seattle so weren’t as impressed. They did have a great CD store!</p>

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<p>We’re thinking of Pittsburgh because 1) We both like the city and have only visited it when our kids were looking at colleges there 2) It’s a shorter route then through Canada, which means we’ll have a scooch more time to actually do something rather then drive. 3) I am very familiar with Corning having lived very close to it for four years (husband worked there). In fact, I’ll be up there in two weeks for another short trip. 4) Rochester is okay, but that’s another city I’ve visited recently and didn’t like nearly as much as Pittsburgh.</p>

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<p>And the second person thinks the drive across NY state is awful…and will be doing it to get home later in the trip. Pittsburgh will be fun. Hoping for a really good Priceline or Hotwire hotel deal for a really nice hotel!</p>

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<p>I don’t think it’s significantly shorter to go through Pittsburgh than through Canada. In fact, Google maps says it’s only only an additional 10 miles/12 minutes of driving time to go from Allentown to Flint through Canada, versus taking the Pennsylvania Turnpike. And that difference will be more than eaten up getting off the Turnpike, into Pittsburgh, and back onto the Turnpike. Lots of good reasons to prefer the Pittsburgh route, but distance/travel time isn’t one of them.</p>

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<p>I don’t think I said it was SIGNIFICANTLY shorter going through Pittsburgh. I said it was shorter and it is. I’m not going to disagree either about the time in traffic through the cities taking up that difference. I appreciate the suggestion of going through Canada to get to Michigan and would certainly like to do that for another trip, but for this one we’re going through Pittsburgh. :slight_smile: Hotel is booked. :slight_smile: If anyone wants to start a thread where all posters get to vote on where the OP’s should go on a trip, I think we should all participate!</p>

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<p>Well…Pittsburgh it is…so where should these travelers eat their dinner on Wednesday evening? Any downtown suggestions?!</p>

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<p>I was looking at these sites to get some ideas… [great</a> restaurants in pittsburgh? - Pennsylvania - Chowhound](<a href=“http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/775980]great”>http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/775980)</p>

<p>[Pittsburgh</a>, PA Restaurants: See 1,287 restaurants with 15,259 reviews - TripAdvisor](<a href=“http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g53449-Pittsburgh_Pennsylvania.html]Pittsburgh”>http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g53449-Pittsburgh_Pennsylvania.html)</p>

<p>[Pittsburgh</a> » Restaurants - Yelp](<a href=“http://www.yelp.com/c/pittsburgh/restaurants]Pittsburgh”>http://www.yelp.com/c/pittsburgh/restaurants)</p>

<p>I do like the idea of incorporating the incline with a meal.</p>

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<p>Ok…fuzzy memory! I’m hoping someone here can help! Isn’t there a little subway or light rail that goes from the downtown to Station Place…and is that where the Incline is? </p>

<p>Also, a long while ago, there was a great restaurant in a building at Station Place…where there were also a number of vendors selling all kinds of things…I can’t remember the name, and it might not still be there…but I had a great dinner there!</p>

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<p>OK…Station Place sounds bleh! </p>

<p>What restaurants at the top of the incline would you all suggest.</p>

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<p>At the top of the incline: we’ve been to Bella Vista twice - fantastic view but service was so abysmal that it’s just not worth the aggravation. We’ve been to Monterey Bay Fish Grotto once and enjoyed it - good food, good service, great decor.</p>

<p>We didn’t get to the real fine dining of Pittsburgh because DS was not an adventurous guy. To be honest, our go-to choice was Bravo at The Waterfront but it is a chain and at a shopping center, so not the best tourist destination.</p>

<p>Station Square has a wonderful musical fountain but we never really found a place for a nice dinner there. We did have a drink at Bar Louie.</p>

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<p>And we’re offfffffff!!!</p>

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<p>Have fun no matter where you land!!! :)</p>

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<p>Have a blast!</p>