Pittsburgh On The Cheap: Day 4

Day four in Pittsburgh started with Marla heading to a meeting.  While she did that, I started our lunch of broccoli and noodle casserole that she wanted to try.

We cooked together when she got home and it turned out to be delicious.  After lunch, we headed for the Pittsburgh Zoo.  We had not been here together since she was three.  It was fun to take a leisurely trip to the zoo on a Monday.  There were no crowds and we could linger and watch the animals as long as we wanted.  It was especially fun to watch the Mama elephants with the young ones.  They seemed to enjoy watching us as much as we liked watching them.  Not so the primates.  They spent a lot of time hiding from us humans or looking the other way!

 

After the zoo, it was time for me to head back to Central PA.  Marla drove me to the bus station at the Convention center.  This time Megabus was right on time.  My hubby had downloaded the megabus app so he knew my exact ETA.  It was good to get back home.  It was a great visit in Pittsburgh for not a lot of $$!

Costs for Day 4
Zoo tickets for two $28.00
Parking for Megabus $3.00
Bus home $15.00

Total for day 4:  $46.00

Grand Total for the trip: $196.36

Avg. Cost per night:  $65.45

My (Cheap) Trip to Pittsburgh Day 1

How cheap can you do a trip to Pittsburgh?  Does three nights for under $200.00 sound like a good deal?  Here's how I did it last weekend.  First of all, my daughter lives there, so I was able to stay at her apartment.  That was a big savings right off the bat. Even the cheapest hotels in the Pittsburgh area are about $70.00 per night. I saved at least $210.00 by staying with a relative. I arrived late Friday afternoon via Megabus. There is a non-stop route that runs from near my house to Pittsburgh at least twice a day.  My round trip ticket cost $30.00.  I didn't have the headache of driving into the city, dealing with traffic or the bad weather.  I had three hours to myself to do some reading and studying.  Megabus is always clean and comfortable.  Sometimes it runs late as it did on Friday afternoon, but I wasn't on a schedule, so no big deal.  All I did was text my daughter when we were about there and I had a ride waiting for me when I stepped off the bus.  Let the fun begin!

We were both hungry so we headed to Squirrel Hill, a Pittsburgh neighborhood, to get something to eat. We stumbled onto an antique car show just starting in the street.  We spent some time looking at the cars and browsing in a vintage shop called Avalon.

We headed to Uncle Sam's sub shop. I had a mediterranean sub and Marla had a cheesesteak.  Of course it wouldn't be Pittsburgh unless you had a huge mound of fries on top of your sandwich!

We each ate half of our subs and decided to keep the other half for our lunch the next day.  That gave me incentive to finish all my fries (uh-oh healthy diet blown).  We dropped my luggage at Marla's apartment and met her boyfriend, Tony, for gelato at Mercurio's in Shadyside.  This place has delicious gelato and some tasty oven fired pizza.

The total cost for day 1 in Pittsburgh
Megabus: $15.00
Parking in Squirell Hill: $2.00
Squirell Hill car show and browsing and Avalon $0.00!
Subs at Uncle Sam's $17.44
Gelato at Mercurio's $6.36

Total $40.80

Day one was fun.  Is it possible to have a cheaper day than $42.00?  Check back tomorrow and see...

 

Planning The Trip is Half The Fun

Going on a trip is fun, but planning a trip can be almost as much fun.  Trip planning is even more fun since you can search the Internet and use mobile apps to find fun things to do and good deals on hotels, restaurants, car rentals etc.

I am working on planning three trips right now.  This weekend, I am going to visit my daughter in Pittsburgh.  Just for fun, I am going to see how much fun we can have on the cheap. I am going to travel by Megabus.  They go nonstop from my hometown twice a day.  A round trip Megabus ride to Pittsburgh is only $30.00.  I can't drive that cheaply. I am working on things to do and places to eat that won't break the bank. Stay tuned to see how I did.

Hubby and I are planning a winter trip to Key West.  I am really excited about this one!  We decided to fly to Miami and drive Highway One.  We hear that everyone should drive into Key West via Highway One at least once.  We are flying back directly from Key West.  We will be taking part in a Food and Wine Festival held there each winter.  Our winery owning friends are reserving room at the Southernmost Hotel.  We will be going to lots of activities; a beach party, a Key West Stroll and maybe a sunset catamaran cruise.  Can't Wait!

The third trip is to Washington, PA for the Color Me Rad 5K.  This is a fun event to raise money for Ronald McDonald House. Participants wear white.  While they run or walk the course, the Bomb Squad throws colored paint powder made from corn starch.  When you are done, you look like a rainbow.  A big colorful finale is planned at the finish line.  My sister and I have decided to participate and my daughter plans to be a bomb squad member.

These trips are going to keep us busy planning! Looking forward to them is just as much fun as taking them. I'll keep you posted on all the fun.  If you have been on any of these trips before, let me know what you did.  Maybe I can add that to my list of things to do.