Family!

My Boss and I have a very strange repertoire happening. He's a geologist, but appreciates the archival work and rare books. This is a person who does not question it when I complained about the paperclips in the items being inventoried, who brought in an old encyclopedia of rocks so I could see it, and 100% gets what it is I am doing, even as he's not a librarian himself. It's a good position to be in.

This weekend my mother, soon-to-be-stepfather, sister (B.) , and brother-in-law (A.) visited us in Pittsburgh. In moving, we had temporarily stored a number of boxes at my mother's house. Mostly books, though some boardgames and my crafting supplies, as well as family photographs. It was also my mother's birthday on Friday. So, while we now have all our remaining belongings, we also got to spend my mother's birthday weekend together! We could not have asked for better weather.

The Andy Warhol Museum was one place on my radar. It was uniquely Pittsburgh - Warhol was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and attended Carnegie Institute of Technology, which later became Carnegie Mellon University - and for that reason, was a place to visit which would definitely be remembered. The recommended way to visit it start at the top floor, and work your way down, therefore taking you from his early life downward to his death.

As much as I enjoyed the artwork and learning about his early life, I loved the Archives on the second floor. Warhol was a collector. After his death in 1987, it took Soethby's nine days to auction his estate. A small number of what he collected is shown in the Archives. The most notable to me, was the pastel-colored surgical corsets he was required to wear after the assassination attempt/shooting in 1968, as well as the knickknacks.

Also, this "Myths Series" was definitely one of my favorite pieces in the museum:

After the museum, per soon-to-be-stepfather's request, we walked a bit around the nearby Waterfront, before heading to a Tikki-style bar which B. had found via Instagram. It was interesting. The drinks were all tropical-themed, and were coordinated as each glass came in its unique-style glass. (I got the 'Ishmael'. Because of course. It was literary.) We later came back out to our neighborhood, having dinner at one of our two local Hibachi places.

Today, the mother and soon-to-be-stepfather left soon after we had breakfast at our place. But we took B. and A. downtown, visiting the Strip District. Much like with the Andy Warhol Museum, it was C.'s and my first visit to the Strip District. It was cool, and almost certainly somewhere we'll find ourselves walking around again. Much like with the Tikki-Style bar, B. had found a restaurant via Instagram she wanted to try. They had hoped to have lunch there Saturday after their drive to Pittsburgh, but seeing as they did not work out, we had lunch there today. After which, we said our goodbyes, we walked around a bit more on the Strip, making note of shops we'd want to visit on a future excursion, and chatting with a local photographer selling his wares. (We also bought two prints.)

We also walked along the nearby waterfront, and checked out a local cemetery, which very much reminded me of the Mount Auburn Cemetery we left in Massachusetts, which in addition to having a large number of pokestops, had beautiful grounds, interesting statues, and deer!

(We also later saw a group of five, and a group of ten. We're of the opinion, it may be all the same group/family, just branched off in various sections of the grounds.)

We spent an hour walking around. Oldest graves we saw were 1800s, newest from the 2010s. There was also some question as to whether it may be two separate cemeteries, as there was a fence running through parts of the grounds.

Now we're home. Relaxing, gearing up for the week. I have work tomorrow. At least I'll sleep well tonight.