Before I departed westward, I had spent a long time thinking about different places I could visit on my way. I messaged friends. I got free travel brochures from nearly every state that I could cross through, and soon delighted friends and family with fun facts about Wisconsin’s Rustic Roads, or, say, Ohio’s state fruit. (The tomato!)

When push came to shove, well, I had a fairly detailed plan up until Minnesota. But, it was tricky to balance work, packing, and planning, especially when I wasn’t sure when my car would be ready

My first stop would of course be Pittsburgh, where it soon turned out that the first person I was planning to visit and possibly stay with was in self-quarantine after a potential COVID exposure at a wedding.

With notions of alternate plans and fabulous hipster pizza in mind, I hit the pike – the Pennsylvania Turnpike, to be more precise, and soon rolled into town.

In Pittsburgh, I was graciously taken in by former roommates of mine. Together, we had Spak Brothers and beer (brewed by Sam using Zappa hops, so it tasted like grass and apple core, very experimental – would drink again.) Together, we watched Samuel L. Jackson get eaten by a shark. What more could one hope for? (Literally nothing!)

Given other friends’ COVID-scare, I toned down some of my imaginary plans to try to hang out with “all of the people” and “see all of the things.” (Especially because I had a few more friends I planned to stay with in various cities during my journey, and I did not want to bring Coronavirus to anyone else who graciously offered to host me.)

They’re Coming To Get You, Barbara!

Come Labor Day morning, Mike offered to take me for a ride in his Miata to the Evan City Cemetary, famous as the filming location for the opening scenes in George Romero’s seminal film Night of the Living Dead. The cemetary is a small place, perhaps one whose residents (or their families) might prefer to not be famous from a zombie movie.

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Evans City itself was once home to a Romero museum, and currently has a nice looking ice cream shop, which was closed for our visit.

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Exif Data For The Selected Image
Camera Make	OLYMPUS CORPORATION
Camera Model	E-M5MarkIII
Lens Model	LEICA DG 8-18/F2.8-4.0
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Besides the jaunt to Evans City, I don’t have too much to write about my stop in the Pittsburgh area. I greatly enjoyed the other wonderful, warm, joyous humans I did get to see, and of course Salem’s & some hipster coffee. (Probably the last coffee shop worth visiting that I hit before, say, Idaho.)

But I can say that I had a blast.