*EarthFare Gift Card Winner announced at the end of post!*

So get this …

…I’ve lived in Cleveland my whole live, and I’ve never once been to Pittsburgh.

Weird, seeing as it’s only 2 hours away – right??

Well this weekend we fixed that – and headed off to Pittsburgh to celebrate our friend Brian’s birthday!

We checked into our hotel (that we snagged for $59 a night thanks to Priceline-Name-Your-Price – I just LOVE that option!) – and found the 20 foot ceilings in our room quite intriguing.

After a quick change of clothes we started our trek across the city to happy hour at our friend’s hotel, which was right next to the Consol Energy Center (which was totally happenin’ since there was a hockey game that night).

Once everyone was ready to hit the town – we took a cab over to Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36 – the birthday boy’s restaurant of choice.

This place gets major props in my book – they were able to seat us immediately! (a party of seven, at 7:30pm on Saturday, no reservations)

The menu had a ton to choose from so my friend Stephanie and I just split to appetizers since we were having trouble with the decision.

The Korean bbq beef tacos – which were disappointing (you can see them in the background of the picture below).

And the nachos. Which were insanely huge, and equally delicious.

Nachos before: (the picture really doesn’t even do it justice!)

Nachos after (and the boys even jumped in and helped us out too):

When we finished – we were close enough to the casino (The Rivers Casino) to just walk, so walk we did.

Not without letting the birthday boy, a die hard Cleveland Brown’s fan, have a little fun first.

I dislike the Steelers like any good Clevelander should – but I will say – Pittsburgh at night, near the water? VERY PRETTY!

Once we got the casino – most of the boys went off to gamble, which left me, Mike and Stephanie to go in search of some beverages.

We got very excited when we saw the non-crowded “select-a-pour” wine tasting tour! (That should have been our first indication we were in trouble!)

Not quite sure WHAT we were thinking – the wine was crazy over priced, the cards malfunctioned three out of the five times we used them, and the wine was so stale I poured my last two selections out.

You win some, you lose some – right?

Since we weren’t impressed with the wine – we headed over to “Drum Bar” which had an amazing view of the water, good music playing, and decent drink prices.

The three of us were even able to snag a seat at the bar!

The best part? They had Great Lakes Christmas Ale on draft

Things got a little hazy from there – I just know that by the end of the night, my feet hurt so bad from walking around in heels, I was so grateful that we were able to snag a cab back to our hotel.

All said and done – I have to admit – Pittsburgh was pretty decent I’d definitely go back again!

EarthFare Gift Card Winner:

Nichole!  Send me your info!!