Diana, Ruth & myself at the Phipps Conservatory—a whole lotta green goin’ on

Tuesday morning, my friend Diana and our former classmate Ruth (who I haven’t seen in 46 years) traveled to Pittsburgh, and the three of us went to the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, established in 1893.

It honestly blew me away—I’ve lived in the city almost 40 years, and this was my first visit there.

I probably took 100 pictures, but when I began pulling them up on my computer for editing & downsizing, all I saw was a whole lot of green. 

I don’t think they were interesting enough to show that many here, but I still wanted to post a few just for memory’s sake.

Afterwards, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner, and what would one of my posts be without a couple food pics?

Here’s the outside of the Conservatory (it was a pretty cloudy day).

Here’s a nice shot of Diana (left) and Ruth, shortly after we entered the first dome.

This dome contained some British-type gardens; I loved the green statues in the far back.  (You can click on any photo to enlarge.)

One cool crocodile (if you wave your hand in his mouth, two giant crocs emerge from the water).  In the second photo are some verrry tall gold & red glass sculptures.

More giant glass pieces among the greenery.  These are big enough to lay down in

A sloth hangs from a tree; a pair of elephant sculptures, spraying water

There’s a path that winds below the surface, then emerges into a forest filled with live butterflies.  It was breathtaking, I captured a bright orange one here.

After the conservatory, we went to the Cheesecake Factory.  Diana got a spicy dish of Korean barbecue chicken, but first enjoyed a big slice of banana cheesecake for an appetizer.  She’s a grownup, she can do as she pleases.

Ruth got a chicken salad sandwich and sweet potato fries, and I got this “Bee Sting” flatbread pizza (with a spicy hot honey sauce) and a Caesar salad. Everything was delicious.

I did get a piece of their famous cheesecake to go, but wound up devouring the whole thing before we left.  At $11.95 a slice, I wish I’d made it last longer!