Last Sunday was a fun day. One of our senior students, Ben, came over in the morning. I had a special day planned, about which Mer knew almost nothing, other than it was happening. Ben went to church with us, and after church, we headed east to Pittsburgh. The Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh was having the last day of an exhibition of the work of Alex Ross, a famous comic book artist. Ben and I are both comic book junkies, and so we had to go. Mer was wondering what would make me drive two hours into the heart of an unknown-to-me city. and now she knows. Men in tights works every time.

I am very happy I had my GPS – I think the majority of people living in Pittsburgh are people who drove into the city and could not find their way back out again. The roads are not laid out in a grid because of all the hills, and it was very confusing. Still, we made it to the museum and started on the seventh floor of the museum, where the Alex Ross exhibit was on display.

We started in a smaller room that had laid out the influences that Ross cites in his own work – mostly that of an artist from the 1920s and of Norman Rockwell. The exhibit laid out paintings from the earlier artists, and then showed one or more Ross works that were similar in style. It was very cool to understand the progression.

After taking in the smaller room, we went into the main hall, where there were about fifty Ross works on display, mostly of heroes from DC comics, like Batman and Superman. Ross tries to paint ideal but still possible heroes, and his work is stunning to comic nerds like me. Since this was the last day of the exhibit, the gallery was pretty full, and it was cool to people-watch as parents my age explained to small children the origin of various heroes.

Most of the work was of a very high level and from the professional work of Ross. However, there were some fun and interesting pieces from Ross’ childhood, including his own homemade comic book, paper action figures, and a great drawing of Charlie Brown dressed up as various superheroes. It showed an interesting perspective on the development of the talent of Ross.

Once we finished the Ross exhibit, which took about two hours, we looked at several floors of the Warhol museum. The rest of the galleries were very modern, and held my interest very little. We covered the rest of the museum in only about twenty minutes.

We headed back to the car. I wanted to go to Station Square, to the Sesame Inn Chinese restaurant. Our friend Craig used to live in Pittsburgh, and the Sesame Inn is one of his favorite restaurants. It is a ten-minute drive from the Warhol Museum to the restaurant.

Over thirty minutes later and many many wrong turns later, we finally arrived. Did I mention that Pittsburgh is confusing? It was about 4:00 on a Sunday, with the Steelers playing the 7:00 game later that day, and so we had the entire restaurant to ourselves. The Sesame Inn did not disappoint. Our food was plentiful and excellent.

Now that we were fortified, we walked the short distance to the Incline. The Incline is a public transportation car that climbs straight up the steep hill near Station Square. Since Ben had never been to Pittsburgh, I though we should ride it. The ride gives a great view of the downtown, and you can get out at the top and wander around a very nice neighborhood with great views, which we did. Again, it was sunny and warm, but the wind was getting cold. Also, I suffer from a pretty strong fear of heights, so I think Ben and Mer had a great time on the observation platforms, while I stayed off them as much as I could (except for a few photos).

After about a half hour of strolling, we headed back down the Incline and walked back to the car. We had a good drive back, getting to talk to Ben about his involvement in Forensics (Speech), in which he is quite good. Ben also enjoys a fair amount of music that Mer and I like, so we got to mutually enjoy some Simon and Garfunkel and some James Taylor.

A pretty day, good company, good food, and superheroes. That makes for a great day.