Somewhere in between three photo shoots and spending time with family, Matt and I did some touristy things during our holiday travel. After our shoot with Shannon & Dave, we went to Primanti Brothers for one of their famous sandwiches. Nothing says Pittsburgh more than a sandwich with french fries and cole slaw on it! : ) They are so delicious!

A shot of the beautiful landmark PPG Industries headquarters (Pittsburgh Plate Glass, which is why the building looks like a huge glass castle). In the courtyard of the PPG building is a beautiful outdoor skating rink with a huge tree in the middle (see Shannon & Dave’s pics for a shot of the rink).

In Connecticut, we went to visit some of the historic homes in Hartford. We originally planned to go to the Mark Twain house, but the long wait led us to take a tour of the neighboring Harriett Beecher Stowe house. Even though the house itself was not as grand as Twain’s house, it was definitely the more interesting one to tour. I highly recommend it for anyone who visits Hartford!

Katharine Seymour Day House
Katarine Seymour Day was the grandneice of Harriett Beecher Stowe, and she bought Stowe’s home and led the efforts to purchase and preserve Twain’s house as well. The Day House is now the location of the Stowe Center administrative offices. We were given access to the first floor of the house from our tour guide, Gloria. Of all the houses, this one was definitely the most beautiful!

I’m so thankful that there are people out there preserving pieces of history like this. Matt and I love to visit historic homes when we get a chance. They are definitely much more interesting than battlegrounds, which really look like more than nothing but an empty field! : )