Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with pittsburgh

CBT headshrinkers in Pittsburgh

woolly — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:01:53 -0800

Can you offer any recommendations for CBT-centered therapists in and around the Pittsburgh area, ideally east end? I'm looking for a CBT psychologist to provide therapy in conjunction with meds. I have Major Depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, OCD and symptoms of PTSD. I am looking to learn CBT skills to help me cope with these issues that stick their dirty hands into my life and soil everything that makes it good and fun and worth it.

So far in therapy I have tried EMDR (didn't seem to do the trick for me), as well as regular talk therapy - the kind that felt like not much was getting done aside from chit-chat type conversation about day-to-day occurrences in my life, which became frustrating when I didn't want to fork over the co-pays for casual conversation.

I take Effexor 150mg once daily, and my psychiatrist expects to potentially increase the dose sometime soon if my symptoms do not improve even more. I also have Ativan .5mg on hand for dire situations and/or panic attacks.

I have a tendency to put off finding a therapist because of the previous experiences not working out, and because it's all a bit weird and awkward for me, but I really need to get this accomplished as my life has been threatened by these things in recent history, I'm a lifelong self-injurer with two suicide attempts in my past.

My primary issue in life is currently my anxiety and a recent spike has me motivated to find a good, solid therapist who can help me learn CBT. Pittsburgh area, preferably east side. I have widely accepted insurance. Suggestions? Thanks.

Pittsburgh restaurant recommendations

librarianamy — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 05:40:32 -0800

I would like your help brainstorming the perfect Pittsburgh restaurant(s) to suit the needs of my local group. Special requirements (of course) inside. The local professional group that I'm a member of will be hosting a "dine around" later this month. I've never actually attended one, but they're defining this as "meals with different hosts at various restaurants around the city scheduled at the same time on the same night." Our members can then pick which host/restaurant they want to dine with that night, for networking and fellowship.

Usually when I eat out, it's just the two of us, and we stick with our favorite haunts. (It's not that I'm not willing to try new places. It's just that I love Piper's Pub that much.) So truthfully coming up with a venue that can meet the requirements (below) is stumping me.

1) Most importantly, a place that takes reservations. We're probably looking at four or five different places that can seat six to eight people at the dinner hour. We're leaning towards a Tuesday or a Wednesday, so we're not fighting weekend crowds.
2) I'd prefer local, not chain.
3) Vegetarian friendly.
4) A place that isn't going to balk at splitting checks. This is minor, but would be a perk.
5) Relatively affordable. A large chunk of our membership are graduate students on a budget.
6) With good food. And drinks.
7) Geography isn't important. We're mostly in the city, as a whole. I'm fairly certain that one of my CMU/Pitt colleagues will host in Oakland, and someone else has claimed dibs on Kaya (the Strip). I'm most familiar with the South, but as I said, flexible.

Black Thumb + Cold + Bad Light = Super Easy, Right?

amicamentis — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 04:44:33 -0800

What are some hardy, pretty, or useful houseplants for a small space in the Pittsburgh/Western PA/Northeast region? I am... not great with keeping plants alive. The survivors I have right now are some rosemary and basil in my kitchen window. It's also cold by my kitchen window. It's south-facing so it gets some sun during the day. Here's a pic.

I prefer keeping them in the kitchen because a: I won't forget to water them as easily, b: the cats don't go up there, and c: if one tips over I can clean up the dirt easily.

I would love to have a more herbaceous kitchen. Residents of or near this area: what has worked well for you? Bonus points if it has a cooking function or is super pretty.

Secondary question: how best to set up that corner for plants? Hanging plants? A shelf?

Third question: Where are great places to buy such plants around the Pittsburgh (preferably East End-city) area?

Thanks!!

Decent garden center south of Pittsburgh?

Camofrog — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:13:40 -0800

I'm going to help my brother install a raised bed and some fruit trees/bushes in a couple of weeks. We're probably going to be putting in some raspberries/blackberries, blueberries, and maybe a few fruit trees. I do not want to purchase diseased/generic junk at a big box. Is there a decent garden center in the West Newton area? Bonus points for tipping me off to somebody who can deliver a yard or three of garden soil/compost. Many thanks!

Where should I go for pharmacy school? UF, UPitt, UW-Madison

LaunchBox — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:55:58 -0800

I'm trying to decide what Pharmacy school to go to and I'm very stuck. I've already been accepted to UF, UPitt, UW-Madison. I'm waiting to hear back from UT-Austin, and Chapel Hill, but deposits are due and I need to make a decision ASAP. Ranking
They are ranked UF and Upitt - 14, UW-Madison - 5, UT - 4, Chapel Hill - 2, but I'm not sure if ranking is as important in pharmacy school as in law school and I'm having a hard time figuring that out. I'm especially conflicted because the only sort of ranking comes from US news and world report. I've looked to student doctor network, and the individual school's websites. Are there any resources I'm missing that might help me pick what academic program is best for me?

Money
I would get in state tuition at UF ~95K, UPitt is ~112K, UW ~125K, and UT and Chapel hill are around 170K.

Location
I'm a 24 year old female. I grew up in Miami and went to school in UF. I LOVED Gainesville. It's quirky and crunchy. There's a lot of fun local restaurants and bars. However I might be ready for something a little bigger.

What should I know about these places when making my decision. I visited Madison, Austin, and Pittsburgh for the interview but I was only there for two nights. Pittsburgh and Austin left the best impression on me.

Please help me with any input! Thank you!

What's cool from PIT -> ILM?

amicamentis — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 09:49:11 -0800

Considering driving from Pittsburgh -> Wilmington, North Carolina in early July. What neat stuff is on the way? (any way!) I'm going back and forth about how to get to Wilmington, NC for summer vacation. Pros of flying are obviously speed and effort. Pros of driving are scenery, exploring, seeing other spots on the way. Assume that I have enough days off of work to cover either case. What are some cool things to do?

According to Google Maps, there's a couple ways to get down there at around ~10 hours. Routes include I-95S, I-79S, and I-40 E. Looking closer at the map, it appears as though we could hit Winston-Salem, NC, Raleigh NC, Morgantown, WV, Washington DC, Richmond VA, or go through the George Washington National Forest.

Any suggestions for things to do on these routes? Camping is possible but so is sleeping in a car. Trying to keep this relatively low budget. We like being outdoors but not roughing it. Two adults, 20s-30s, no kids.

Thanks!

Where to go on a first date in Pittsburgh?

UrbanEye — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:39:07 -0800

27 year old straight male living in Pittsburgh. I'm doing the OkCupid thing. I would like to go on a few dates, but I don't know where to go for a first date. Elsewhere on AskMe, people have said that a first date with someone you met on Okcupid should be brief compared to a first date with someone you've known in person for a while. Makes sense. I could put together an awesome date that was three hours long, but when I try to think of something short and sweet, I'm at a loss. Moved to Pittsburgh and worked in a kitchen in Southside for three years before getting my current 9-5 I.T. job a few months ago. Most of my Pittsburgh friends are cooks there. My social circle is very into deep-fried anything, and copious amounts of booze and weed.

My stereotypical 90%+ OKC match is an artsy/geeky, vegetarian(ish) grad student who studied in Europe for a semester. In an alternate universe, I would be too, so it makes sense.

Where are the quirky little places to grab a quick bite to eat that I would know about if I went to CMU or lived in Lawrenceville or something?

1989 Wasn't That Long Ago...

amicamentis — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:21:44 -0800

Buying a furnace for just one floor of a house - help! We own a multi-family house with three floors (one apt. per floor). A routine furnace inspection uncovered the fact that our 2nd floor gas heater was from 1989 and something was cracked and leaking carbon monoxide. The heater inspector turned off the gas to the furnace.

Our second floor tenants now have no heat and so we have to make a purchase quickly. How did you pick a furnace? What is important? Do you have to find a contractor to install it? Do you have any recommendations around the Pittsburgh area?

Any suggestions or tips will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Help me find fun & intellectual activities in Pittsburgh

UrbanEye — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:21:10 -0800

27 year old somewhat nerdy male. Non-drinker. Have lived in Pittsburgh for four years. Recently left a nights-and-weekends kitchen job for a 9-5 office job. I've never had nights and weekends off in my adult life and, silly as it sounds, need ideas on what to do. I know enough to pick up the City Paper and look in the events section. My current situation is that my friends almost always are working when I'm not, so I'll be attending activities alone initially. Making some additional friends would be cool.

I enjoy intellectual pursuits and prefer small gatherings. I'm not averse to going to see local musicians perform but I'm a little intimidated about going alone.

I feel like there has to be something for all the late twentysomething Pitt and CMU grads to do now that they've graduated. I'm out of the loop in that regard, having not been in college (aside from CCAC) since I moved here. I've let my intellectual side atrophy for a few years. I left university not due to a lack of interest, but a lack of personal discipline. The culture suited me perfectly.

My recently creating an OkCupid profile made me realize I need to get out of the house. I match with grad students. Lots of grad students. Also, an awful lot of Neil Gaiman fans, but I digress. My profile gives off a bored and lonely vibe no matter how I write it, and for good reason.

Any suggestions?

Where should my wife and I go for a long weekend in December from Pittsburgh?

sgo — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 08:16:18 -0800

My wife and I are looking for ideas for a long weekend getaway from Pittsburgh in early December. What would you suggest? We are planning to go Nov. 30th-Dec. 3rd. We like the outdoors, food, beer, and cultural things. Shenandoah National Park has come up in our discussions, possibly spending some time in Charlottesville and then driving Skyline Drive and spending our last night in Front Royal.

What are some good daytrip destinations within 3.5 hours of Pittsburgh?

Alison — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 08:16:30 -0800

I'd like to get out of Pittsburgh for a daytrip with some girlfriends this Sunday. What are some fun places within 3.5 hours drive of Pittsburgh where we can eat nice things, see nice things, and drink nice things for a day? What should we do when we get there? We would like to stay out of the snow, if possible. Right now the top choice is Columbus because I would happily drive that far for Jeni's ice cream. However, I don't have any idea what else I would do there, so we're open to all kinds of suggestions.

Moving to the Steel City!

Turkey Glue — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:01:33 -0800

I'm moving to Pittsburgh, but I'll be working in Vandergrift. Can you help me with Pittsburgh neighborhoods and its environs? I've looked at a few previous questions, and it seems that Squirrel Hill and Shadyside are clear winners. However, I'm working in Vandergrift (45 minutes NE of the city,) so I'm curious if any other oft-represented neighborhoods or towns (Wilkinsburg comes up often in Craigslist searches) in between are good. I start the week after Thanksgiving, so this is pretty short notice for a move.

I've narrowed down a few places on Craigslist that I'll call; are there other apartment services or listings in Pittsburgh?

For what it's worth, I enjoy walking and biking, and living around fun things/good food, which is why I think the commute will be worth it moreso than living in a rural town.

Additionally, my girlfriend lives in Morgantown, WV, so nothing too far North, please.

What covers our needs without going overboard?

amicamentis — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 08:56:28 -0800

We own a house. Two of the floors are rented out. What is the best home insurance for us? General home insurance questions to follow. I've done some searching, but it seems like advice is conflicted. We would like basic coverage for the house but also to protect the areas that are rented out (as in, a tenant leaves the oven on by mistake and the house burns down).

Additionally, we are considering knocking a bit off of rent for one of our tenants in exchange for light super duties (letting in contractors, shoveling snow, dealing with utilities, etc). What happens if he slips on the ice while shoveling? Is something like that covered in the policy?

Homeowners and landlords, what have you found that works for you? What specific add-ons are worth it and what are not? Is there a good, comprehensive, independent guide to how much home insurance you should buy? It seems like right now we are almost TOO covered - but I don't know for sure.

Any specific details to Pittsburgh, PA are also welcome (policy info, great agents, etc). Thanks!

Outdoor fitness classes in Pittsburgh

Scottie_Bob — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 13:32:02 -0800

Outdoor fitness classes in Pittsburgh? When I lived in the UK, I did a thing called British Military Fitness which I *loved*. Running, jumping, press-ups, sit-ups, squats, more running, burpees etc etc etc, all done outdoors come rain, hail or shine.

Now that I'm in Pittsburgh, I was hoping to find something similar, but my Google-Fu is failing me pretty hard, so I was hoping that some of the Pittsburgh MeFites might be able to help me scope out something similar.

A few things:

1) I know that CrossFit is big here, but the nearest box is about two miles away in the Southside. That'd be fine if I had a car, but I'm living in Greenfields and the easiest way to the Southside and back is through Greenfield Avenue, which is a MASSIVE hill and not one that I'd be keen on running up after a workout. Also, CrossFit is expensive. But if there's a CrossFit in Squirrel Hill that I don't know about, I'd consider it.

2) There's a thing called Fitness in the Park (Frick Park), but I've been trying to contact the person who runs it, to no avail. This is the kind of thing that would be *perfect*, so again, it'd be great to know if there's anything else like this.

Basically, I want an outdoors group workout with running, jumping and other fun stuff, in Pittsburgh, preferably in Squirrel Hill or Greenfields. Is that too much to ask? :(

I want to watch the OTHER black and gold team, please!

tryniti — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 15:51:49 -0800

Where is a good place to watch a non-Steelers football game on TV in Pittsburgh? So I moved to Pittsburgh earlier this year, and am super excited that it's finally football season! I've had no problems catching my college games on Saturday nights (Geaux Tigers!), but it seems that the Saints will never be the spotlighted game up here. I'm not interested in buying a cable sports package, so I'm searching for a good place to catch a game that isn't the Steelers.

I live in the Regent Square area, so I'm open to anything within the city. I don't really want to drive out to the 'burbs, since a) I'll probably have a drink or two and b) I'll get totally lost. I'm 33, female, and will be going solo to watch the game. Looking for a place where I can maybe sit at the bar, get some food to munch on, have a beer, and cheer on my team.

So, any good places around here with lots of tvs and a decent atmosphere for watching Sunday football?

Here's hoping I can do better than McDonalds

ActionPopulated — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 06:53:24 -0800

Taking a long-distance train trip with a 3.5 hour layover in Pittsburgh. Where can I eat near the train station during my layover? I'm taking the train from Philly to Chicago in a couple weeks, on a Thursday if it makes any difference. If all goes on time (and I realize this is a big if with Amtrak), I'll arrive in Pittsburgh at a little after 8 PM, and the train from there to Chicago will leave around midnight.

I assume that the train station food options will suck, and by then I'll want to walk around anyway. Any suggestions for good, cheap (<15 dollars at least, <10 dollars even better) meals within a mile or two of the train station? I'm primarily vegetarian, so not Primanti's, and I'm very picky about pizza. Other than that, pretty much anything goes. I'm open to either eating a quick sit-down meal or getting take-out to bring back to the station.

Walking directions to any potential places would also be appreciated, since I don't have a smart phone to check maps.

Thanks in advance, everyone!

Help us find a Pittsburgh-themed activity for our dad!

leesh — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 06:04:49 -0800

My siblings and I are struggling to come up with a birthday present for our dad, who's turning 60 in a couple weeks. My sister-in-law heard about a thing in Philly where you can go on a tour of the city and learn to take pictures with your fancy digital camera, but we can't find a Pittsburgh equivalent. Help us, please! Our dad doesn't really need /stuff/, so going by previous Ask questions, I suggested getting him stuff he can do. He loves photography and has a fancy digital camera with fancy lenses. Does anyone know of any sort of photography tour of Pittsburgh we can get him? Or other similar cool Pittsburgh experiences? (Our mom has Pens tickets for him already, and we're getting them some restaurant gift certificates for their anniversary this week, so those are out.) 60 is kind of a big deal and we really don't want to get him the usual cigars and beer. Our backup plan involves a tabasco of the month club, which is fun and all, but not really that exciting. None of us live in Pittsburgh anymore, so we're kind of out of touch with what's cool. Please help make our dad's birthday awesome, Mefites!

Need a bank with Pgh and LA locations

jus7brea7he — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 14:54:02 -0800

Please help me find a bank with Pittsburgh and Los Angeles locations... Hi all - I'm looking for a bank with ATMs/branches in both Pittsburgh (Shadyside, Oakland, Squirrel Hill) and downtown Los Angeles. Not looking for anything fancy (just a standard checking account), but online banking would be a plus.

I'm currently a Bank of America customer, but there are hardly any BofA ATMs in the Pgh area. Was considering PNC, which is fairly ubiquitous in Pgh, but alas, they don't have any LA locations. Help? Thank you, in advance!

A queen mattress that fits through a twin doorway

Chef Flamboyardee — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:01:18 -0800

Looking for a comfortable (firm!) queen mattress that fits through a very small door. My girlfriend is looking for a mattress that has the following properties:
* Firm (like Ikea three-dots firm)
* Queen size or thereabouts
* Low profile (half the height of a normal mattress would be great)
* Won't break the bank. Maybe around $300 if possible?

The mattress also has to go up two flights of narrow stairs (both with corners) and last of all it has to go through a very small door (optimistically five feet tall and two and a half feet wide). We suppose that means it should roll up.

Ikea offerings either won't compress through the door (e.g. Sultan Fjordgard) or aren't firm enough (e.g. Sultan Fidjetun). American futons haven't impressed us much in the past (they tend to get divots no matter how often you flip them), but are worth considering if there is a good brand. A Japanese shiki futon sounds nice, but we know of no place in Pittsburgh to try before buying---is this a good way to go? What do you think? Any advice on specific models?

Pittsburgh travel advice?

barnoley — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 17:04:13 -0800

Pittsburgh travel advice? I'm planning a short weekend getaway to Pittsburgh later this month. Just wondering if anyone can recommend any things to do while we're there?

We are a couple in our 30s with a baby under one year of age. We're attending a Pirates game one day, but are looking for other activities for the rest of the trip. We like long walks, bookstores, and good cheap food... any recommendations for restaurants/street food/coffee shops or specific neighbourhoods that are good for long strolls? Any other attractions? We're not really in the mood for museums for this trip - basically just need a change of scenery for a few days. We will be staying downtown.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Looking for non-religious volunteer work in the Pittsburgh area

Ryogen — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 19:19:37 -0800

What kinds of volunteer work could I do that might give opportunities to get to know others, particularly in the Pittsburgh area? I'm basically asking this same question, except in the Pittsburgh area. But my only previous volunteering experience was for a political campaign back in 2004 as part of a school project. I didn't mind that and plan to do more political volunteer work this year, but it would be nice to have other options as well.

I'm 26 and just finished a general Associate's Degree, with plans to go back to school next year. And I'm finding myself sick of the dead end job I've been at for the past 4 years, so I'm looking for ways to possibly get a better idea of work I'd find meaningful or enjoyable, do some networking, find job references, build up my resume, and just make friends. On top of all that, of course, I'd like to make a difference and get a sense that I'm helping others.

I've just started seriously looking into volunteering local to Pittsburgh and have had trouble finding much of interest. One problem is that a few of the volunteer jobs I've seen so far are church sponsored or otherwise religious in nature. I personally consider myself atheist/agnostic and don't like the idea of doing volunteer work in the name of a god I don't believe in. Habitat for Humanity had interested me until I saw the headline at the top of their homepage.

So any suggestions for volunteer work in the Pittsburgh area where I could get out and meet people, without having any particular dogmas shoved down my throat, would be great.

How late is too late to find a good apartment?

nakedmolerats — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:10:04 -0800

How early should we look for apartments in Pittsburgh to move in July? We currently live a 9-hour drive from Pittsburgh. It's more economical for us to rent a car and drive than fly, so we'd like to only make one more trip to find an apartment before we move.

We'd like to move and start our lease on July 1. We're looking at the neighborhoods: Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Friendship, East Liberty, Bloomfield, etc.

We were planning on going maybe next weekend, but then I got offered a job interview in the city on June 1 that can't be changed. So now we're wondering if that weekend (June 1-3) would be too late to look if we wanted to start a lease in July. Would the selection be a lot more limited than if we went earlier this month?

(Any other apartment hunting tips in Pittsburgh would also be welcome. Right now we're just bookmarking stuff off of Craigslist.)

Where to send my resume at this point in my education?

UrbanEye — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:24:55 -0800

I'm in community college for I.T. (associate's degree focused on network/sysadmin work, mostly). I have a valuable, but incomplete set of marketable skills at the moment. I have a good handle on how to market myself, but no clue as to who I should be directing my attention to job-search wise . What businesses would be interested in someone who is still in school, but has proven himself capable at an internship and is willing to work for cheap? More info:
Located in Pittsburgh, PA
Currently working full-time as a line cook making $11.25/hr. That is all I require from an IT job at this point (though I'm not planning on volunteering that information in an interview). I would actually be willing to take a slight pay cut and think of the job like a paid internship.

I have an associate's degree in computer aided drafting and I am 75% through an I.T. associate's degree focused on prep for systems and network admin-type work.

I have been working at an unpaid internship for seven months learning an incredible amount working with a small I.T. department at a nonprofit. I have, with almost complete autonomy, designed an automated deployment solution for Windows 7 that they can use in production when they start replacing their 400+ machines.

Food service is getting old and I want to get out of it. I feel I've reached an awkward point in my education and experience where I could be really useful in the right environment, but could be a liability, or at least a pain in the ass, in the wrong one. There are plenty of places willing to pay someone $36 an hour for the right skills, but have no use for someone without those skills, even at $12 an hour. I want to avoid wasting my energy barking up those trees.

At my internship, when I was setting up a test environment for my deployment server and such, I had to order and install extra RAM and SCSI drives for the old server I was using. Nothing difficult, (though formatting the new logical partition using a Linux console was tricky, and new to me). I can handle little stuff like that without needing my hand held.

So, I'm wondering where there is an overworked IT pro who is saying something like "I have so many more important things to worry about than upgrading these old servers and deploying Windows 7. I wish I could get someone to help with that, but I can't afford to pay them $x." (Although "$x" would be nice)

Thoughts?

It thirteen point one miles

octothorpe — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 04:34:03 -0800

Help me run the last three miles of a half marathon next month. I've run twice before and both times I stalled out at around 10 miles. I've got four more weeks to go, help me make the best of them. So I'm training for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon on May 6 and I want to do better than I did in the previous two year's runs. Both times that I ran the half, I was running ten-minute miles for the first ten miles and felt pretty good but then around the ten mile mark, my legs just turned to wood and it took all of my will power just to keep them moving. I ended up doing this ugly walk-lope sort of thing for the last three miles just to keep going and finish. I had been heading toward a 2:10 finish but ended up around 2:20 both times. My heart and breath were fine and I didn't feel exhausted but my legs felt like they were pushing through tar.

Background: I'm in my late forties and somewhat overweight and have been running for a decade or so. I'm following Higdon's intermediate training guide and actually following pretty closely this year. Previous years I'd followed the beginner's guide but not really that well. I'm running around 25 miles a week with a mix of four mile runs, interval runs and long runs. Long runs are between eight and ten miles, usually between a 10:15 and a 10:30 pace.

Before the race I had a cup of coffee, a cliff bar and a pint of Gateraid and during the race I had a few energy gell things and stopped at every other water table for water. It was cold and rainy both time (Pittsburgh!) so I wasn't sweating too bad.

So what's causing my legs to want to seize up after ten miles and how do I prevent that from happening again next month? Do I do longer long runs? Stretch more? Eat differently (bananas)? Take walk breaks during the race? More weight training?

Around the US Northeast in Seven Days

DingoMutt — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:26:32 -0800

We need a sanity check on this trip, please! My partner and I are planning on getting out of South Carolina by this summer. We know we'd like to live further north, but there are five places we're considering and we're trying to plan the most economical yet useful trip to help us decide. So: what is the cheapest way to visit Pittsburgh, PA, Syracuse, NY, Burlington, VT, Portland, ME, and Providence, RI in a week? We have about a week to go investigate places we're thinking of living in. Neither of us have any experience of living in any of these places as an adult, but we've been doing research online and have narrowed down the aforementioned places as our most likely candidates. Our plan right now is to fly up to Pittsburgh from SC, rent a car there and drive it up through New England, and then drop it off in Providence and fly back to SC from there. We realize that this will not give us a great deal of time in each place, but we both adjunct at our local university so Spring Break week is about as much time as we're going to get for this trip prior to the end of the semester (which is when we're hoping to move!). From what we've found on sites like Orbitz and Kayak, it seems that this is going to be pretty pricey - picking up a car in Pittsburgh and dropping it off in Providence is going to cost us ~$500 for the week, not to mention costs for flights and the like. If there is some other way of getting around over this time - or if there would be a better pick up/drop off city that would still enable us to hit all of our intended destinations - we are certainly flexible in that regard.

Are we overlooking any other approaches, or is this just how much a multi-city trip like this is going to have to cost? We are certainly happy to take any other transportation mode we can, so long as we can get there and back in a week. Our budget is tight, our days for the trip are numbered, yet there's a lot we feel like we need to see (and yes, we have discussed cutting out some of our stops, but unless we cut out Pittsburgh it doesn't seem like it would make a huge difference - and we're considering Pittsburgh seriously enough that the trip would not be very useful if we didn't visit there). If you have any suggestions about how we can do this for less, we would be grateful to hear them!