Call it “the Trip” if you want, it was a once in a lifetime (maybe, hopefully not) experience. Brought on by some enticing discussions with my co-worker and fellow PittsburGator Mark Miller about a trip he took to Heinz Field, the idea bounced around in my head. Add Brant’s devotion to the Steelers, and his impending 40th birthday, and the plot was hatched. But when…and how? Back and forth, and forth and back, hard to decide what would be the best game. My initial thought was that it should be the Jaguars game since Pappy would be proud of our hometown boys and it would thus have meaning (he was paying, after all). But for whatever reason, I couldn’t pull the trigger—good thing, the Steelers stunk it up that game. The best two remaining were the Ravens, a traditional rival, and the Patriots, with whom the battle raged for top seed in the AFC. A traditional…bitter…rival, or the chance to see both Big Ben and Tom Brady in the waning years of their respective careers—tough choice. Finally settled on the Ravens, mostly because the tickets for the Pats were o-u-t-r-a-g-e-o-u-s for the same seats. But also felt good to see a game that the Steelers were more likely to win AND against a bitter rival. And Brady is … well, Brady.
Now the how came into play. My tentative plan was to show up in Charlotte, either at the house on Friday, or have Shelley drive Brant to the airport on the pretext of picking me up, then spirit him off to Pittsburgh on the next flight. I conferred with Shell, and the machinery began churning; but when I started thinking how that would work in practice—and the fact that such a secret plan was more appropriate for a husband (or wife) whisking his/her spouse off on a second honeymoon to Paris—I caved and shared the idea with Brant. That worked better, actually, as it gave him time to research Pittsburgh and have a little joyous anticipation. If only he had known…(that’s foreshadowing, for those who don’t recognize it).
The game was shaping up to be a good one. The Ravens needed all they could win to stay in the hunt for the playoffs and contend for the division championship. If Pittsburgh won, they would be the North Champion. High stakes. Add to that the suspension of JuJu Smith-Shuster (aka, JuJu the Avenger) and it looked interesting.
[We saw this shirt while there--I almost bought one, but the underlying event will melt into the snows of history too soon, even though JuJu has cemented his place in Steelers' hearts on that one play.]
The seats were acquired (46 yd line, 10 rows up) for just one arm and one leg, and the hotel was booked. Oddly, it was in a decent spot and Expedia had it net for $100 less per night than almost any other hotel in the area. Brant talked me out of a car because of the public trans and (my new discovered best friend) Lyft. All set.
Friday December 8th: Trip out of Jax was great, no problems, no delays. Met Brant in Charlotte and off we went. Cab at Pittsburgh airport was the easiest and quickest, and we pumped the driver for lots of info on the way into town. Seems he had just driven Troy Polamalu recently and confirmed he was a great guy. The hotel was a surprise—Embassy Suites is a midrange stay in most cases, but I had never been in a hotel where the lobby and check-in were on the 25th floor, with all the room floors below. Our room overlooked a church; it was amazing to me how European the downtown looked, diverse and interesting architecture all over, and lots of cathedral type churches. Almost a little New York.
We had definite signs that this trip was destiny. In researching the area, I found a Stockton Avenue north of the river, and the hotel was bounded on the south by Oliver Avenue. The bar in the lobby was called Ollie’s. We were next door to a Burlington’s (which we visited several times) and a short walk from Market Square.
After settling in, we made that walk (not too cold after all) to Primanti Brothers, a famous Pittsburgh eatery that was worth the walk. Sandwiches with fries already built in...what a concept! It was a great meal and decent beer. After that...let’s just say “It was a dark and stormy night….”
After dinner we explored the Christmas market across the street, and then struck out to see the city’s nightlife. After a less than thrilling stop at Mahoney’s, which had absolutely nothing to recommend it, we ended up at the 941 Saloon on Liberty Street, playing pool for several rounds.
The rest is hazy…. (Only during research for this blog did I discover that 941 is considered by some to be the best gay bar in Pittsburgh...not that there is anything wrong with that...no wonder some guy wanted to know if he could watch us play pool!) I do recall liking the bar though because everyone left us alone... being old is no fun, I recommend against it. (And, no, that is not a baby bump above the pool cue, just good living.)
Saturday December 9th: Lunch was calling by the time we woke, so Brant suggested some wings at a little place on the other side of the river, Fat Heads. We got our bus passes (yes, you read that correctly…how quaint) and hopped on over to what is called Southside. We had a wait for a table, but that gave us some time to explore the slightly shabby streets and find a dedicated Steelers’ gear shop (that’s where we saw the shirt). I had to have a Terrible Towel, of course, along with a Le’Veon Bell shirt.
The food was worth the wait, but we were starving so we ordered too much (deep fried mushrooms are not nearly as good the next day cold, you should know). But the waitress liked the pictures of my Batcave.
More wandering the city (after a nap), followed by a bus trip to a highly recommended venue, Penn Brewery. Bus went right there, let us off across the street. It was lovely, but the weather kept the courtyard closed and the inside was smallish. They had first wanted to put us in the basement, which they called the "Ratskeller," which might have been a good name in English rather than German. No way, Hans,...we sat at the upstairs bar instead. There was football on the TV, and large drafts, so (predictably), a good time was had by both of us, though I think on points the OMB in Charlotte has it beat. Bus stopped running so we got a Lyft home, my first, so it was an interesting experience--driver very friendly. I assume he found it comforting he could unload his frustrations on us about not being able to locate his previous fare. Guess not all is perfect in the ride-sharing universe! We would get to do the Lyft thing again (more foreshadowing, duh).
Sunday December 10th: The day arrived. We wanted to get to the North Side of the river early in the afternoon to get a table at Jerome Bettis' 36 Grille, another landmark. The "T" ran from near us downtown to 2 stops near the stadium; it was early so we got off at the first of them to wander about like tourists. No one noticed. That also gave us a chance to explore Rally House, a souvenir and apparel (using that word loosely) store near the field. Great stuff, but not much in the way of jerseys--and how can you choose, anyway?--so I got a keychain. [I had bought my Steelers hat at Burlington--and a nice one it is too--though I was adorned with my orange and blue hat for visibility on TV. Oddly, I got into more conversations in the Rally House about the Gators than the Steelers!
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| View of city from across the river |
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| From different angle |
We moseyed over to Jerome's around 3 PM to discover a 2 1/2 hour wait...ouch. Still, we had planned for enough time, and it gave us a chance to explore more of the Heinz Field environs. I didn't know Southern Tier was from Pittsburgh, and they had a nice brewpub nearby, not as crowded as I would have imagined. They had some interesting selections and screens everywhere. We also killed a little time at something called Stage AE, a strange little mini-theatre that had a big screen of the games (presumably the Steelers game when it was on, for folks without tickets) and, of course, a bar. Not a great bar, but economical--another surprise. We found the Pope of Pittsburgh wandering about here...
How about that Buffalo game?
I have never seen so much snow on a football field--crazy!
We found our way back to the restaurant and were not disappointed. There were lots of people packed in (a fellow who came in when we were seated at 5:30 was told it was now a 4 hour wait!) and quite a bit of noise, but our dining room was away from that end and the food was excellent. We didn't get to go into Jerome's private dining room, but maybe next time, when it's less crowded. Then, it was time to head to the game...
When you go into the stadium, you get to walk through a shrine of sorts, with Steeler memorabilia, pictures, and stuff. And everywhere they sold beer...well, almost... it was Miller Lite for the most part. Good Times.
These were our seats, and, as you can tell, we got there early enough to see the players warming up.
The temperature was actually bearable, and we were heavily clothed. I wish I had bought stock in UnderArmor, cuz that stuff is G-R-E-A-T. It was exciting to see the Steeler Stars (especially #84) running around, being normal guys. We even got a closeup (sort of) glimpse of Mike Tomlin.
And everyone around us were Steeler fans, as the crowds outside had been. Noisy, exuberant, friendly folk. Though we saw one or two brave Ravens fans outside, the whole city was overwhelmingly black and gold.
The game....ah what can I say that would enhance the actual wonderfulness of a come-from-behind victory over a bitter rival (who played pretty darn good, by the way)? Several of Antonio Brown's big plays came right in front of us, and we got to see a lot of the interaction on the Steeler bench. The bizarreness (and wonderfulness) of the game culminated in the Ravens' letting the clock run out while in the huddle because they misunderstood the rule about a fumble out of bounds. Sweet, sweeter, sweetest.
Brant never lost faith that the Killer B's would bring the team back, but I, increasingly cynical about the horrendously bad officiating, was getting more and more doubtful with each yellow flag. The blind bastards...I swore up and down they were paid off...many of the calls were very very bad, and some critical ones were absurd. But in the end I repented and got excited too. It all worked out fantastically and and we got to see the Pittsburgh Steelers become Kings of the North. Fffing Ineffable.
We walked around after the game and got some shots of the stadium from up high. It is a marvelous place to watch a game, almost from anywhere.
The postgame trip back downtown was hectic; it seemed like 50,000 fans were trying to get on the shuttle that held about 100 per trip. We strolled over to the nearby casino and had a Lyft driver come get us. I was told it is always dicey when the fare isn't stated up front, as for such events, but it was going to be worth getting back an hour earlier than on the "T" (if only that). The driver was a pro and bobbed and weaved around cars to an alternate route that was a great view of the city from the east side. And the fare ended up being $9 and change. What a deal. Left us some money to get a pizza at Domino's (why?), which we thought was about the only thing open other than bars. And yet, Brant found a cute little place called the Stuff'd Pierogi Bar, which had last call at 2 AM. I don't recall they were still serving food, so it was puzzling why the waitress got snippy when I began nibbling on the pizza. Sheesh. She was calmed by my pics of the Batcave, however, but still standoffish.
We managed to stumble back to the hotel by around 2:30, but neither of us were up long. Sadly, Ollie's was closed, but otherwise, we were beyond content.
Monday December 11th: Trip home 😢 -- got some breakfast and last minute shopping in and caught another Lyft to the airport. The driver was a bit grumpy, but overall an excellent experience. Another good result was that because Brant had the Lyft app, he got to pay for the rides. We had a nice, final meal at the airport and I could bring home the Penn Brewery bottle I didn't get the other night.
The perfect end to a great trip. The flight was thankfully uneventful, and Brant and I parted ways in Charlotte. My second leg was simple as well, and thus endeth The Trip. Happy Birthday, Brant! Go Steelers! On to the Superbowl!!!!
P.S. The Patriot game the next weekend was a rainy, messy, wholly unbelievable loss in the last 30 seconds. Glad we made it when we did.
