Pennsylvania Vacation 2023 - Day 10 (Pittsburgh)

Day 10 - We packed up and hit the road for Pittsburgh. We were a *little* excited for our day in Pittsburgh because it was going to end at PNC Park for a Cubs game!

Maddie & I are showing off our Cub gear...

While we were getting ready for the day, Will turned on the TV. Soon we saw Matt join Will to watch whatever was on...we'll let you watch what we watched. LOL

Well, now that we all know how to brush our teeth...we were able to check out and hit the road. Our first quick stop was at the Harley Davidson to sit in the large swing. 

After a 2 hour drive and a stop for lunch, we arrived in Pittsburgh. As we drove into the city, we saw Acrisure Stadium (formerly known as Heinz Field), where the Pittsburgh Steelers play.  As we drove around throughout the day, we got to see the stadium up close. HUGE!

Our first stop was at the Duquesne Incline. This incline has been voted (USA Today) as "one of the top ten cites in the world for viewing a cityscape". The incline opened on May 20, 1877 and was restored in 1963. We boarded the beautiful cable car and rode to the top. 

The Panoramic view of the city of Pittsburgh and the 3 rivers below was amazing!

We couldn't believe the bridges! So many bridges!

A view of the Steelers stadium 

We left the overlook area of the incline and walked along Grandview Avenue to see more of the city below. We stopped and read about the meeting of George Washington and Seneca leader Guyasuta, who was a scout for Washington. Both Washington & Guyasuta put down their weapons and held their meeting. This meeting was to discuss the future of the area. This little pocket park is called Point of View Park.

We continued walking along Grandview Avenue - having some fun along the way. 

Heading back to the Incline, we took some time to read about the history in their exhibit. What a nice display!

Heading back down the Incline. The cable cars were so beautiful. 

While looking at the city below (from the Observation Deck), we noticed a large stone monument with an oval in the middle (in front of the football stadium). A quick Google search revealed that the monument housed a statue of Mister (Fred) Rogers. Um, yeah...we definitely need to see that up close! We made our way across the river. We couldn't find a parking spot so Matt dropped a few of us off and circled around the block. 

Alex, Maddie & I walked down the stairs to walk along the waterfront as well as see the monument from the front. 

Not gonna lie - the statue was a little creepy! It was a neat homage, none-the-less. Rogers was born in Latrobe, PA, which is approx 40 miles outside of Pittsburgh. He later moved to Pittsburgh and filmed Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in the city.

Evidently Pittsburgh has a claim to many "firsts" in the sports world -

First professional football game

First broadcast of an MLB game

First African American player drafted by the NBA

First NFL Champions (1902)

First nighttime World Series Game

Pittsburgh also claims to be the birthplace of Pro Hockey and College Basketball.

We walked a little bit (around the block) to see the football stadium a bit closer as well 

A pylon from Three River Stadium was moved from the original site and placed outside of the new football stadium (Heinz Field). Evidently there are other markers (including home plates on the ground for Three Rivers and Exposition Parks). We didn't see those (didn't know to look for them either). It was definitely hot and the sun was beating down on us, so we were ready to get back in the air-conditioned van!

We drove around Heinz Field and PNC Park - partly wasting time, partly to see things up close. While coming up to a stop light next to PNC Park, I glanced out the window and noticed 2 guys who had just crossed the street, heading towards PNC. Me: "Hey, that looks like Dansby Swanson"...One of the girls mentioned that the other guy really looked like Ian Happ. We were stopped at the light so I quickly rolled down my window and hollered "Dansby & Ian, Good luck tonight!" Happ didn't look our way but Swanson acknowledged us with eye contact and a smile. Fast forward two seconds (cue carnival music), light turns green, Matt turns and parks in a loading zone, throws the van in park, grabs his Cubs hat, sharpie and camera and tells the kids that he's gonna chase them down like a crazy fan to get their autograph and photo (okay, he didn't really say that...but he was thinking it! LOL). The three girls ran out with him (all the while Alex saying, I can't see Ian Happ in person, I'll just start crying!). Matt admits to being a bit of a crazy fan as he ran after them and said that if Ian and Dansby had been closer to the entrance, they probably would've started to run to escape him - HA! In the end, they were very gracious and took a picture with the girls and both signed Matt's hat. This is a memory that our family will remember and cherish for many, many years!

After that excitement, we drove across the Allegheny River (via the Andy Warhol Bridge...the Roberto Clemente Bridge was under construction) and stopped at Point State Park. At this park, the two rivers (Allegheny and Monongahela) converge into the headwaters of the Ohio River. There is a beautiful fountain, Fort Pitt Block House & Museum, Fort Duquesne (site only, no building) and miles of walking paths. 

At this point on the path, Kaitee and Matt continued along the river while the rest of us heading up the hill into the "heart" of the park. 

Once we all met up again, we headed back to the van.

It was still too early to go to PNC (get into the park), but we would be able to get into the parking lot...so we decided to head there. 

I purchased our parking pass online, when I bought the tickets - I figured we'd have to walk a bit, but wow! This parking spot was amazing (we ended up moving a bit further back in the lot so the van wouldn't be right in the walking path of thousands of people)! 

Still having time to spare, we looked for a local ice cream shop and found one (Happy Day Dessert Factory) a mile away.

After finishing our delicious ice cream, we walked the 20 minutes back to the van/parking lot to get ready for the game (grabbed the camera, phone chargers, snacks, etc). A quick selfie outside of PNC and we were ready!

The tickets for this ball game were a Christmas gift from my boss. After visiting Wrigley so many times, we were shocked by the low prices of the tickets at PNC. The next few pictures, the girls were in the section that they thought were our seats (I hadn't told them where our seats would be - we wanted them to be surprised). When I said that we were in the wrong section and pointed to the correct section, they were shocked and ultra excited! 

Pretty sweet seats!

Our seats from Google Maps...

We were able to watch a group of Cubbies taking batting practice - Mancini, Barnhart and Madrigal. Madrigal even hit a few out of the park (he's not known for his power - we loved the excitement of those around him when he hit them out of the park. Pure joy)

I got up the nerve and went up to the camera well to meet Taylor McGregor (T Mac) - one of the on-field reporters for Marquee, the Cubs' TV Station. This was definitely a highlight for me!

Always fun to see the rest of the broadcasting crew - TV (Jim Deshaies and Boog Sciambi) and Radio (Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer)

We were sitting close enough to grab pictures of the players as they ran on/off the field.

This was the forecast at the beginning of the game. 

There were some dark clouds hovering overhead before the first pitch (absolutely no rain showing up on our phone weather apps!), but by the top of the 2nd inning, it had started to sprinkle and then turned into a full downpour! It let up pretty quickly but then the skies opened up again and Matt, Kaitee and I (with the nice camera) ran for cover. As we got a few rows up, the rain let up again and Matt & I went back to our seats (Kaitee continued to find shelter). At this point, it was still raining lightly, but we decided to stay in our seats. Besides, the game was still being played AND it was getting exciting for the Cubs! We ended up scoring 3 runs in the top of the 2nd, during the rain storm! WooHoo!!

We were pretty wet at this point...Kaitee was still MIA (honestly, she had texted us to let us know that she was safe and with a few hundred fans - all huddled around one TV on the concourse!)

There were a few innings where the Bucs had bases loaded with 2 outs. Luckily, we held them to no runs!

Cubs Win, Cubs Win, Fly the W!!! Here is a recap of the game. 

We snapped a few pictures with our W Flag, used the restroom then headed out to the van. 

Our van was one of the last vehicles in the lot - right beyond the person walking.

We loaded up and hit the road for our hotel - 30 minutes north in Cranberry Twp. What a fun ballgame to be a part of! Thank you to my boss for the amazing tickets. It was an experience none of us will soon forget.

Favorites from Day 10 -

Matt - Cubs game (rain & Flying the W), Letterbox Series

Becki - Cubs Game, Meeting T Mac

Kaitee - Incline, Riverwalk with Matt, Meeting Cubs Players, Cubs Game

Alex - Fountain, Seeing Ian Happ, Seats & Rain at Cubs game, Ice Cream

Will - Cubs Game (rain), $1 coins in change machine at Incline

Maddie - Cubs Game (Amazing Seats), Meeting Happ & Swanson