Day 7, part 2 and Pics

Greetings from Chicago--Des Plaines, to be specific. Yes, we're back from our great adventure to the east. Time to catch up on some blogging...

Stadium #5: PNC Park
Game: New York Mets at Pittsburgh Pirates

After the stop in Canton, we headed to Pittsburgh for a night game at PNC Park. (This was, well, two days ago now.) We were able to park really close, and had plenty of time to wander around the riverfront before the game. This park was our favorite so far, and there were only two minor annoyances: (1) The pro shop didn't have the hat Ed wanted in his size, so he was shut out for the first time on our trip. (2) We both ordered sandwiches from the Primanti Brothers stand, eager to try some trademark Pittsburgh fare. It's billed as a sandwich with everything you need right in there: meat and cheese, plus the slaw and fries. (I ask you: What's more manly than that?) And it was recommended by the guys who wrote that baseball roadtrip book I picked up last week. Unfortunately, they didn't live up to the legend--at least mine didn't. But enough of the gripes. Now for the good stuff...

There are a bunch of things I liked about this ballpark. First, it just looks like it belongs in Pittsburgh. There's nothing but steel I-beams everywhere you look, and that just feels right for the city. Second, the riverfront area is pretty cool. We spent a good while walking around the stadium, along the Allegheny River, and over to Heinz Field (home of the Steelers). It was much nicer than we expected from Pittsburgh. The Roberto Clemente Bridge is closed to all but pedestrian traffic before, during, and after games. So we took a walk across and back again to feel a part of the crowds heading to the game. That was pretty neat. Inside, the best part of the park is the really intimate feel. The seats are close to the action on all sides, and I was impressed by how much that seemed to add to the character of the park. Everything else about the stadium seemed to me to be good, but not necessarily great. The view of the city skyline was probably the best we've seen so far. The game itself was pretty good. Ed had a particular interest in the successes and failures of various fantasy players on both teams that night, and it was fun to see him as animated as he's been at any of the games so far.

After the game, we drove around a bit looking for a way up to Mt. Washington. The view of the river(s) and the downtown area is spectacular at night. I wanted to park and make out at one of the scenic overlooks, but Ed successfully repelled my advances time and time again. (Just wanted to see if anyone's actually reading this...) The great views were a nice final touch before we headed out of town that night. We were turned away at a few more hotels (bringing our total to some unexpectedly huge number) before we eventually made it to Beaver Falls, as I indicated in the last post. It's a small price to pay for the "thrill" of winging it.

Ok, finally I'll get to the pictures from Tuesday. There are many...

Here's me and Ed at the HOF in Canton. For some reason, he wanted to borrow my hat...


And here's the HOF wing...


...but it was kind of a bust.


The Minnesota Vikings have had seven inductees. You know, it's strange. I looked and looked, but didn't see any mention of the franchise known as the Green Bay Something-or-others that Ed kept referring to...


Wait. Maybe this Lombardi fellow had something to do with Green Bay...



Now for the Pittsburgh photos...

Here's PNC Park, as viewed from the N/NW:


And the Honus Wagner statue out in front:


We walked along the river for a bit. There are lots of bridges.


Not too far away was Heinz Field, where the Steelers play.


This guy was trying to get in.


Remember the old stadium for the Pirates and Steelers--Three Rivers Stadium? Well, here's the confluence of those three rivers. To the right is the Ohio; to the left (foreground) is the Allegheny; and to the left (background) is the Monongahela, which also goes by any one of its other Ben-approved nicknames: Manuh Manuh, Manatee, McGonagle, or Hava Nagila. (None of those names were Ed-approved.)


The bridge in front is the Roberto Clemente Bridge--the one that's only for pedestrians on game days. It heads right to PNC.


Walking along the bridge towards PNC might look like this:


While looking to your left might look like this:


Looking to your right, you might be tempted to skip the game. There's a whole district?


At the end of the bridge, Roberto Clemente says, "It's time for some baseball!"


Inside, the view from our excellent seats looked like this:










It looked pretty cool after the sun went down, too.




What a great ballpark!