PNC Park - Pittsburgh Pirates

Over 2024 spring break, we headed out to Pittsburgh and Cleveland to mark off our number 9 & 10 baseball fields and to see the big eclipse in Cleveland on April 8! 

We headed out on a chilly Friday for Pittsburgh. We left from Asheville and went through Virginia to pick up Dillon's mom to join us. Traveling through West Virginia into Pennsylvania the weather was crazy! We would have moments of sunshine, then slushy ice then torrents of snow would come down. I was super thankful for Dillon's calm driving skills through twisty, turney, icy roads! 

Being from West Virginia, it was fun to travel through the area once again that I hadn't seen in almost a decade. Our kids also had never set foot in the area so it was fun to point out all the landmarks. We even made a stop at the New River Gorge bridge (the longest steel span in the western hemisphere!) Thankfully the snow/rain stopped long enough for us to stretch our legs and look around. 

We made it to Pittsburgh that evening. My dad had been to PNC park before and suggested a hotel that sits directly in front of the stadium and it was perfect! We were just a few short steps from being inside of the stadium and were close to all that downtown Pittsburgh had to offer. Cost is a big deal when trying to locate a hotel, but this was definitely worth it. Plus, we had free breakfast and an indoor pool! Win win! 

The first morning in Pittsburgh, we traveled to the Hungarian church where my great-grandparents were married. I had tried to contact the minister of the church to see if we could go inside, but the email was kicked back. It was still so neat to see a part of our own personal history though. That's one reason I really loved Pittsburgh, it seems to hold true to it's working class roots and is proud of the history of the town. 

Afterwards, we drove around acclimating ourselves to the area. I don't think we realized that Pittsburgh has so many steep hills. I figured it would be more like the flat areas, but it's still very mountainous. We headed over to the Heinz museum that was full of history of the Pittsburgh history and contained the set from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, which was filmed in Pittsburgh. It was a great museum, full of fun activities for the kids and lots of great learning experiences. We grabbled lunch at Primanti Brothers, a Pittsburgh staple, where the sandwiches come with slaw and fries on top. We were all starving and devoured our lunches! 

After that, we headed back to the hotel for some rest and pool time. This was opening day for the Pirates, but we didn't have tickets until the following day so we watched all the fans outside our window, meandering over to the park and having a good time! It also snowed on opening day, so after the pool, we grabbed a bite in the hotel, and watched the game on TV and the snow coming down outside. It was pretty crazy!

The next day was game day for us! We woke up and went to the Andy Warhol museum, which was interesting and weird. The kids were super grossed out that Warhol used his own urine to paint with, but it also gave the understanding that our world takes all kinds, ha! We ate lunch at The Original Oyster House, Pittsburgh's oldest restaurant, in service since 1870. We walked back over to the hotel and hit up the team shop for all of our souvenirs so we could take them back to the room and not have to carry them around during the game.

We bundled up and walked over to see the Pirate play the Orioles! Surprisingly enough, the O's fans showed up (similar to Arizona's game). I guess their fans are pretty diehard about baseball and we had lots of conversations with folks as we were all in our Orioles gear, too! Thankfully, the snow had stopped, but the chilly weather continued. We made it through the entire game to see the Pirates win 5-4. We had bought specific seats in the stadium, but have learned, since seeing the Yankees, that the best way to participate is to buy cheap seats and then walk through the park and plopping in open seats when you find them. That way you see all different vantage points of the game! 

Our evening was spent packing up getting ready to head out to Cleveland for the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, the eclipse and the Cleveland Indians opening day! 

All in all - Pittsburgh is a favorite. The yellow bridges, the ballfield, the city itself. I'd love to return one day to spend more time in the area!

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood! 

We waited for a few innings to get food and got in line to try the specialty hot dog (it had pierogis and sauerkraut) We got to the front of the  line, and ordered only to be told that they had just sold the last ones. :( We "settled" for these, but DANG they were still good. 

 

The church where my great-grandparents were married.