| Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! | |
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+7Vis kirklandrules SteelersNorth Lokki Galax Steeler harrison'samonster IowaSteeler927 11 posters |
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IowaSteeler927
Posts : 5034 Join date : 2015-04-11 Location : Des Moines, Iowa
| Subject: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Sun Apr 24, 2016 8:14 pm | |
| So finally, this year is going to be the year that I get to go see my Steelers, on the holy grounds of Heinz Field. I'm super excited. I got the time off approved at work already, and the wife surprised me tonight that she had been setting little bits of money to the side, and we already have enough to purchase pretty decent tickets. We're going to the September 18th match-up against the Bengals in Week 2. So I need some help from the seasoned fans who have been to Heinz Field and know their way around the Burgh. I have no idea what to look for in hotels. The hotel really doesn't need to be fancy at all, I don't want dingy and disgusting, but something basic that doesn't cost an arm and a leg and isn't a million miles away from the stadium would be great. So if you guys have any suggestions, links, or what not please share! Also please let me know some of the good places to eat, obviously Primanti Bros is one place I'm going to hit up but I'd love some other suggestions as well! Any other help, parking information, tips for attending the game and having the best experience, places to see in the city, places I should stay away from, etc... I'll take any help I can get! Oh and btw we're driving to Pittsburgh from Iowa, which I believe is 16 hours, so I don't have to factor in plane tickets or anything like that. Thanks for the help in advance! _________________ "Success isn't owned, it's leased and the rent is due every day." - TJ Watt | |
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harrison'samonster
Posts : 2443 Join date : 2015-04-08 Location : Near Youngstown OH
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Sun Apr 24, 2016 8:22 pm | |
| Good luck and have fun Iowa! Never been to a game there so can't help you, but the streets aren't as confusing as people say. You'll love it there, Pittsburgh is a really nice small city. Especially lit up at night, have a blast! _________________ Have you ever wondered what you would look like frozen in carbonite?
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IowaSteeler927
Posts : 5034 Join date : 2015-04-11 Location : Des Moines, Iowa
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Mon Apr 25, 2016 12:11 am | |
| - harrison'samonster wrote:
- Good luck and have fun Iowa! Never been to a game there so can't help you, but the streets aren't as confusing as people say. You'll love it there, Pittsburgh is a really nice small city. Especially lit up at night, have a blast!
Thanks Ham! Definitely going to be a blast! I just wish the day wasn't so far away! _________________ "Success isn't owned, it's leased and the rent is due every day." - TJ Watt | |
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Galax Steeler
Posts : 11576 Join date : 2011-12-30 Location : Galax Va Nickname: Trixie
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Mon Apr 25, 2016 5:00 am | |
| Hey Iowa my brother lives in the burgh I have been to games but if you will pm me on facebook I could get him to get in touch with you and give you some good advice he knows that place inside and out. _________________ | |
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Lokki Jerkimus Maximus
Posts : 868 Join date : 2015-04-07 Location : Gulf Coast
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Mon Apr 25, 2016 6:41 am | |
| Awesome, Iowa! I just went for my first time in December, to the Broncos game. We stayed at the Hampton Inn by UPMC. It was pretty nice and had free breakfast as well. The staff there was great. They have a free shuttle service that will drop you off and pick you up in a 3 mile radius of the hotel. That wasn't close enough to take us to Heinz, but they did take us to the little subway station and we rode that to the stop at PNC Park and Heinz field and it was a short walk from there. When the game was over, we just rode the subway thing back to where they had dropped us off and called for a pick up and they came and scooped us up.
Here is a link to the hotel site. http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/pennsylvania/hampton-inn-pittsburgh-university-medical-center-PITOKHX/index.html
Like you, we drove there. However, we took advantage of the free shuttle service quite often and we used that to go downtown to tour the city and just left our vehicle at the hotel. We used the shuttle to go to Consol the night before, for the Penguins game as well. It was really nice having that, so we didn't have to worry about finding places to park, etc. We could just tell the driver where we wanted to go and get dropped off, then call for a pick up. Even though it was free, we did tip the driver, but it was well worth it. | |
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SteelersNorth
Posts : 567 Join date : 2015-04-09
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Mon Apr 25, 2016 7:50 am | |
| - IowaSteeler927 wrote:
- So finally, this year is going to be the year that I get to go see my Steelers, on the holy grounds of Heinz Field. I'm super excited. I got the time off approved at work already, and the wife surprised me tonight that she had been setting little bits of money to the side, and we already have enough to purchase pretty decent tickets. We're going to the September 18th match-up against the Bengals in Week 2.
So I need some help from the seasoned fans who have been to Heinz Field and know their way around the Burgh. I have no idea what to look for in hotels. The hotel really doesn't need to be fancy at all, I don't want dingy and disgusting, but something basic that doesn't cost an arm and a leg and isn't a million miles away from the stadium would be great. So if you guys have any suggestions, links, or what not please share! Also please let me know some of the good places to eat, obviously Primanti Bros is one place I'm going to hit up but I'd love some other suggestions as well!
Any other help, parking information, tips for attending the game and having the best experience, places to see in the city, places I should stay away from, etc... I'll take any help I can get! Oh and btw we're driving to Pittsburgh from Iowa, which I believe is 16 hours, so I don't have to factor in plane tickets or anything like that.
Thanks for the help in advance! AWESOME! You'll be making this trip once a year after you've completed this one :) Primanti Bros. is great :) I hit that place every time I'm down for a game and get the good ol' 'Pitts'Burger. Enjoy! | |
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kirklandrules
Posts : 1864 Join date : 2011-08-25 Location : Riiiiight heeeere
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:59 am | |
| For the Dec Denver game, we stayed at the Marriott right in downtown. Might be a bit pricey. But it's about a 2 mile walk to the stadium, and we walked up the river for most of it, which was a nice walk (and should be a nice walk in mid Sept). That location also allows for walking distance to a bunch of restaurants. Parking at the hotel was free. We were heading to central NY state (near Syracuse) for Christmas and with the drive up from Charlotte, we appreciated not having to get in the car and drive around and the walking gave us plenty of exercise we wouldn't get with the driving during the rest of the holiday trip.
My wife is from the 'Burgh and we get up there annually to see her family. One thing I love to do is to go to the Strip District. The shops and food are amazing ... from all over the world. Pennsylvania Macaroni is great ... their cheese selection is huge, we always get their spiced olives, they have excellent olive oil and fresh made breads. We usually hit Penn Mac right before leaving the 'Burgh so we have those snacks when we get home (throw it in a cooler with ice and you're set to go).
Scoglio Greentree is a very good Italian restaurant and it's very reasonably prices. Their veal meatballs are awesome! It's just west of the city. | |
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IowaSteeler927
Posts : 5034 Join date : 2015-04-11 Location : Des Moines, Iowa
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Mon Apr 25, 2016 3:04 pm | |
| Thanks for the heads up guys! Much appreciated! _________________ "Success isn't owned, it's leased and the rent is due every day." - TJ Watt | |
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Vis
Posts : 1946 Join date : 2015-04-06 Location : South Kakalaki
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Mon Apr 25, 2016 3:09 pm | |
| I like the Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square. Water taxi to the game. Adds to the experience. I also like the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel. Great bar across the street. You can walk the bridge to the tailgating and the game. _________________ This is the strangest life I've ever known.
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Atlanta Dan
Posts : 2001 Join date : 2015-04-18
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Mon Apr 25, 2016 3:15 pm | |
| - Vis wrote:
- I like the Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square. Water taxi to the game. Adds to the experience. I also like the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel. Great bar across the street. You can walk the bridge to the tailgating and the game.
Also have stayed at the Station Square Sheraton and taken the Gateway Clipper to and from Heinz - one of my treasured photos of my Dad is on the water shuttle on the Mon with the Pittsburgh skyline in the background On another Steelers trip I stayed at Marriott Spring Hill Suites across the street from PNC Park - great walk to the game along the Allegheny and a good postgame atmosphere in the area Be prepared for jacked up rates and nonrefundable reservations for hotels near Heinz on Steelers game weekends | |
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Fire Arians
Posts : 2051 Join date : 2011-11-11
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Tue Apr 26, 2016 4:14 pm | |
| The Hyatt was nice, it's just a block away from the stadium so you won't have to worry about getting to the stadium and parking. And it's right across the street from grille 36 :)
It was a safe city it seems, I walked around a lot and didn't feel like I was in a bad neighborhood or anything. People are friendly there. People I chatted with bought me free beers for being ex military and coming all the way from Hawaii to watch the Steelers haha.
Even the Ravens fans I ran into were a nice bunch (we were playing the ravens that weekend). It was crazy how almost the entire city wears Steeler gear as their normal attire.
If you're looking to buy beer you have to go to a beer distributor or something. I remember being pissed off the morning of the game cause I couldn't grab a 12 pack of beer at any gas station. Weird because I always get beers from gas stations here in hawaii, but i guess they can't do that over there.
Oh yeah and the food over there is pretty heavy compared to what I'm used to eating, they love their meat there. I must have put on almost 10 lbs during my trip lol. The roethlisburger from peppi's is definitely one of those things. It must have been jam packed with so much calories because I wasn't hungry for a little over 24 hours after eating that thing. But it was definitely good :) | |
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solardave
Posts : 6189 Join date : 2011-09-30 Location : State of Confusion
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Wed Apr 27, 2016 2:28 am | |
| Iowa the stadium is in a pretty safe area. I'd say I hope you have a great time but I know you will. I can't offer much in the way of tourist advice since I haven't been there in years. The one game I went to we walked to the game from the other side of the river. I';m pretty sure Jerome still owns a restaurant near the stadium and there is a casino also in the vicinity. | |
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Scottish Steeler Xtreme Newb
Posts : 77 Join date : 2015-12-29 Location : Edinburgh, Scotland
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Fri Apr 29, 2016 3:18 am | |
| Wow amazing buddy, you'll have a blast. Not sure about the 16 hour drive though. From leaving my house in Edinburgh to arriving at my hotel in Pittsburgh, the quickest I've got there is 19 hours....and 3 days to get home after the Dolphins game in 2013. Missed 4 flights due to snow. Stuck in Chicago for 2 days and was exhausted getting home. Anyway hotels I've stayed in have been doubletree Hilton at Bigelow Boulevard. Good hotel, good value for money, great to catch a penguins game (you won't in September though) and not Too far away from downtown. You must give Pamela's diner a shout. Best breakfast in town by miles. I go there every morning for breakfast so usually just get a room when I fly over. Fairmont is my favourite and I've stayed there 3 times. It's expensive but worth it. Will smith was there filming concussion the same time I was there. Didn't get to see him but he wouldn't have understood my broad scots accent anyway lol. Any the fairmont is worth pushing the boat out as downtown and its close to everywhere. Habitat restaurant does the best Canadian rib eye I've ever tasted. Nolas on the square is great for drinks and food. You have to ride the incline just to take in the sights...there's also some great bars at the top in Shiloh. Louis Lipps frequents a bar there called sloppy joes. His buddy Mark, owns the joint. Head along to east Carson street and visit Fat Heads and try their wings...really good bar food here. Be warned...the beers are strong. Pipers is also here and just along and over the road. It's run by a Scottish guy so there's always soccer on tv and the food is British and really good. The Omni William Penn is also ok. Very grand from the outside but not so hot inside...expensive but not worth the money. It's worth paying a bit extra for the Rennaisence or Fairmont. There's also the Nitth shore if you want to be in the thick of things on game day. It's good to cross the Clemente bridge and walk along the river...all the boats will be in on game day and the tailgating there on a sunny day is the best. Winter time tailgating doesn't cut it for me. If your in town for a few days then the wife will love the Ross park mall...what woman doesn't love shopping! McFaddens on game day is a good pub to visit, as is the kilted pig. It's also next to bar 36 which is Jeromes bar. You'll also see him in there on occasion playing host...but he does get narky as everyone wants a piece of him. I was fortunate T meet him at the Browns opener a few years back. I did tell him he should be in the hall of fame one day and low and behold.....any I got his autograph which made the trip worthwhile. Once in Heinz field you'll be blown away. Just visiting the great hall is mind blowing and worth the journey alone. You'll see greatness everywhere so take your camera. And once you've been to Pittsburgh for game day you'll want to go every year. When the game starts you'll be lucky to take it all in. You'll end up doing what I did and that's just gazing everywhere. I watched the fans as much as the game. Lucky I taped it and watched it when I got back home. It's an amazing place, with amazing people and an amazing team. You'll love it my friend! | |
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IowaSteeler927
Posts : 5034 Join date : 2015-04-11 Location : Des Moines, Iowa
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Fri Apr 29, 2016 3:46 am | |
| I appreciate all of the help guys. I'm sure this is going to be an amazing trip. I'll definitely post up on here after the trip and try to share some photos of the journey! _________________ "Success isn't owned, it's leased and the rent is due every day." - TJ Watt | |
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Fire Arians
Posts : 2051 Join date : 2011-11-11
| Subject: Re: Attending a Steelers game for the first time... Help needed! Fri Apr 29, 2016 1:04 pm | |
| - IowaSteeler927 wrote:
- I appreciate all of the help guys. I'm sure this is going to be an amazing trip. I'll definitely post up on here after the trip and try to share some photos of the journey!
don't forget to buy some mimosas | |
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