My trip to Pittsburgh - Week 2 Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati

So I finally got around to putting a Flikr album together, I have literally been sick since a little bit before I actually left for Pittsburgh because it just wouldn't be a vacation if I didn't get Bronchitis to go along with it. But anyways, I will say that I had the time of my life. My wife and I spent about 4 solid days in Pittsburgh and tried to cram as much as we could into those 4 days. We stayed at the Comfort Inn on McKnight Road (affectionately dubbed McNightmare road by the locals) which was only 5 minutes from downtown and conveniently close to a lot of stores and what not. We spent most of our time downtown, we ate at Jerome Bettis' Grille 36 two separate times, and we of course went to Market Square and ate at the famous Primanti Bros. We took the Duquenes incline and saw the city from a spectacular view. My favorite part of the trip outside of the game was visiting Heinz Field for a tour. We paid a whopping $8.00 a piece to get an in depth tour of the stadium. I was literally everywhere. The clubhouses, the suites, the press box, the tunnels, the player's tunnel where they take the field, the Pitt Panther's locker room, the visitor's locker room, the Steelers Locker Room, down on the field I was able to touch the grass, etc... The tour was amazing, I never thought I'd get to see all of that up close and personal.

Gameday was electric. The atmosphere was just awesome. It was pouring rain at various points throughout the game and I didn't care. I actually think it made the overall experience that much more fun. The wife and I were sitting in Section 126 Row C (near the Bud Light Deck) so we had a great view of the field and we were practically on top of the visiting player's tunnel so I got to heckle Andy Dalton, and most importantly Pacman Jones whom I despise as a person (even more so after the game was over). Renegade of course was just freaking awesome! They played it at the perfect time, and then they followed up Renegade with footage from the playoff game against the Bengals where Shazier forced Jeremy Hill to fumble the ball. It was perfect, like rubbing salt in the Bengals' wounds. Shortly after that Tyler Boyd get's hit by James Harrison who causes him to fumble. I thought it was pretty fitting that the Bengals lost what was supposed to be their revenge game in almost the same fashion that they lost the playoff game. Karma.

Hilarious story from the game. I noticed a Bengals fan at the end of the row kept looking at me. I was kind of weirded out but I noticed he was with a buddy of his who was a Steelers fan. Finally the guy ended up approaching me, and he says sir can I ask you a favor? I said sure, so he proceeds to ask me if I would be interested in trading rain ponchos with him. I was wearing a clear poncho I bought from Dollar General for $1.00. This guy's buddy had bought him a Steelers rain poncho for $10. He told me he didn't want to wear it because it was Steelers colors and logos all over it. I said I can understand that, his buddy was trying to convince me to force him to wear it because he wanted him to wear our colors. I ended up telling the guy I'd trade on the condition that he had to go around telling his buddies that a Steelers fan was nice to him. He laughed and said he would do that and was happy as could be that we made the switch. Win/Win I got a much nicer poncho, and something to keep as a memento from the game, and he ended up happy as well!

All in all it was an amazing trip. I'll link my Flikr album so you guys can check it out. It only has the photos I took for the most part, my wife took so many more because I was pretty distracted just soaking it all in. Hope you guys enjoy. Thanks to everyone on on here that offered advice, and those that offered help. Galax thank you especially for offering up your brother, we ended up not needing him which surprised the hell out of me, we actually got around fairly well! @Wallace108 sorry we didn't get to meet up. I tried heading your direction at halftime as I wanted to meet you, and I saw the guys holding up the Scottish Steelers flag but it was so crowded that the 3rd Quarter started before we'd even made it halfway to you. @Scottish_Steeler I don't know if you were at the game or not but I saw the Edinburgh flag! Really wanted to make it over there but couldn't miss the game!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124382650@N02/albums/72157671149654393

Thanks for sharing these awesome pictures brother!

fer69 wrote:

Thanks for sharing these awesome pictures brother!

No problem! Hope you all enjoy them!

Looks like you had a great time Zakk! I always wondered where we were suppose to post these type of threads here in this forum. In the past, I have had some questions to ask the board members in regards to the city of Pittsburgh. Maybe this can be the official thread for that?

I will be heading back to Pittsburgh for the second year in a row. We will be staying 5 nights at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco in downtown and will be catching the New Year's Day game against Cleveland. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do for New Year's Eve in Pittsburgh?

Awesome pictures Iowa. Thanks for posting them. I'm glad you had a great time.

Jazzo wrote:

Looks like you had a great time Zakk! I always wondered where we were suppose to post these type of threads here in this forum. In the past, I have had some questions to ask the board members in regards to the city of Pittsburgh. Maybe this can be the official thread for that?

I will be heading back to Pittsburgh for the second year in a row. We will be staying 5 nights at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco in downtown and will be catching the New Year's Day game against Cleveland. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do for New Year's Eve in Pittsburgh?

I'd say the Steelers forum is a good place for it. It has to do with the Steelers and people are more likely to see it here.

If you can get the tour of Heinz and you haven't yet. Get the tour, that's my single best piece of advice.

Jazzo wrote:

Looks like you had a great time Zakk! I always wondered where we were suppose to post these type of threads here in this forum. In the past, I have had some questions to ask the board members in regards to the city of Pittsburgh. Maybe this can be the official thread for that?

I will be heading back to Pittsburgh for the second year in a row. We will be staying 5 nights at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco in downtown and will be catching the New Year's Day game against Cleveland. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do for New Year's Eve in Pittsburgh?

First Night is a good thing to do on New Year's Eve Night [http://firstnightpgh.trustarts.org/].

The site isn't updated for 2017 yet, but I imagine it will be sometime. It's a family oriented affair, with lots of different types of entertainment from Jazz to art to ice sculpting. Lots of food vendors and a lot of the downtown restaurants and bars stay open late.

Eat at Jerome's if you haven't as well just be sure to go there when it's not packed to the gills. I'd recommend lunch or something ahead of a game. Very cool atmosphere and they have some cool Steelers swag you can buy, including autographed Terrible Towels. I'd recommend the 36 Burger or the Deep Fried Cheeseburger. The food isn't the absolute best I've ever had, but it's pretty good. I like the place more for the atmosphere.

jak341 wrote:

First Night is a good thing to do on New Year's Eve Night [http://firstnightpgh.trustarts.org/].

The site isn't updated for 2017 yet, but I imagine it will be sometime. It's a family oriented affair, with lots of different types of entertainment from Jazz to art to ice sculpting. Lots of food vendors and a lot of the downtown restaurants and bars stay open late.

Thanks jak341! That is a great idea, because it looks like they offer several options at this event. It is also in walking distance from where we will be staying.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

Eat at Jerome's if you haven't as well just be sure to go there when it's not packed to the gills. I'd recommend lunch or something ahead of a game. Very cool atmosphere and they have some cool Steelers swag you can buy, including autographed Terrible Towels. I'd recommend the 36 Burger or the Deep Fried Cheeseburger. The food isn't the absolute best I've ever had, but it's pretty good. I like the place more for the atmosphere.

Thanks Zakk! Yeah, I ate at Jerome's Grill the last time I was in Pittsburgh, but had to wait until the day after the game, because it was so packed. It ended up working out nice, because I talked to the bartender in letting us hangout in his V.I.P. room where Jerome keeps a lot of his trophies, etc.

To be honest, I thought Peppi's offered the best food while I was in Pittsburgh. I thought their sandwiches were even better than Primanti Bros. Anyone who has ordered the #7 aka The Roethlis"burgher" from Peppi's knows what I am talking about, lol.

http://peppisubs.com/

Great photos Iowa!!!...Thank you so much for sharing. I pray someday, we will be able to visit Pittsburgh. Being born, raised and still living in Oregon, it may be awhile.

Steellamb86 wrote:

Great photos Iowa!!!...Thank you so much for sharing. I pray someday, we will be able to visit Pittsburgh. Being born, raised and still living in Oregon, it may be awhile.

Make that trip man, you won't regret it. I'll remember it the rest of my life!

I had some pizza from Pelegrino's Pizza & Pasta. Pizza was very good, but the cheesesticks... Man those were good!

Steellamb86 wrote:

Great photos Iowa!!!...Thank you so much for sharing. I pray someday, we will be able to visit Pittsburgh. Being born, raised and still living in Oregon, it may be awhile.

@Steellamb86 Do you live close to Portland? Right now I am living across the Columbia River in Vancouver, WA which is basically a suburb of Portland.

Jazzo wrote:

Steellamb86 wrote:

Great photos Iowa!!!...Thank you so much for sharing. I pray someday, we will be able to visit Pittsburgh. Being born, raised and still living in Oregon, it may be awhile.

@Steellamb86 Do you live close to Portland? Right now I am living across the Columbia River in Vancouver, WA which is basically a suburb of Portland.

I did live in Portland (Tualatin actually) the last 30 years, but we recently moved south to Medford.

Steellamb86 wrote:

Jazzo wrote:

Steellamb86 wrote:

Great photos Iowa!!!...Thank you so much for sharing. I pray someday, we will be able to visit Pittsburgh. Being born, raised and still living in Oregon, it may be awhile.

@Steellamb86 Do you live close to Portland? Right now I am living across the Columbia River in Vancouver, WA which is basically a suburb of Portland.

I did live in Portland (Tualatin actually) the last 30 years, but we recently moved south to Medford.

Well, at least you are close to an "In-N-Out" burger now.

I'm glad to hear a lot of people are making the trip to Pittsburgh to see the Black & Gold LIVE!

I'm from Toronto, Canada and I've been going to at least 2 games a season since 2006. My first game was the post '05 Super Bowl Thursday night opener so that was pretty AWESOME!
Did it again after the big '08 win :)

2007 was my best season where I went to 4 games in a 5 week period lol but went to 5 games total one of which was the Wild Card game.

This year I'm seeing the Giants (bringing my little guy who is 2.5 so that'll be awesome for me) and then I'm visiting the arm pit of 'Merica good ol' Buffalo NY haha

Jazzo wrote:

Steellamb86 wrote:

Jazzo wrote:

Steellamb86 wrote:

Great photos Iowa!!!...Thank you so much for sharing. I pray someday, we will be able to visit Pittsburgh. Being born, raised and still living in Oregon, it may be awhile.

@Steellamb86 Do you live close to Portland? Right now I am living across the Columbia River in Vancouver, WA which is basically a suburb of Portland.

I did live in Portland (Tualatin actually) the last 30 years, but we recently moved south to Medford.

Well, at least you are close to an "In-N-Out" burger now.

Yeah, funny...Every time we drive by there, it has a line. we tried it once...worst fries I have ever had. Not worth the hype in my opinion.

hopefully you saved enough money for mimosas, damn so expensive :(

SteelersNorth wrote:

I'm glad to hear a lot of people are making the trip to Pittsburgh to see the Black & Gold LIVE!

I'm from Toronto, Canada and I've been going to at least 2 games a season since 2006. My first game was the post '05 Super Bowl Thursday night opener so that was pretty AWESOME!
Did it again after the big '08 win :)

2007 was my best season where I went to 4 games in a 5 week period lol but went to 5 games total one of which was the Wild Card game.

This year I'm seeing the Giants (bringing my little guy who is 2.5 so that'll be awesome for me) and then I'm visiting the arm pit of 'Merica good ol' Buffalo NY haha

Wow! @SteelersNorth you spend a lot of time in Pittsburgh. Have you ever thought about moving there permanently? I am currently transitioning into a career change and have been thinking about it a lot lately.

Fire Arians wrote:

hopefully you saved enough money for mimosas, damn so expensive :(

I can't afford those.

Jazzo wrote:

SteelersNorth wrote:

I'm glad to hear a lot of people are making the trip to Pittsburgh to see the Black & Gold LIVE!

I'm from Toronto, Canada and I've been going to at least 2 games a season since 2006. My first game was the post '05 Super Bowl Thursday night opener so that was pretty AWESOME!
Did it again after the big '08 win :)

2007 was my best season where I went to 4 games in a 5 week period lol but went to 5 games total one of which was the Wild Card game.

This year I'm seeing the Giants (bringing my little guy who is 2.5 so that'll be awesome for me) and then I'm visiting the arm pit of 'Merica good ol' Buffalo NY haha

Wow! @SteelersNorth you spend a lot of time in Pittsburgh. Have you ever thought about moving there permanently? I am currently transitioning into a career change and have been thinking about it a lot lately.

Only during the NFL season lol
No I haven't thought about it; I'm holding out to win the lottery lol
I have a pretty good job as it is, but if I win the big one, THEN I have it all planned out from there lol