A Trip to Pittsburgh For Preseason Football

Looking at the calendar, I realize there are just 10 days left in the Summer of Fun.  If this summer was a 'marathon', then I am clearly in the home stretch now and I am approaching it with mixed emotions.  I could talk about the down side to my summer with the kids (believe it or not, there's been a down side too), but I prefer to focus on what has been so great about it...

The slips of paper we added to the Jar of Fun at the start of summer vacation are mostly gone now and we've had some amazing adventures, starting in early June with the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh  and ending in Philadelphia next weekend on my 41st birthday  (and yes, for those who know I often like to lie about my age, I did just write that) when the Phillies play the Florida Marlins at Citizens Bank Park.  In between, I've given my kids what I hope they will always remember to be a fantastic summer of fun and travel and most importantly, time together.  This is, by far, the silver lining to losing my job last winter and I will always be grateful for the opportunity unemployment gave to me.

At the start of the summer, when we made our original list of places we'd like to visit and things we'd like to do in the summer of 2011, I included both the Eagles and Steelers training camps.  At the time it seemed optimistic at best given the player lock-out.  But, when the NFL's labor agreement ended that four-month lockout late last month, I started thinking it would be even better if we could take the kids to Heinz Field for the Steelers' first preseason game against the Eagles.  My brother-in-law is a season ticket holder, making it pretty easy to get our hands on tickets (thanks Greg), and so we took the kids to their first NFL game Thursday night!

Since the game had an 8:00 kickoff, we spent the day with college friends (the Kepes and Kelley families) before heading down to the stadium.

Our first stop for the day: the wave pool at Setters Cabin Park in Oakdale.  Setters Cabin was a terrific choice for an inexpensive afternoon with kids ranging in age from 5 up through 15.  Admission to the park was $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for kids ages 6-12, and $1.00 for kids 5 and under.  We had a such a great time at the wave pool, spending a few hours in the water, jumping into the deep end of the pool, over the waves, or just splashing and swimming around when the waves weren't rolling.

Afterwards, the Kepes family joined us at Joe's Crab Shack, someplace I'd never been but had heard good things about.  We ordered the Sunset Fired-Grilled Steampot for 2 and wow, was it good.  Crab, sausage, shrimp, corn and potatoes, all with really great seasoning.  The only thing that would have made it better is beer, but with a LONG night still ahead of us, I knew that wasn't a good choice.  We sat outside on the deck and let the kids play on the playground while we all waited for dinner.  Then we donned our bibs and enjoyed the feast.  Perfect!

With bellies full and miles of traffic awaiting us, we climbed into the car and set out for Heinz Field... someplace I hadn't been since November 2004 (the last time the Steelers hosted the Eagles).  I was nearly seven months pregnant the last time, was up and sick most the night before the game, and the Eagles were down 21-0 before the first quarter was over.  I can still remember my husband asking me on the way out of the stadium if there was anything fun about it... I told him "No".  And I meant it.  Even now, the only good thing I remember about the day was that it was very warm for mid-November and I never had to wear my jacket.

There wasn't much better about Thursday night's game except that it didn't count.  The preseason is just a way to see how your guys work together, to set your game roster, etc., though it was still disappointing to see Michael Vick have such a poor performance.  But the kids, though pretty tired from a BUSY day, had a great time.  The cheers of the crowd were a little tough for them to get used to, but they danced around and chanted "Let's Go Steelers" with the rest of the Steelers' fans. 

Rich with Big Ben and Hines Ward!

I should mention that I am not a Steelers fan, but will cheer for them on most any occasion.  The only exception is when they play my hometown team.  Matt and Cathy will also cheer for both teams on a Sunday afternoon... This was the first time they've needed to come down on one side or the other, and as you can see, the Eagles lost out, mostly because we only have Steelers clothes for the kids (they're pretty easy to find here in Central PA).  I wore my green in support of the team and found that in Pittsburgh, green was a lonely way to go.  Certainly the opposite of our trip to PNC Park earlier this summer when the Phillies fans outnumbered the Pirates fans...

These seats have me thinking about John Denver... "Almost heaven..."

Almost as soon as we sat down in our seats, Cathy said she was tired (she even took a nap on the car ride into the stadium) and she alternated between resting her head on my shoulder and watching the game.  Just when we thought we could stretch the night into the third quarter, both kids started asking if we could leave... and so the decision was made.

Halftime... the end of our night!

Being a sucker for a city skyline at night, I grabbed one last picture before heading down the ramp and off to the car.

The drive out of the city was much easier than the drive in and we pulled into the driveway a little before 1:00am...

And after a half-decent night of sleep, and a day of doing pretty much nothing, I am ready to dig in and finish the race.  Philadelphia, look out... the Cropp family is on the way!