Despite the bad start to this trip, it was one of the best I've ever been on. Just my sister and I driving from Long Island to Chicago together in roughly two and a half days. It was fun to spend so much time with her but it was sad knowing that soon after we got to Chicago, she wasn't coming back with me. My sister is almost three years older than me, and we've always been super close. I've made it through her going away to college in Boston, coming back home to finish school on Long Island as I leave to for upstate New York to get an education of my own. She then leaves for England for a year to get her masters, moves to Brooklyn and is now out in Iowa. You'd think at this point that I'd be used to the distance, but I think it becomes harder every single time. Knowing that we'd be separated for another couple of months put just the slightest damper on our trip.
Anyway, our trip started off with me almost slicing my finger off while trying to cut a bagel. I have NEVER in my life cut myself on something, and of course, five minutes before we left I split my finger open. I probably could've used a stitch or two, but just bandaged it off and off we went. In proper fashion, we got lost a couple of times but finally made it Pittsburgh.
We didn't have much time to wander around before the game, but I'd like to apologize to the city of Pittsburgh. I had it in my mind that the city was a dump and that the stadium must be too. I could have been more wrong. The little bit I saw of the city was gorgeous. We decided to drive to the game and quickly found out there wasn't a parking lot at the stadium. Furious about this, we drove around looking for a parking garage, mad at the thought of paying a ridiculous amount of money to park in a dingy garage. There was a parking lot right across the street from the stadium, well really there are dozens of them, and it costs $5 dollars to park! That's unheard of! We park, cross the street and are met by three different yellow bridges, all of which cross the river to the entrance of PNC Park. It is a gorgeous walk, and one I'd never get sick of. We get to the box office, hoping for cheap tickets to the game and are greeted by the nicest woman I've ever dealt with from a box office. She scored us $40 seats that were roughly 10 rows back from the opponents dugout. It usually costs more than $40 to just get INTO a ballpark in New York, let alone getting amazing seats.
Even the walk up to PNC Park is gorgeous, the stadium itself is like its own little Pirates town. There are restaurants and bars where you can hang out before the game starts. We skip all that and head straight into the ballpark where I'm instantly impressed. The ballpark had this very intimate feel, like you were one of few who got to experience it. The fans were incredibly excited to be there, even though the Pirates were at the beginning of a decline that would knock them out of the playoffs for yet another season. The view of river and the Pittsburgh skyline were gorgeous, especially while the sun was setting. It was almost hard to watch the game because everything about the park was so beautiful you didn't know where to focus your attention.
The game was awesome, Pirates were down by one in the bottom of the 9th and in between innings, they played one of Kiera Knightly's speeches from one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, it was such a great way to pump up and already electric crowd. The Pirates ended up losing but it was still a great game to watch. Another incredible thing about the stadium, and something they NEVER do in bigger cities, the ushers let us stay after the game, go down to field level and take pictures. Not only that, but they offered to take our picture! That's definitely something that doesn't happen in New York.
Overall, PNC Park was more than a pleasant surprise. There is nothing better than going somewhere with low expectations and finding yourself completely blown away by how amazing something is. Even the fans were super friendly, talking to us about our trip, how beautiful the stadium was, and how nice it was to see out of towners appreciate PNC Park. My one regret is that we didn't take advantage of the food options there. There's a restaurant in Pittsburgh called Primanti Brothers, and they are known for their sandwiches. Crazy combinations of food that look absolutely amazing. They have a stand at PNC but my sister and I never made it there. I guess there's always next time.
Game Information:
August 13th, 2012 7:05 PM
Harang vs Karstens
Final Score: 5-4 Los Angeles Dodgers defeat Pittsburgh Pirates
W: Harang L: Karstens S: Jansen
Rankings:
1) Fenway Park, Boston Massachusetts
2) PNC Park, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
3) Citi Field, Flushing New York
4) Yankee Stadium, Bronx New York
Next stop: Chicago (Wrigley Field)
