Pirates 9, Padres 1

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After settling in last night at about 2:30 a.m., we tossed and turned and finally, at about 4:30, we started to fall asleep. That's when the alarm clock went off in our room. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep. Left the hotel at 10:00 on our comfy bus. After a stop for lunch, we arrived at PNC Park in Pittsburgh at about 5:00, with plenty of time to explore before the game began at 7:00.

Pennsylvania is just plain green green green. We're not sure many people live here, because all we saw on our drive was forests and trees and green green green. The occasional homes we spotted were surrounded by forests and trees and green green green. It is lovely. The weather was really pleasant, about 80 degrees.

We found Pittsburgh to be surprisingly clean and pretty. PNC Park, opened in 2001, is a beautiful park with the Pittsburgh skyline beyond the outfield. PNC Park sits just next to where the old 3 Rivers Stadium used to be. A parking lot is now there, and beyond that is the Steeler's stadium.

Before we went in to the stadium, we walked clear around it on the city streets. On the corner behind home plate is a statue of Honus Wagner. Along the third base/left field side of the stadium is an imposing statue of Wilver Stargel, and Near the corner of left field is another statue, Roberto Clemente. The bridge over the river leading to the stadium here is closed to traffic on game days, and open only to pedestrians. It is really cool to walk out of the bridge and look right into the stadium.

Walking on around, you walk along the river behind the outfield. People stand out here at the river's edge during batting practice hoping to catch a ball, but it seems they might be waiting a while for that to happen. (Only one ball has ever been hit clear out of the stadium.)

When we went to sit down, they had the most amazing ushers helping you find your seat. They led you all the way to it, and then wiped the seats down with a towel before you sat down! Amazing. Everyone seemed really friendly and helpful. We had the most delicious sandwich for dinner, the park's specialty: Roast beef, cheese, coleslaw and (no kidding) french fries piled high on thick white bread. Jill kept saying the whole game, "now THAT was a sandwich." It was incredible.

The stadium is the second smallest in baseball, seating only 38,000. There were only 17,000 people at the game tonight, and it was really easy to look around and get our food. It seemed very quiet to us. The Pirates had a great game, but people didn't seem to cheer too much or get too excited. We sat in front of some really friendly Pirate fans and we enjoyed talking to them.

We arrived at our hotel by about 11 p.m., and we are ready for some sleep (hopefully). We have turned off the alarm clock. We are looking forward to Camden Yards tomorrow, and we will have a few hours to spend in the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore and maybe go the the Babe Ruth Museum before the game.

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Comments

[Uncle John]

You call that a sandwich?
Like, where's the slice of pizza that should be on top of the fries? I'm jealous, though, very jealous. Have Much Fun Every Minute!