Pittsburgh, June 2024

The Pittsburgh leg of my solo Cleveland-Toronto-Pittsburgh baseball sojourn in June 2024.

Cleveland | Toronto

Thursday, June 6 – Drive to Pittsburgh

I got on the road by 9:30am for the 5 hour drive to Pittsburgh. I had tickets for the Dodgers game against the Pirates at 6:40pm and wanted to be at the park by 5:30 or so. I didn’t know how long I might be delayed at the U.S. border – there had been a long line to get from Canada into the U.S. when I had gone the other direction three days before.

The drive through southern Canada was sunnier this day but the roads were still heavily congested and there was a long slowdown for an accident between Mississauga and Hamilton. I found a nice rest stop near Niagara Falls and had a brunch snack of a Tim Horton’s chicken sandwich. It was nothing special. I would have been better off with something from Burger King or KFC, but it seemed obligatory to try something from Tim’s.

I drove right up to the U.S. border station and had only a short wait to get through. Easy peasy. I backtracked my way to Erie then turned south on I-79 to head straight down to Pittsburgh. There wasn’t a whole lot to see from the interstate other than lots and lots of green trees, a reminder that the deciduous forest that covers so much of the eastern half of the continent is still very much intact, even if it is not the original old growth.

I got to the Embassy Suites Downtown Pittsburgh by 3:30pm and had plenty of time to walk over to PNC Park on the north shore of the Allegheny River facing the Pittsburgh skyline. A rain shower had just passed through the area but there seemed to be a fair chance we would get the game in without delay; I brought along an umbrella just in case.

PNC Park was surprisingly low and horizontally spread along the shore with the feel of an old time stadium even though it was built in 2001 and looked even newer than that.

I got in and did a circuit of the main stadium – like Toronto there were lots of interesting open areas where you can stand and view the game. I can understand why the design is appealing: it encourages fans to get out of their seats and wander around, naturally passing lots of vendor concessions wherever they go. The Rodgers Centre, however, felt overwhelmingly vertical; PNC park seemed much lower and horizontal, an interesting contrast.

I decided to try a pastrami sandwich from Primanti Brothers, one of the signature dishes and restaurants of Pittsburgh. The sandwich itself was premade and a little mushed so the meat, slaw and french fries were already crushed between two slabs of white bread. I’m sure it’s better presented at one of Primanti’s many restaurants in the region (and now one near Baltimore!) but I felt like I could check it off my list and I didn’t really need anything else for the evening. 

I came to this game mainly to see the Dodgers with their stacked lineup of likely Hall of Famers including Mookie Betts, Shohei Otahni and Freddie Freeman atop their lineup. They did not disappoint as Betts and Freeman homered and led the Dodgers to an easy victory. The Pirates’ 6’7” shortstop Oneil Cruz hit a long home run; I didn’t realize it made it to the river. Pretty impressive. My seat in the lower bowl was more or less behind home plate and the upper deck was set surprisingly far back, giving the lower seats a very open, airy feel. The weather was perfect and the Pittsburgh skyline was mighty pretty, especially as the sun set and we got an eerie golden glow against the buildings with a glowering cloudy sky behind. 

I learned there would be fireworks after the next night’s Pirates game. I wasn’t planning to attend that game against the Minnesota Twins but I decided I wanted to be near the riverfront after the game to see the show. I wasn’t going to miss them like I did in Cleveland.

Friday, June 7 – Pittsburgh

This was my day for exploring Pittsburgh, or more specifically, Downtown Pittsburgh, the Golden Triangle. I had only been in Pittsburgh briefly with Barb to visit Patti and Lee during the couple of years they lived in the city, maybe around 1988? Lee worked at one of the Pittsburgh newspapers and Jimmy was either on the way or a young baby. I recall we had a very nice dinner at an old train station but I couldn’t remember the name of the place. Otherwise, we didn’t do a lot of actual touristing, mainly visiting with Patti. I also recall the car we drove up (I think it was Barb’s) had trouble on one of the long climbs through the Pennsylvania mountains. We had to wait for the engine to cool down and feed the radiator. I had also been to Pittsburgh for work several times in the 1990s for a big project at the airport but never really got into town. So this was my chance to explore and learn a little more about a town I mostly knew about through the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the breakfast served on the 25th floor of this Embassy Suites included a live omelet chef and a broad selection of breakfast food. Unfortunately, the weekday breakfast service ended at 9:30am so I just got in before they closed up the buffet line. I had a decent breakfast but would schedule more time the next two days.

As I left for my day’s adventures, just around the corner from my hotel I came across this sign commemorating the location of Lafayette’s visit to Pittsburgh during his final tour of America in 1825. A happy omen for me, a newly minted member of the American Friends of Lafayette.

I walked toward the Fort Pitt Museum, first taking in the Point State Park and fountain at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers forming the Ohio River. It was immediately easy to understand why this geographic focal point was at the heart of Pittsburgh’s existence. After my day in the museums I learned much more about how the rivers played such a key role in shaping Pittsburgh’s and America’s expansion in the 18th and 19th centuries. You enter the park through a pedestrian underpass below Interstate 279; the underpass is designed well enough to conceal the traffic above which is a good trick. It keeps the pedestrian’s focus on the park and the fountain at the Point.

The gushing fountain is an appropriately symbolic exclamation point for the convergence of the rivers. On this breezy morning the fountain also cast a misty shadow of spray which delighted a few kids and worried a few parents and other tourists.

Heading back to the Fort Pitt Museum, I came across the brick outline of a distinctively 18th-century star fort. A plaque in the center identified it as the site of Fort Duquesne, the French fort that preceded Fort Pitt. I didn’t know the distinction between the two forts but would learn more at the museum (and much more in writing what became a separate post about Pittsburgh History). The outline traced the surprisingly small actual dimensions of the original fort built in 1754 by the French to thwart an abortive effort by the British to build their own fort on the site of the Ohio River confluence. The back-and-forth over this territory became the spark of the French and Indian War which morphed into the global Seven Years’ War. Fort Duquesne was abandoned by the French in November 1758 when a large British force (including George Washington) successfully marched across Pennsylvania. The British then built Fort Pitt adjacent to the site of Fort Duquesne.

As I headed toward the museum, the large American flag with 13 stars flew majestically in the breeze. I took a few photos to try to get it in full flow.

I entered the Fort Pitt Museum and was happy to meet a docent, Mrs. Hutchinson, who was about to lead a free tour. She started the tour with just me and soon gathered a dozen or more other visitors with her enthusiastic and informative description of the fort, the city and its history. Her tour took nearly an hour, hitting highlights of the museum but leaving room for further exploration on our own. After the tour I spent another couple of hours going through the exhibits and watching several good videos in more detail. I took lots of photos of the museum signage to try to reconstruct and understand the convoluted sequence of events. I learned a great deal at the Fort Pitt Museum and subsequently at the Heinz History Museum but it wasn’t until I got home and wrote my Pittsburgh History post that much of it came together for me.

After finally having my fill of the Fort Pitt Museum around 2:30pm, I headed along the Allegheny River in the direction of the Heinz History Museum, snapping a few more pictures of PNC Park along the way.

Just beyond the park, on the city side of the river, I bumped into the many tents of the Three Rivers Arts Festival. I stopped in the food alley and eventually decided to try a small bowl of halusky, a Polish noodle and cabbage dish that several people told me was tasty. It was pretty good but I’m glad I only got a small serving. I checked out the music offerings at the Festival and was sad to have missed guitarist Yasmin Williams a few days earlier. I also would have liked to have seen Pokey LaFarge, Los Lonely Boys, Ozomatli, Lizzie No and Ben Folds…not a bad lineup of acts that I’m familiar with. On this Friday evening, a group I’d not heard of, Doom Flamingo, was playing at 7:30pm, a perfect lead-in to the fireworks. I would be back.

My entry ticket for the Heinz History Museum was good for two days which was useful because there was no way I could have taken the whole 6-floor, multi-building museum in the remaining couple of hours of this afternoon. I decided to start with an exhibit on the French and Indian War that supplemented the displays at the Fort Pitt Museum, the sister institution of the Heinz. I snapped pictures of many of the descriptions so I could make more sense of them later. Knowing I could come back the next day, I was able to find a comfy chair and watched a seemingly endless loop of videos about the French and Indian War and the displays in the museum. It was helpful but I admit I might have dozed through a few minutes or more.

The museum closed at 5pm so I headed back to the hotel for a short rest. I decided to have dinner before the Doom Flamingo show so I headed to Gaucho Parilla, a well recommended grill that I passed on the way to the stadium. I was able to snag a seat at the bar and had a good time watching the Friday evening crowd and busy bartender. I had a nice sangria and a grilled steak sandwich that hit the spot. The sandwich was better than it looks, with a nice chimichurri and a sort of Argentinian potato salad.

Doom Flamingo ended up being a decent, quasi-funk band that put on an enjoyable performance, something like Chaka Khan’s original Rufus. Worth every penny of the free admission. They helped pass the time on a comfortably cool evening until just before fireworks at the conclusion of the Pirates game. I got a prime spot along the river and enjoyed the show presented by Zambelli Fireworks, the company that traditionally does the 4th of July show in DC. 

It all made for an excellent day in Pittsburgh. I got back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

Saturday, June 8 – Pittsburgh

I had a more leisurely breakfast, enjoying an omelet before heading back to the Heinz Museum. I spent hours working through the other 5 levels of the place, including the Pittsburgh Sports Museum. I enjoyed the displays about the start of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Pittsburgh’s industrial evolution through coal and oil, electricity, steel, aluminum, glass, railroads, medicine, robotics (including the Girls of Steel FIRST team) and more. See my Pittsburgh History Lesson post for more.

The museum had a little scavenger hunt gimmick where if you got a stamp from each floor you would get a giveaway from gift shop. Having learned from Barb to never turn away a giveaway, in her honor I trudged up and down the six flights of steps to get the stamp from each floor. I proudly presented my completed form at the giftshop and they gave me the world’s smallest Heinz pickle pin. Barb was not impressed.

Undaunted by the pickle pin incident, I went back to PNC Park around 3pm in order to make sure I got my Pirates giveaway T-shirt. The shirt turned out to be an 80’s-inspired rock and roll tour t-shirt featuring the Pirates Parrot. It’s a conversation piece (as in, “Where did you get that ugly t-shirt”), if nothing else. Barb remained unimpressed.

I decided to try a specialty hot dog from Deli Dogs and opted for a Chicago Dog. Lesson learned: don’t order a Chicago Dog in Pittsburgh. It was a gooey mess with a subpar dog and bun and an overload of relish, onions and hot peppers. I chose poorly.

My ticketed seat in the lower bowl was not quite as good as the first evening and I happened to be seated behind a very tall young man who blocked my view, so I bailed out and searched for an empty area in the upper deck in the shade. I found a good spot well down the first base line and enjoyed watching the Pirates beat the Twins.

After the game, I thought about squeezing in a ride up the Duquesne Incline to see the view and watch the sunset but opted instead to walk back to Point State Park and enjoy the early evening. The sunset was not as dramatic as I might have liked but it was still a nice ending to the trip.

If I had been a tad more ambitious or hungry I might have gone to the Grand Concourse for dinner, a place Barb and I memorably enjoyed decades earlier with Patti and Lee when they lived in Pittsburgh. Instead, I stopped for a simple ham and cheese sandwich on the way back to the hotel.    

Sunday, June 9 – Pittsburgh

My drive home was easy and uneventful, though Google ended up putting me on the Pennsylvania Turnpike even though I tried to avoid it and its tolls. 

This was, in all, a very nice solo getaway trip. I greatly enjoyed the baseball games and the various museums I found in each city. I enjoyed being able to wander around at my own pace, adjusting my priorities as I went. I wouldn’t have minded having a companion, either Barb or a baseball buddy, but it would have become a different trip. I’m glad it worked out this way. Barb was less thrilled by my absence but in the end she and Manny survived. I hope she might let me do more solo trips sometime down the line. Time will tell.