Ah, Game 9.
Game 9 makes me laugh. Previously we have had wonderful
weather and timely first pitches at all 8 games.
Things changed a bit with good ole Game 9.
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| Game 9: Pittsburgh Pirates vs. San Francisco Giants - May 12, 2018 |
Mother’s Day weekend, dad and I set out to see the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has always wanted to go to that stadium, and Jeff has a big ole chunk of family in Pennsylvania (translation: I already had a hat), so it was kind of a no-brainer. Flights to Pennsylvania aren’t overly abundant in nature, so we headed out mid-morning on Saturday with a return flight at the crack-o-dawn (commonly referred to as 6a) on Sunday.
Plane selfie! Upgraded again. Fist pump.
We landed around 2:30p and the game wasn’t until 7:05p, so
we headed to the hotel, checked in, and went down to the Strip District (which
my dad called the Strip Joint). The Strip District
is near the business district of Pittsburgh, has a lot of restaurants and
boutique type shops, and is about a 10-minute Uber away from the stadium. I had
been there before with Jeff/my MIL, so we thought it was the perfect way to
kill time before the game!
By the time we arrived it was about 4:30, so we walked
around, bought some Pirates paraphernalia, and happened upon the one place my
dad and I always seem to find ourselves: an ice cream parlor! I swear it’s like
a gravitational pull. We don’t know how it happens…
While enjoying our ice cream we watched it sprinkle outside.
We knew there was a chance of rain (and bought ponchos from the hotel
just-in-case), so my dad ran across and grabbed us a $5 Pirates umbrella from
the street. But by the time we finished our ice cream cones, the weather had
cleared.
Or so we thought.
About 27 steps outside of the ice cream shop, the bottom
dropped out. It was a full out monsoon. And the BEST part? (insert sarcasm here) Unbeknownst to me,
the Strip District closes at 5p on Saturdays. So at 5:10, we’re outside running
around like hooligans, only to find the doors to every coffee shop, bookstore,
and clothing boutique locked. Wamp wamp.
Because sometimes you find yourself soaked from the knees down, your umbrella all but blowing you away like Mary Poppins, and you laughing hysterically wondering how on earth you found yourself in such a situation. So you capture the moment. :)
At this point the stadium had opened up, so we decided
the best option was to have an Uber come pick up a couple of wet dogs (aka, us)
and head to PNC Park.
Want to know something REALLY funny?
(insert more sarcasm)
(insert more sarcasm)
Out of all 9 stadiums we had been to at this point, this one
was (by far) the most open aired. I mean, it was hard finding any bit of
shelter! Much less shelter enough to eat a hot dog!
We decided to head to our seats where the nice seat
attendant wiped off our chairs with a dry rag. Note: the rag was dry for us at
5:30p, the rag did not stay of the dry nature by the time other guests arrived
throughout the evening…
We sat down and decided to capture our token picture in the stadium (above) as soon as possible in the event there was another downpour. That's why there's virtually no fans in that picture. My phone shows it was taken at 5:51p. Still over an hour before first pitch.
After we took our picture, we decided the sensible (and only other) thing to do was eat a hot dog. After we ate, as we're sitting there wet and cold waiting for the game to start, we joked that we had eaten hot dogs, taken our picture, seen the stadium, and that that was enough to check it off our list!
THANKFULLY, when it started to rain, the rain hit all the chairs in front of us up to the very row in front of us. Somehow, we were far enough back (by one whole row) that we escaped the majority of the rain. Thus, we hung out for a bit.
At this point the announcer told us that the game was officially delayed and they weren't sure for how long (never a good sign).
This was our view for the majority of the evening.
After we took our picture, we decided the sensible (and only other) thing to do was eat a hot dog. After we ate, as we're sitting there wet and cold waiting for the game to start, we joked that we had eaten hot dogs, taken our picture, seen the stadium, and that that was enough to check it off our list!
THANKFULLY, when it started to rain, the rain hit all the chairs in front of us up to the very row in front of us. Somehow, we were far enough back (by one whole row) that we escaped the majority of the rain. Thus, we hung out for a bit.
At this point the announcer told us that the game was officially delayed and they weren't sure for how long (never a good sign).
This was our view for the majority of the evening.
At one point they took the stakes out of the tarp and we thought we were about to have some action, but then they put the stakes back in. The crowd fussed, but about 5 minutes after they returned the stakes, we were hit with another beastly downpour. And our row did not survive this one.
So we busted out our ponchos and watched all the fans in the front few rows run frantically to the (little) shelter in the back of the stadium. Our seventh zero inning selfie looks a little different for Game 9!
Inclement weather texting :)
After the big downpour they removed the tarp and started prepping the field for the game. While this was mildly interesting (especially after watching absolutely nothing for over two hours), this prepping process took about 45 minutes! I would have never guessed. Such a high maintenance lil field.
The next picture on my phone is this one, when the game had finally started, taken at 8:50p. So almost a two hour delay, but almost three and a half hours since we had gotten to the stadium!
With our 6a flight the next day, we had a 4a wake up call, so we watched a couple of innings (that had some good action!) and then headed back to the hotel.
Here's what we decided:
Did it suffice as Game 9?
Absolutely. Again, we took pictures, we ate hot dogs, we saw some baseball as well as the stadium. It counted.
Do we need a return trip?
Yes. We feel like while it indeed counted for purposes of our ten games, we definitely need a "redo" to give PNC Park a fair shot.
Did we have a good time?
We laughed a TON at this "game." I mean the circumstances weren't great, but we chose to embrace them and laugh through them - so we had a really fantastic 24-hour jaunt to Pittsburgh. And one that gives us a great story to tell. :)
And that wraps up Game 9!
Today actually kick starts my weekend, and I'm off to Mississippi for our annual family reunion at the campground. So I'm going to chug this coffee and go throw more things I don't need in the suitcase - cause I'm an impulse packer with the best of 'em.
Have a wonderful rest of the week (and weekend)!
After the big downpour they removed the tarp and started prepping the field for the game. While this was mildly interesting (especially after watching absolutely nothing for over two hours), this prepping process took about 45 minutes! I would have never guessed. Such a high maintenance lil field.
The next picture on my phone is this one, when the game had finally started, taken at 8:50p. So almost a two hour delay, but almost three and a half hours since we had gotten to the stadium!
With our 6a flight the next day, we had a 4a wake up call, so we watched a couple of innings (that had some good action!) and then headed back to the hotel.
Here's what we decided:
Did it suffice as Game 9?
Absolutely. Again, we took pictures, we ate hot dogs, we saw some baseball as well as the stadium. It counted.
Do we need a return trip?
Yes. We feel like while it indeed counted for purposes of our ten games, we definitely need a "redo" to give PNC Park a fair shot.
Did we have a good time?
We laughed a TON at this "game." I mean the circumstances weren't great, but we chose to embrace them and laugh through them - so we had a really fantastic 24-hour jaunt to Pittsburgh. And one that gives us a great story to tell. :)
And that wraps up Game 9!
Today actually kick starts my weekend, and I'm off to Mississippi for our annual family reunion at the campground. So I'm going to chug this coffee and go throw more things I don't need in the suitcase - cause I'm an impulse packer with the best of 'em.
Have a wonderful rest of the week (and weekend)!
Click below for recaps of:
Until next time,
Katy
Katy
I used to go see the pirates in college! I'm sorry it rained! It really is a beautiful, open air stadium with great views of the river and the city!
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