Erin arrived on Sunday, June 30th, and we wasted no time catching up! After we got back from the airport, we finished watching the end of the Brewers game which was, funny enough, against the Pirates. The Brewers ended up winning that game, 2-1! After the game, we swam a bit, then went out to eat at a Cincinnati staple, Montgomery Inn! Montgomery Inn is famous for its ribs, so of course, we had bunches of them! We all had waaaay too much to eat, but it was a great way to start the week! After dinner we started our week of games! We played a few rounds of Yahtzee and Ticket to Ride! After that, we went to bed because it was a long day for Erin. I was looking forward to the coming week!
Monday we woke up and took it easy in the morning. Erin and I, once again, played games and swam for a good chunk of the day. We re-learned the rules of Rummy 500 and started playing that, but we didn't stop when one of us hit 500; we kept a running game throughout the week, and ended with a score in the 4,500's! Robbie came home early from work that day, so Erin and I took the car that evening to play Top Golf! She had never been before, and I was still a little rusty. We played for an hour, and I could tell that my swing had gotten much better since my first time at Top Golf, just a few weeks before! We made it home in time for the first pitch of the Brewers/Reds game. It was our initial plan to go to all 4 Brewers/Reds games in Cincinnati, but later on we decided we wanted some evenings here at our house, and going to 6 straight games would be a little much, even for the big baseball fans we are! So, we eventually planned on going to Wednesday and Thursday's games instead! The Brewers won on Monday night with a score of 7-6! Yay!
On Tuesday, Robbie worked from home, so we were able to use the car more. We went for lunch at another Cincinnati staple, Skyline Chili! We both ordered the 4-way, consisting of spaghetti noodles, chili, raw onions, and topped with TONS of cheese. Usually Erin nor I like chili, but Skyline chili's recipe is sans beans, and rumor has it that they put chocolate and cinnamon in it. The sweetness of their chili is what I like about it!
After Skyline, we went to Main Event, an arcade and entertainment center. Erin and I did the arcade the whole time we were there, and between the both of us, we probably played every game, some more than once! It was really fun playing, winning, and collecting tickets! After our credits were up, we went and traded in our tickets for prizes. The majority of the prizes were pretty cheesy, but it was all in the fun of playing the games! My favorite game of the day was skee-ball, and Erin's was Pac-Man! We spent a good 2 hours at Main Event! After we got home we all swam, including the dogs! It has been warm enough this summer to have the pool heater off and still feeling like it was heated! That'll end up saving us a bunch of money in the long run!
Robbie was bummed he couldn't go to Top Golf on Monday, so the 3 of us went again on Tuesday, too! This time we golfed for an hour and a half, and I could tell that my swing was getting even better. Towards the end when there was 8 minutes remaining of our time, Erin and I had a "swing-off." Both of us golfed for 4 minutes to see what kind of score we could get. I golfed the first 4, and I was just hitting balls one right after another, not knowing what score I was getting. When my 4 minutes were up, I couldn't believe that I had 80 points in just 4 minutes! I was really in a groove and I could feel my swing was the best it's ever been. Apparently when I was in the middle of my 4 minute lightning round, another group of golfers walked by and said something along the lines of "wow, she's really good!" Maybe I missed my calling in high school...! Ha! I'm really glad we went to play golf again and Robbie could come this time! We made it home in time for first pitch of the Brewers game, and ordered in a pizza! The Reds spoiled our lead late in the game and we ended up losing 5-4 in extras! Bummer! Erin and I got in a few more games of Rummy, then it was off to bed!
On Wednesday we decided to go back to Skyline because Erin loved it so much the day before, and I had no problem with it! Robbie was working, so we Uber'd there! We had the same delicious meal as we did the day before! As we were at Skyline, Robbie texted me that he was coming home from work, so he picked us up! Good timing! Later that day we swan for a while, then got ready to go downtown for the ballgame!
Before the game we went to a restaurant downtown for dinner called Joella's Chicken. When Robbie worked at the Great American Insurance building in downtown, he would come to this place a lot with his coworkers, and I could see why! Joella's was sold as Tennessee Hot Chicken, and it was so good. The chicken came as tenders with your choice of dipping sauces ranging from mild to hot (the hottest sauce on the menu required a consent form to be signed actually). I took a risk and chose the one above the most mild. Usually I don't like hot sauces but I decided to go big! The chicken also came with a side, and I chose well in the potato salad! Overall, great experience!
Joella's was right next to the stadium, and we were there as the gates opened! We got tickets behind the Brewers dugout. When Robbie bought them, Stubhub advised that they were like 4 rows from the dugout. When we got there, the seats were about 4 rows from the concourse. We were a little bummed, but the seats were still good! This was Erin's first time to Great American Ballpark, and she really liked it! We were able to see the end of the Brewers batting practice, and then we were anticipating the game itself! The game was a 7:05pm first pitch, and by that time, the temperature was perfect for an outdoor game!
The pitching match-up was the Reds' Sonny Gray vs. the Brewers' Jhoulys Chacin. It was going to be a tough match-up because Chacin hasn't been doing well the whole season, and the Reds are a sneaky team this year with the acquisition of Yasiel Puig from the Dodgers. It was not a good offensive outing by the Brewers, eventually getting shut-out and mustering only 4 hits, and I don't think their first hit came until the 6th inning.
Although there wasn't much to cheer about in the game itself, the redeeming factor of the night was the post-game fireworks, set to patriotic music being the next day was July 4th!! I've seen a handful of ballpark fireworks, and none of them disappoint! I'm glad we ended the night on a high point!
After we got home, we watched a movie in the basement. We couldn't let the week slip by and not give Erin our Daniels Theater Experience!
Thursday was the 4th of July! Happy Independence Day everyone! The Brewers played a day game in Cincy, and we were down there by noon. We wanted to walk around the ballpark and give Erin the whole experience! I was decked out in my United States of Baseball shirt, being as patriotic as possible at a baseball game. I believe this also marked the first time attending a ballgame on the 4th of July!
Robbie found out a few weeks before that his company had season tickets to the Reds games, so he requested the tickets for this game, and we were lucky enough to get them! Not only that, but a parking pass was included for right under the stadium! Yay! The tickets were in the Scout Box, which came with a menu and a personal server, and our very own (air conditioned) food buffet area underneath the stands. Oh, and our own bathrooms, too! We took advantage of this right away. Not only did we eat lunch there, we also used it for a cool-down station! It was really toasty outside at game-time!
The entire MLB was donning their red, white, and blue's the whole weekend, and it looked really good on them! One of the team coaches even dressed as George Washington! It was a nice touch! Our ace (and I say that lightly), Brandon Woodruff was on the mound against their best pitcher, Louis Castillo. It was bound to be a good game. Earlier in the season when we've faced Castillo, we've handled him pretty well, and Woodruff had a 10-2 record entering this game.
We all had the idea of being in our seats for the Brewers at-bats, and head into the buffet area for the Reds at-bats to get a reprieve from the heat. But, we were all going to stay in our seats for the complete 1st inning. Robbie didn't even make it that long, and Erin and I were baking in the sun. There were no clouds in the sky, and no breeze. Pair that with a sold-out crowd, we were struggling. Erin and I did end up staying out there for the whole 1st inning, but when we left for a cool down, I was soaking wet with sweat! I don't think I've ever felt that on me before! Robbie said that he was going to come back out, but when he got to the outside, he turned right back around. In the A/C food area, it seemed like everyone sitting in the Scout Box section had the same idea as us. There were a bunch of tables and TV's, but there wasn't an empty table around, and none of us wanted to sit out in the heat again, so we had a decision to make. It was the 3rd inning, and we ultimately decided to just leave. I know, I know, how terrible of us to give up on the Brewers that fast, blah blah blah. But, we figured it was the best for us. It helped that our tickets were complimentary, too.
It's a good thing we left when we did because on our way home it started raining. And when we got home and turned the game on, it wasn't long after that it went into a 2 hour rain delay. We most likely would've left during the delay anyway! Being we were home and the game was in a delay, and it wasn't raining at home, we swam. Go figure! It wasn't the way we wanted our day to go, but we just rolled with the punches!
Later that evening, our neighbor was throwing a 4th of July Barbeque, so Erin and I went over there for some great food and company! I texted a picture of my plate of food to Robbie, and he said it looked like freedom on a plate! I could not agree more!
That night we were going to go to fireworks, but we just weren't into it, so we stayed back. We were all satisfied with the fireworks display at the game the night before, so we were ok missing the one's on the 4th. Plus, we would be having a big day on Friday!
On Friday morning we headed out to Pittsburgh after dropping the dogs off at the sitters! Pittsburgh is about 4.5 hours from Cincinnati. We left around 10:30am, and arrived at our hotel in downtown Pittsburgh around 3:30pm! The drive from CVG to PIT was pretty simple. My favorite part of the drive was actually realizing there was a tiny sliver of West Virginia that I had no idea existed, and we drove through that on our way to PA! We were only in WV for about 5 minutes, but the surprise was pretty cool! I guess I need to brush up on my US Geography!
It was really cool entering Pittsburgh because we couldn't see downtown as we were approaching it. There were so many hills, then we entered a 1.5 mile tunnel, and when we came out of it, BAM, we were right in the heart of the city! I've never seen anything quite like it!
We stayed at the trusty Embassy Suites Downtown. We chose that location for the proximity to the stadium, allowing us to park the car for the whole weekend and walk everywhere! The hotel was really tough to get to. Obviously the downtown location didn't have free parking, but we were trying to get to valet and we couldn't. There were so many one-way and angled streets that no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't get to the correct side of the street. So instead, we found a parking garage behind the hotel, which was close enough, and only $12 total for the 2 nights we were there! I'm pretty sure that was cheaper than what the hotel valet would've been! Below are views from our room!
Shortly after we got to our room, we headed out to PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates! I was the most excited to get to this stadium, out of all other stadiums in the majors! Each time the Brewers play there, they show how awesomely it is situated with the skyline and famous Roberto Clemente Bridge as its backdrop. It's like downtown was built around the stadium, even though it was the other way around. PNC Park was located across one of the 3 rivers (the Allegheny) from downtown, and we had to cross the Roberto Clemente Bridge to get there. It was excited about it all! We took some pictures from the downtown side of the river first, and even from there the stadium looked really cool! I thought they closed down the bridge during game-time, but it turned out that there were pedestrian walkways on it!
We walked up to the Park to see the gates open, and we were in! The visitors dugout was along 1st base and we tried to get tickets there, but they were all sold out, so we secured seats along the 3rd base side, which was just fine by me because I got to soak in the beauty of the skyline, which was the biggest allure to the park anyway! The views were even more awesome in person! I think I looked at the skyline as much as I watched the game that night!
Pittsburgh's famous Primanti Brothers! It was legit!
The pitching match-ups that night were the Brewers' Zach Davies vs. the Pirates' Steven Brault. Davies hasn't been doing so bad this season, so we had a shot in this game! It was a quiet game until the 7th inning where it was 2-1 Brewers. In the top of the 8th, the Brewers scored 4 runs bringing the score to 6-1 in favor of the Brewers. I was pretty confident in our lead going into the bottom of the 8th. But I should know by now since the beginning of the season, no lead is safe! The Pirates scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th to tie it at 6, forcing extra innings! Unreal. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. After they got one across in the 9th I said to myself, "well, that's just one." Then after the 2nd run I said "at least we were up by 5!" Then the 3rd and 4th came around and it just got annoying. I thought surly that had to be it. But nope! After the tying run came around I thought they were just going to walk it off! I didn't have any hope in the Brewers at that point. The most frustrating part was that our best pitchers in the bullpen, Jeffress and Hader, came out in the 7th and 8th, respectively (Hader actually replaced Jeffress with 2 outs in the 7th, and pitched the entire 8th) and gave up just 1 run between the both of them. The Brewers decided to put in a pitcher who had just been called up (Deolis Guerra), and he swiftly gave up 4 runs. Then the other Guerra (Junior, who used to be a starter) came in and gave up the tying homerun in just 1 pitch. Awesome. In the 10th, the Brewers had the 7-8-9 spots up to bat and I was sure it would be 3 up and 3 down inning. With one out, Orlando Arcia singled and there was a slight glimmer of hope, then the next batter, Manny Pina hit a single, advancing Arcia to 3rd. Ok, we weren't out of it yet! Then Cain came up and scored Arcia on a single! I was not expecting the Brewers to score again after that 9th inning collapse! All the Brewers fans were hopeful as the reigning MVP, Christian Yelich, came up to the plate to blow this game wide open. Alas, he struck out of a 2-2 count. The Brewers were holding onto this game by a thread. The Pirates got a quick out, then a single, and here we go again! The next at-bat was an out, and the one after that was another single. Runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. Then finally the next guy struck out swinging, and the Brewers eeked by with the win! 7-6 in 10 innings! Whew! That was the first game we saw that week where the Brewers scored runs! I was very happy!
I've seen this building on TV countless times and I always wanted to know what it was! I thought it was cool because it has a hole in the center of it! I talked to a few people who lived in Pittsburgh and they didn't even seem to know. Turns out, it's the Renaissance Hotel! Next time I want to stay there!
We then walked back across the R.C. Bridge, and of course, downtown offered great sights at night too for some great photo opportunities! We were pretty tired by the time we got back, so we hit the hay!
One of the big reasons we choose to stay at the Embassy Suites when we can is because of their made-to-order breakfast. This hotels breakfast went from 7:30a-10:30a on the weekends, and we got down there just before 10am. When we went through the lines, they were clear out of everything, even the oatmeal! There wasn't a breakfast employee in sight, so Robbie went to the front desk to inquire if they were going to bring out any more food, and the guy just looked at him like he had 3 heads. Very poor service at breakfast. Then, just before 10:30, they brought out this huge vat of bacon. I know a lot of people like bacon, but I'm not having JUST bacon for breakfast. Disgusting! We were really disappointed, so we ended up stopping at a McDonald's for lunch before we did anything that day.
We had about an hour to kill before the gates opened up for the 4:05pm start, so Robbie found a park in Pittsburgh on the point where the 3 rivers merged! We were all just expecting it to be a grassy area, but we were all pleasantly surprised when we saw that it was much more! The very tip of the point had a huge fountain spraying water, which felt really good in the heat of the day! There were tons of boats out, enjoying the holiday weekend, and just across the Allegheny River was Heinz Field where the Pittsburgh Steelers play! We walked around that area for a while, taking pictures and taking in all the beauty! Pittsburgh seemed to keep getting better and better! A nice riverwalk was provided for us on the way to the stadium, so we walked that until we crossed the bridge. We then walked further along the river on the other side until we reached the stadium. There really is no other stadium like this that I've been to!
This is the bridge we came into the city on!
This game was supposed to start at 4:05pm, but around 3:45pm there was no player in sight and the groundscrew came out to put the tarp on the field. We knew there was rain on the way but we hoped it would change course. Quite the opposite actually! We got tickets juuust under the overhang on the first level. Like, the closest row to the field that WASN'T getting wet from the rain! It was nice that we were able to stay in our seats because once it started raining, the concourse was packed! We got quite a show, too. There were 3 different instances of sky to ground lightning really close to the park! And the rumblings of thunder were nothing short of amazing! There were times when the PA announcer was urging all fans to take cover in the concourse, but we figured we were ok where we were! After a looong delay of 2.5 hours, the first pitch was thrown at 6:35pm! I was hoping for an early end to the game so we would have the evening to relax, but that thought soon was squashed by the rain. Oh well! We came here for baseball and baseball is what we were going to see. Unfortunately Robbie wasn't feeling well by the end of the rain delay, so he went back to the hotel and slept throughout the whole game. Erin and I had a lot of fun though! Pirates fans were really nice for the most part. There was a family who was sitting down from us in the same row who were not so nice. Before and during part of the rain delay, Robbie was sitting one row below us to have more space, and the lady told him to move because his head was blocking her view of the field. Ha! As if there was even any action to see anyway! Then, later in the game, the Pirates scored, and what looked like the grumpy lady's son came over to me and clapped in my face! Rude! Then, as this one kid, maybe late teens, was coming up the stairs, he spotted mine and Erin's Brewers shirts and said "I'm sorry you have to watch this display by the Brewers." Also rude. Maybe that kid didn't know the Pirates are in 4th place in the division. Ha, enjoy looking up to the Brewers in the standings, kid!
Finally, at 6:35pm, first pitch was thrown! The Brewers got off to a quick start thanks to a Mike Moustakas homerun, but the Pirates quadrupled that, putting up 4 in the bottom of the frame. We were pretty much toast after that. The final score was 12-2. Erin and I left after the Brewers batted in the 8th to beat the rush. Even though the Brewers didn't fare that well while we saw them over the 4 games, we had a lot of fun being there! Pittsburgh slid into my #1 stadium that I've seen in person, next to Fenway, Target Field, and Marlins Park! We can see ourselves going back for at least 1 series vs. the Brewers each year! Hopefully they'll be more fun to watch!
When Erin and I got back to the hotel, we squeezed in a few more games of Rummy, and after the whole week of both of us being up and down, Erin won the final game by just under 100 points! I have the score tracker still and will whip it out next time we visit, and start where we left off! It'll be a never-ending game of Rummy!
Erin left the hotel the next morning at 5:45am to catch her 8am flight from Pittsburgh. Robbie and I slept a little longer, had a little better breakfast than the day before, and were on the road by 9:30am! The drive home was pretty simple, and by 2:30pm, we were relaxing on our couch!
