better late than never..Pittsburgh!

So much for my intention to write whenever the mood strikes..here it is a month after the fact and I am only now writing about my weekend in Pittsburgh for the Super Bowl, a trip to my favorite city that was brought about by the generosity of my wonderful cousin Will. He spent flyer miles so I could fly up for free and watch the Super Bowl from Pittsburgh, something that meant more than I could put into words. This year has begun with another stressfest and going to Pgh was a respite for me that I am immensely grateful for.

Will and Alicia met me at the airport, Will sporting his inflatable helmet much to Alicia's chagrin. I however, loved such a welcome!!!


I was warmed inside with excitement at the sight of black & gold everywhere, starting with inside of the airport. There is such a pride and intense love for the Steelers in Pittsburgh and you can feel it in the air.




Will, Alicia and I headed down to one of my favorite spots downtown after we got some lunch at the Sharp Edge..the Strip district. This is more than just a location downtown, it is an experience, especially during the postseason. There was literally black & gold and Steelers pride everywhere you turned. Gobs of people, shopping for as much Steelers merchandise as they could find. I spotted cars with black & gold paper confetti on them, Steelers fight songs blaring at every store front, people dressed for the occasion but everyone sharing a common link, their love and support for the Steelers and pride that we had made another Super Bowl.





That night, Karen joined us and met up with Beth & Mike at another icon downtown for dinner, Church Brew Works. This place is magnificent inside, being a former cathedral style church but now houses a restaurant as well as a mini brewery inside, and this weekend, it was decked out with Steeler pride (what else would you find the weekend of the Super Bowl with Pgh playing?) The food was outstanding and the company even better.


We met up with Beth & Mike again in the morning for breakfast before Will & I headed over so I could visit with Aunt Aileen & Uncle Jon for a while. Again, more black & gold everywhere...all the employees at the pancake house were dressed for the Steelers, almost all the customers dressed for the Steelers, I multitasked with my Penguins jersey over a Steelers shirt since the Pens had a game earlier in the day than the Super Bowl, hahahaha...Pittsburgh is a wonderful place to be during sports season.

Gametime was going to be spent at Will's friend Donna's house, which was thankfully in walking distance from Will's. Quite nice for us because Will and I went to Donna's armed with a cooler of beer. I had in my mug a nice serving of limoncello, which is like lemonhead candy for adults, in liquid form, hahahaha...yummy AND festive!
Karen and Alicia good-naturedly accompanied us, which was quite nice!

The sight of Donna's house, both inside and out, made me giddy....Steelers stuff everywhere! I think I just may need to have my wake here someday; they can just lay out my dead carcass on the couch, heeheehee....I got to meet all of Donna's brood. They are the kind of people that you can meet and suddenly you have some lifelong friends. The kind of hard working, kindhearted decent people that are so representative of the population in Pittsburgh. Real, caring people, and they so graciously opened their home and hearts to me. What a blessing to know people like this! I could not have found a better place to watch the Super Bowl than here, and could not have found better people. Pittsburgh is a special place full of special people.






I had such a wonderful time that night that it took the sting off a Steelers loss. I did, however, mentally put football away in my mind before I could get too bummed out about the final score, but truth be told, my boys played like crap and deserved to lose, as painful as that is to admit. But we'll be back next year. I believe in my Steelers, always.