Monday, July 16, 2012

Best Weekend Ever!

I had so much fun this past weekend.

We drove to Pittsburgh on Friday night and stayed at the Resident Inn across the street from PNC Park. Wow! The rooms were free for us (Marriott Rewards program) and we only had to pay parking. And we parked the car on Friday and left it there until Sunday morning (when we left).

We walked EVERYWHERE!

This will probably be the closest
I'll ever be to Troy Polamalu!
Saturday morning, we walked to Heinz Field to take the 90 minute tour. Yeah, seeing the luxury box seats was neat, but seeing the locker room was awesome! I mean, the ACTUAL locker room!

Jack & Sunny hopped over the fence (you can't see)
and then dropped down to the field from here.
We also went down to the field (and of course it was raining), on the same end my characters (in MY SUNNY VAMPIRE) climb over the fence to get onto the field. It was an interesting experience because it seems so real that they did that and I was giddy with joy. I felt I had gotten the details down right, too. It was just a wonderful experience.

I can see Sunny running out on this field.
Of course, it was 3am when she did it!
I was happy I could answer the first question (on this
enlarged Trivial Pursuit card), but couldn't understand
why this was on the wall at Peppi's until I saw the last
question (might need to enlarge to read).
After our tour, we walked over to Peppi's for lunch. We love their subs (hubby got the Roethlisburger as usual) and always try to stop there whenever we're in town. We then walked back to our rooms (passing Heinz Field once again) and dropped off the few items I purchased before heading back out. Destination: Downtown.

We walked across the 6th Street Bridge (also called the Robert Clemente Bridge), found 5th Avenue and proceeded to walk to Console Energy Center. We made it there about 10 minutes before the Penguins Developmental Camp Scrimmage game. They played two halves and some shootouts. It was fun and over 6000 people were there. Got my picture taken with Iceburgh!

On the walk back, we went through Point State Park and walked across the Duquesne Bridge. By this time it was close to 6pm, so we decided to eat at a place we'd never been to before – Jerome Bettis' Grill 36. I had the mini pirogues. Yum, yum!

After dinner, we walked over to Rivers Casino. I actually made my $20 last about 2 hours this time.

Then we walked back to our room (again, passing Heinz Field). We figured we probably walked around 10 miles in all our treks. Yeah, my feet were feeling it, but my legs were doing okay. Even when I woke up the next morning.

It was nice staying in a relatively central location. Of course, we wouldn't have been able to do that if not for the free rooms. On the way home, we stopped at my hubby's Aunt's (in Beech Bottom, WV) to visit (and to give her some of the numerous books I received at some conferences). The whole weekend was so pleasant, even if it did get a little steamy.

So, was your weekend fantabulous, also?


6 comments:

Erin Kane Spock said...

So much fun! Thanks for sharing. We went to the LA Natural History Museum last week and the girls saw bones and got to interact with butterflies. It was a good summer break activity. I've been spending too much time prepping for the RWA conference.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Erin - I love those breaks where you actually have fun and get recharged. I need more of those!

Have fun at Nationals. I won't be going this year. When it's farther than I can drive, then the cost gets out of hand. Plus, I'm not thrilled with flying in and out of Los Angeles (and try to avoid it).

Jennette Marie Powell said...

Your weekend sounds awesome! Mine was pretty good, but mostly just because I got a lot done. :) I would so love to treat my husband to a Pittsburgh weekend like that - but when there's a football game being played! Love the picture of you and your husband with Iceburgh! :)

Stacy McKitrick said...

Jennette - My husband loves the Steelers, but never thought he'd want to watch a game in person. He sees more on the TV, you know? But when he was told about the scoreboard and what the ketchup bottles do whenever they are in the red zone (which isn't shown on TV or else Heinz has to pay advertising - or something like that), that's when he decided he will try and get tickets for a game. Just so he could watch the scoreboard! Is that nuts or what?

Oh well, it's not like I'm going to tell him no! I wouldn't mind seeing it, either.

Maria Zannini said...

I'm so glad you had a good time (and a frugal one). :)

Stacy McKitrick said...

Maria - I think that was the best part. We didn't spend all that much more than if we had stayed home! And we got away for the whole weekend!