It’s been a bit busy around here. I’ll get to the rest of what’s going on, but today? Mom convinced me to go downtown. Around lunchtime.
Here’s a brief recap of my day with more Pittsburgh details (for those of you who live here) as described to a co-worker who has never been here. Photos included because they’re fun. I over-shot a little today. Oh well. ;-)
• Take the "T" downtown (trolley/subway. 100x easier than driving downtown)
• Exit to the street at Steel Plaza, near the start of the parade route, and about 4 blocks from where I'm meeting mom (we were meeting in the lobby at One Oxford Center)
• Walk three of those blocks, essentially to the courthouse, at which point I realize I’m not going to be able to cross Grant Street. Anywhere.
• Run into a gameday co-worker who was not part of the group this year
• Call mom to tell her I can’t cross Grant. She starts to offer to cross to meet me, then realizes if I can’t cross Grant, she won’t be able to cross Grant either. She suggests I take an outbound T to First Ave. I remind her that then I’ll still have the same problem, except then I won’t be able to cross the Boulevard of the Allies.
• Walk back to Steel Plaza T stop. Get back on an "inbound" T headed for the Point. Joke with people in business suits about how completely insane it is that there’s a grand total of ONE way to cross Grant Street today, and that’s taking the T from Steel Plaza to Wood Street.
• Exit Wood Street station
• Walk a few blocks uphill and several towards the Mon to get to One Oxford.
• Meet up with mom at about 11:50 for a theoretical noon start to parade
• Observe crazy people in trees
• Observe more crazy people who are climbing traffic lights
• Listen to mom laugh/point out the above sign every single time it’s visible. Hooters was advertising in this manner as well.• Stand four-deep on the barricades, where I can hardly see anything
• Realize the parade is finally starting when The Worst Mascot In All Of Sports comes bouncing down the street• See Coach Tomlin walking down Grant Street in front of the car carrying his family
• Get several shots of my boss, taking photos of the crowd from the back of one of the trucks. I'm totally sending him one.
* Get a couple decent shots of players.
Ben
Troy• Laugh at/with fellow parade-goers who are discussing whether or not they'll get in trouble for taking a 2-hr lunch
• Have lunch with my mom
• Be very happy we have seats when an Idiot on the T on the way home breaks a door on the T car. Sit at South Hills Junction for 30 minutes
• Realize that probably 50K people are now wondering why *none* of the trolleys are moving. At. All.
Can I please eviscerate whoever thought this “SixBurgh” thing was a good idea? KTHXBAI
4 comments:
Looks like it was quite an experience! I guess it's a good thing that I couldn't go, because all those people would have been just the right setting to trigger a panic attack. Much better to watch the highlights on TV, I think.
That must have been insane. I saw Troy body surfing on TV.
My verification word is ousto. That sounds like a magic word, to me. But that could possibly be because I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series.
How fun, I've been waiting for this post. Loved the pictures.
After the Phillies won the World Series, the city was a mess. I happened to take the day off from work so I didn't have to try to get into work. The trains were packed and people were waiting over 2 hours on the platform and still not getting on.
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