Trip to PA 2007
The weekend of June 9th was the best! Joe and I went Pittsburgh to see the Flip Flop Summer Tour 2007 featuring Pat Green, Sara Evans, Sugarland, Brooks and Dunn with headliner Kenny Chesney. The weekend started out with a road trip on Friday! Per usual, Joe and I have a blast when making the trek from MI to PA. We beat the bad weather that followed us and only got slowed down by a little bit of construction. We were able to stop and see his family before heading to our hotel.
After we checked in we went to explore downtown Pittsburgh. We only had to drive through the Fort Pitt Tunnel a couple of times more than we needed to in order to get to our destination. Which ended up being closed. All Joe wanted was a "Roethlisburger" from Peppi's. But I know he wasn't disappointed in where we ended up eating. After finding out that Peppi's was closed we decided to drive around and check out parking for the next day's concert festivities. During this excersion we ended up finding Grille 36 (Jerome Bettis' new restaraunt). We parked the car and went inside to see how long the wait would be. The lady informed us that it would be up to an hour and a half for a table but that we were more than welcome to sit at the bar, IF we could find a seat. We walked up to the bar ordered a couple of drinks and stood back and took it all in. The place was amazing. There were TV's everywhere as well as pictures of the Steelers, and a football shaped bar. While we were standing there a gentleman got a call on his cell phone...after he hung up he informed his company that their table was ready (they use guests personal cell phones to contact them when a table is ready) and as they got up I motioned for Joe to grab the empty chair and I did the same. Where were in there 15 minutes and we had seats at the extremely busy bar. We just decided to eat there. While we were eating this group of guys came and stood next to us. One of the guys was talking to Joe about what he had ordered. A little while later we found out that these guys drove the rigs for Kenny Chesney!!!! After about 20 more minutes we headed out and made the journey back to the hotel.
The next day, we got up (not that I got that much sleep-I was too excited about the concert) around 8 got ready, packed and checked out by 10 AM and headed back to the North Shore to see what the parking situation was going to be like. I am so glad that Joe decided that we needed to leave as early as we did *see the concert didn't start until 4:30 but there was a pre-show concert by Jake Owen at 3:00 that we both wanted to see* because we would have been stuck in traffic well past the Fort Pitt Tunnel had we decided to leave when were orginally going to. The parking lots didn't open until 12PM so by 10:30 there was a line around the stadium of people waiting to park.
Flash forward to 11:45Am--the cops were tired of all the traffic taking over the road (and trust me it was a parking lot) that they asked (I sure demanded) that they open the lots early to get people in. We were able to park very close the staduim, which ended up not being such a good thing. After we parked we got out and walked around until 1:30 when the gates opened. COUNTRY MUSIC FANS KNOW HOW TO TAILGATE!!! They were crazy! I had never seen anything like it in my entire life.
Without taking up another millions words to describe the concert....trust me I could...I will keep it simple. It was amazing. I have never been to a concert like this one before. So many great acts in one place...it was a non-stop party. We were 2 feet from Jake Owen (Yee Haw) during his concert--all I have to say is DAMN ~ Love you Joe ;) ~ Our seats for the other 5 acts were pretty good. We were in the first level at the other end zone. We had a clear view and had an amazing time. Sugarland is by far one of my favorite groups (there isn't a song they sing that I don't like) I realized that I did know who Pat Green was (Wave on Wave), Sara Evans is still as strong as ever, Brooks and Dunn--WOW these guys know how to put on a show, and Kenny Chesney--the man never stops! Non-stop 3 hours! I am so glad that we went--we have want to see Kenny for 4 years now and it was worth the wait.
So when the concert was over we decided to take our time and walk back to the car...hit the parking lot and crunch...nothing but glass, aluminum cans and trash. The parking lot was a garbage dump. We get to the car and there is a HUGE pile of SH!T in the front of our car and glass bottles everywhere. Two hours later we are finally able to head out (time is approximately 1AM) after clearing the area in front of the car and waiting for the perfect time to cut someone off so that we can leave.
All in all it was an amazing day and an equally amazing weekend. We got to spend time with Joe's family (which of course is NEVER ENOUGH) but this time it was even less. We did get to see everyone and we had dinner on Sunday before we left which seems to be a tradition when we go down there. We never leave without having lunch or dinner with the family.
Looking forward to going back again...not sure when that will be...but always looking forward to the trip to PA... time away from the daily grind and time with Joe's family...what more could we ask for.
After we checked in we went to explore downtown Pittsburgh. We only had to drive through the Fort Pitt Tunnel a couple of times more than we needed to in order to get to our destination. Which ended up being closed. All Joe wanted was a "Roethlisburger" from Peppi's. But I know he wasn't disappointed in where we ended up eating. After finding out that Peppi's was closed we decided to drive around and check out parking for the next day's concert festivities. During this excersion we ended up finding Grille 36 (Jerome Bettis' new restaraunt). We parked the car and went inside to see how long the wait would be. The lady informed us that it would be up to an hour and a half for a table but that we were more than welcome to sit at the bar, IF we could find a seat. We walked up to the bar ordered a couple of drinks and stood back and took it all in. The place was amazing. There were TV's everywhere as well as pictures of the Steelers, and a football shaped bar. While we were standing there a gentleman got a call on his cell phone...after he hung up he informed his company that their table was ready (they use guests personal cell phones to contact them when a table is ready) and as they got up I motioned for Joe to grab the empty chair and I did the same. Where were in there 15 minutes and we had seats at the extremely busy bar. We just decided to eat there. While we were eating this group of guys came and stood next to us. One of the guys was talking to Joe about what he had ordered. A little while later we found out that these guys drove the rigs for Kenny Chesney!!!! After about 20 more minutes we headed out and made the journey back to the hotel.
The next day, we got up (not that I got that much sleep-I was too excited about the concert) around 8 got ready, packed and checked out by 10 AM and headed back to the North Shore to see what the parking situation was going to be like. I am so glad that Joe decided that we needed to leave as early as we did *see the concert didn't start until 4:30 but there was a pre-show concert by Jake Owen at 3:00 that we both wanted to see* because we would have been stuck in traffic well past the Fort Pitt Tunnel had we decided to leave when were orginally going to. The parking lots didn't open until 12PM so by 10:30 there was a line around the stadium of people waiting to park.
Flash forward to 11:45Am--the cops were tired of all the traffic taking over the road (and trust me it was a parking lot) that they asked (I sure demanded) that they open the lots early to get people in. We were able to park very close the staduim, which ended up not being such a good thing. After we parked we got out and walked around until 1:30 when the gates opened. COUNTRY MUSIC FANS KNOW HOW TO TAILGATE!!! They were crazy! I had never seen anything like it in my entire life.
Without taking up another millions words to describe the concert....trust me I could...I will keep it simple. It was amazing. I have never been to a concert like this one before. So many great acts in one place...it was a non-stop party. We were 2 feet from Jake Owen (Yee Haw) during his concert--all I have to say is DAMN ~ Love you Joe ;) ~ Our seats for the other 5 acts were pretty good. We were in the first level at the other end zone. We had a clear view and had an amazing time. Sugarland is by far one of my favorite groups (there isn't a song they sing that I don't like) I realized that I did know who Pat Green was (Wave on Wave), Sara Evans is still as strong as ever, Brooks and Dunn--WOW these guys know how to put on a show, and Kenny Chesney--the man never stops! Non-stop 3 hours! I am so glad that we went--we have want to see Kenny for 4 years now and it was worth the wait.
So when the concert was over we decided to take our time and walk back to the car...hit the parking lot and crunch...nothing but glass, aluminum cans and trash. The parking lot was a garbage dump. We get to the car and there is a HUGE pile of SH!T in the front of our car and glass bottles everywhere. Two hours later we are finally able to head out (time is approximately 1AM) after clearing the area in front of the car and waiting for the perfect time to cut someone off so that we can leave.
All in all it was an amazing day and an equally amazing weekend. We got to spend time with Joe's family (which of course is NEVER ENOUGH) but this time it was even less. We did get to see everyone and we had dinner on Sunday before we left which seems to be a tradition when we go down there. We never leave without having lunch or dinner with the family.
Looking forward to going back again...not sure when that will be...but always looking forward to the trip to PA... time away from the daily grind and time with Joe's family...what more could we ask for.
posted by Pugsley Toes @ 6/22/2007
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