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Sweet November




As if having the best holiday this month is not enough, Pittsburgh has experienced some pretty rocking weather the past few weeks. I think I have been to the park with Jordan more times this month than I was in any given month this summer.

Saturday, after attending a nice pancake breakfast at a local church, we decided to drive to the North Shore to check out the Nina and the Pinta (no Santa Maria). I figured the kid could use a little relevant history lesson (sans the did Columbus really "discover" America debate), and we could take advantage of the sunny early September day, which just happened to be in mid-November.

The area was crowded and none of the lots near the stadium were open yet (I guess in preparation for the Pitt-ND game), but that made no never mind. We were in no hurry on this beautiful day, so I rather enjoyed the long walk and was not the least bit bothered by waiting in line for a ticket.

I would like to tell you that I imagined what it would be like to be on the ship. But really I just thought it was cool to see the boats, take some pics, and watch my kid being impressed. I was also struck by how many more people wore Steelers garb than Pens or Pitt attire, considering the two latter teams played that evening (for the record, I was wearing a Pitt t-shirt; I figured they could use my support more than PSU that day).

After about 30 minutes on the boats and many crappy pictures later, we headed over to the war memorials. Since Veteran's Day had just passed, I felt a little more emotion for those places. Jordan mostly just ran around, wishing the fountain with the steps still had water. Fortunately, she found a girl to play with for a bit, so she was happy, and I talked to the girl's nice mom. Ah, Pittsburghers.

When the excursion ended (I figured with kick-off about six hours away, tailgating would soon begin), we drove through downtown and throngs of people (not literally) who were waiting for the Rockettes to get their Christmas groove on. Seemed a little off since it was about 60 degrees.

After waiting in that traffic for many, many minutes and letting many, many cars out of a lot (just doing the right thing), we, reluctantly, ended our day in the Burgh. How can you not love this place?!
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