Steeltown with Family

Lodging

Around Town

• Primanti Bros.
• DeLuca's

• https://www.ppgpaintsarena.com/
• Allegheny Coffee & Tea Exchange

• Duquesne Incline

What We Did

We left after work on the 6th and arrived at the hotel by 2:20 am on the 7th. We drove straight through and stopped near Indianapolis for fuel and switching drivers. The boys did well in the car and once the 'in flight movie' was turned off, they went right to sleep. Before leaving, we changed them into jammies so the transition to bed at the hotel would be easy. They shared the pull-out couch and did great for their first time sharing a bed.

Even though we arrived at 2am, we didn’t get to sleep until 4am — so much for the jammies helping the transition. After only four hours of sleep, the boys were up and ready. We ate at Denny’s for breakfast and headed to Target for diapers and forgotten items. Then it was back to the hotel for desperately-needed naps. Our hotel was right next to PPG Arena, and being Penguins fans, we checked out their gift shop. Dinner was hotel pizza and a movie. Afterward, we drove through the tunnel into town since A missed it on arrival — it took 1 minute 22 seconds to drive the 700-foot tunnel at 35 mph. Driving anywhere took longer than expected thanks to Pittsburgh’s curvy, hilly roads.

We rode the Duquesne Incline in the morning, then visited the Diamond Building to explore shops and find souvenirs. We headed back for naps, and once the rest of the family arrived, we went to Jerome Bettis’ Restaurant for dinner (now closed). It took a while to seat our party of 20+.

We met up with everyone for breakfast and stood in line at DeLuca’s in the Strip District. It was chilly, but with 20 people to huddle with, it wasn’t bad. We wandered the area afterward and visited shops — Allegheny Coffee & Tea Exchange stood out. We bought coffee and even bought a grinder to use in the hotel room. Lunch was Primanti Bros., though most of us shared sandwiches because we were still full from breakfast. Before naps, we stopped near Heinz Field to get pictures of the boys in their jerseys looking at the stadium.

The whole purpose of taking a later vacation was that the Steelers were in town to play the Rams. The whole crew went to the game while the boys and I stayed back at the hotel with room service mac & cheese and movies. I was glad I didn’t go — it was very cold and the weather looked rough.

We packed, said goodbye to everyone, and headed home. We hit snow partway and sat in slow-and-go traffic. C got called in for snow plow duty when we were just outside Indy, we didn’t get home until late. We stopped for fast food at the Indiana/Illinois state line and continued the drive.

Planned vs. What Happened

If We Did It Again