DAY ONE: Black and Yellow

Dustin and I flew out at 7:30. Dustin quickly turned into a turtle and fell asleep. I spent the whole flight listening to music and playing various games on my phone. We touched down just after 9 AM. We got our rental without issue and went to the mall to kill time/look for Steelers gear. We had an early lunch at one of our Pittsburgh favorite's - Max and Erma's before heading to Weirton to visit Dustin's grandma. There was still quite a bit of bright foliage during our drive. I asked Dustin to stop so we could take photos but his eye was on the prize - see grandma then see the Steelers. He promised we'd stop in a couple days. 

FINE. Forget the foliage, for now. 

We had a nice visit with his grandma. It was the first time we'd been up there since his Pap died in January 2017 so it was weird not having him in the house. We left to go check into our hotel and take a breather before heading out. We had been up since 4am and were barely running on fumes as we drove into Pittsburgh. We stopped at Starbucks for a Hail Mary. I am a big believer that coffee and caffeine in general isn't all it's cracked up to be. If you drink coffee, cool, but I don't think it's keeping you awake. Or maybe it just doesn't keep me awake. But I figured what the hell! There's nothing like driving into Pittsburgh - the tunnel, that picturesque view that smacks you in the face and kind of throws you off for a minute. How do people remember where they are going when the pop out?

We got to the stadium with no problems and paid $60 to park a few blocks away. The sun was just starting to set and the temperature was dropping. I got as bundled as I could and we walked to the stadium. There were all kinds of things going on outside but we ended up joining the crowd at the barriers who were watching the players arrive across the street. A car would pull in and I'd nudge Dustin and ask "Who is that?" since most of them were players I had never heard of. We did get to see James Connor arrive though. All of the players would park and then walk to a shuttle that drove them across the street. We decided to walk around the stadium to see what else was going on and just take in the atmosphere of a motherfucking home game. There were photo ops, official merch for sale, food, and a big giant blow up Steeler in front of a Christmas tree (too early guys but I'll let it slide). we found our gate and got in line but thankfully didn't have to wait long. It started to get pretty cold when we were just standing in line but as soon as we started moving it was actually comfortable. We had to walk a lot since we were so high up. I was like a little kid saying "Are we there yet?" and Dustin would respond "One more....". Round and round we went until finally we were at the right level. We bought nacho pirogies that tasted good except the pirogies weren't cooked all of the way so we didn't end up eating them all. Dustin was anxious to get to our seats so we went inside the actual stadium way early. We were up high on the river with no other bodies around us and let me tell you I started to get cold. Still bearable but cold. I put on my hood and zipped up my jacket as much as possible. It was fun watching the stadium fill up and soon warms ups were over and it was just about game time. Since Veteran's Day was that weekend there was a performance by country artist Kane Brown of his song 'Homesick' which typically is not my jam at all but having him sing that song while veteran's walked the field waving terrible towels and several paratroopers flew into the stadium was a moment I'll never forget. The game started and soon we were scoring touchdowns left and right. I was pumped we were winning by so much and the up and down celebrations in the stands helped keep me warmer but by half time I was an icicle. I looked at Dustin half serious/half joking and said "I can't do this anymore!". We decided to go down to the concourse and he so lovingly bought me a giant blanket (that looked like a terrible towel) that I quickly wrapped around myself and some thick socks. We got back to our seats and i was much warmer but during the game ended up losing one of my gloves. Whoops! We've been to some damn good Steelers games but I think this one takes the cake. The final score was 52-21 Steelers. It was so fun walking out of the stadium with the sea of fellow fans in great spirits. It was even better when we got into the car and turned on the heat. HA! But seriously I thought I was going to lose my toe. It had lost feeling and I was starting to panic. Thankfully I did make it back to Florida with all digits.