Heinz Field

A couple weeks ago, we found out there is a program that runs for a few weeks in the fall that allows free admission to many Pittsburgh attractions.  Today, we toured Heinz Field (along with the Nina and Pinta ships, but that's for another post).  For those of you unfortunate folk who don't know what Heinz Field is . . . it's the home of the PITTSBURGH STEELERS!!! Oh, yeah!

They only let 50 tourists in every hour from 10 am - 3 pm.  I wasn't very hopeful.  My only positive thought was that school is in session; although die hard Steelers fans would probably pull their kids out of school for such an opportunity!

Long story, short.  We were able to take a tour at 1 pm!  Poor Bud thought he was going to get to see Steelers players or watch them play.  Maybe some day, Bud.  I'd love to take all the kids to a game.  They love watching the games with us at home. 

We had the nicest woman leading our tour . . . Meet Nancy! (Bud and Butterfly are pictured on the middle left of the photo.)



The tour started in the Great Hall.  This is where they keep their {ahem} SIX superbowl trophies.

Around and around and around the spiral ramp we went . . .

There were over 20 people in our group.  My kids insisted in staying up front close to Ms. Nancy.

 

 

I was surprised how bright it was with all the cloud cover.

 

The view was spectacular inspite of the gloomy day.

 

Mr. Rooney bought the Steelers for $1,800 that he had won betting on the horses.  I learned something new today.

Up to the club level . . .

When the Knight and I were given game tickets from his previous employer in previous seasons, this is where we sat (seats right outside the door on the left of the photo).

The kids in the North Club.

Checking out the view from the North Club.

 

I was most excited about the rest of the tour.  Probably because I have already been everywhere they took us on the beginning part of the tour.

Next was the press box.  All press boxes must be the same.  Reminded me of the press box we saw at the Daytona International Speedway last November.

Ms. Nancy sure knew a lot about the stadium and the Steelers.

AND . . . drum roll.  The locker room!

This is about 1/4 of the locker room.

Troy Polamalu's locker!

The kiddos and I -- not too bad after being rained on all day.

Not sure of the significance of this sign.  We were a little preoccupied trying to take the above photo when Ms. Nancy was explaining it.  However, Bud wanted his picture taken with it.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day.

We had a great time in spite of the rain. We were all decked out in our #43 gear (Troy Polamalu).  Surprisingly, not many others were dressed in Steelers apparel. 

 

We did have a little issue on the way back to our vehicle because of our Steelers apparel.  We were approached by a strange looking group of people (as in a man wearing Olympic-type track clothes carrying an American flag over his shoulders like he had just won a marathon strange).  They were [adults] on a scavenger hunt.  The first group said they needed a picture with someone wearing a Steelers jersey. [Ok. We can do that.]  Then they said something like, "they are wearing Polamalu jerseys" and wanted to take pictures of the back of our jerseys. [I'm thinking "Anyone who KNOWS Polamalu would recognize his jersey from the front." But anyways.]  They then proceeded to tell us there was another group of people coming shortly behind them and to not let them take pictures with us.  I told the kids to walk quickly. HA!  It was partly because it was raining and even with an umbrella, I just wanted to get back to the van after 3 1/2 hours of walking downtown.  Wouldn't you know it.  The second group spotted us. {sigh} Except this time, a creepy guy [FYI: I prefer strange over creepy.] said, "We need to get a picture hugging a person with a Steelers jersey. 0_o  Needless to say, we sprinted away after that awkward moment.  I could hear someone else in their group say something about they are wearing Polamalu jerseys, but it was too late!  We were long gone.  Can I say, I despise scavenger hunts.  Always have.  Always will.  I'm usually [forced to be] on the asking side, but it was very awkward being on the being asked side.  Just another part of our very memorable day downtown.