Pirate’s Game (PNC Park) & Carnegie Museum of National History

Sept. 2-4, 2022

As soon as we began our trip to head out of town we saw a truck on fire – full-on ablaze! Luckily, first responders were there and no one appeared to be injured. But, still – what a crazy thing to see as we started our trip!

We chose to stay at a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh for the long weekend since we were going to be going to a Pirate’s game. Little did we know – we were RIGHT across from PNC park. We could see the entrance from our hotel room. Cheers to Marriott for the great location!

Friday night we ate at SOHO Pittsburgh Restaurant and Lounge. Jay was excited to get an Iron City Beer! The food was good but the desserts were better!

Saturday, we decided to check out the Carnegie National History Museum before the game. Our entry fee gave us access to the Art Museum and the History Museum, but due to time, we chose to see the History Museum. We started going through the dinosaurs and it was really interesting to find that most of the artifacts in the museum came from a single quarry.

We even got to see a triceratops and a t-rex. It was very cool and we enjoyed it very much.

Working our way up three stories of the museum, we learned about a variety of animals and people who lived on the land including Alaskan Inuits and Native Americans.

And we have both been interested in ancient Egypt so we very much enjoyed the portion of the museum that focused on that. We got to see a statue of Amenhotep and in reading through all of the information we learned that all human remains and authentic artifacts are in the profess of being returned to Egypt – where they rightfully belong. We both loved finding this out and appreciated the museum’s respect towards the Egyptian people and their artifacts.

Later that day, as an extension of Jay’s birthday, we got to celebrate at PNC Park.

I got us tickets to the Pirate’s game for the Sept. 3 game, which was going to be specifically notable since it was the inaugural hall of fame game. Fortunately, his brother, cousin (once removed) and his daughter (Jay’s second cousin) were able to join us for the game to celebrate Jay’s birthday.

The Pirates’ first Hall of Fame class features National Baseball Hall of Famers Bill Mazeroski, Roberto Clemente, Honus Wagner, Willie Stargell, Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor, Max Carey, Jake Beckley, Fred Clarke, Paul Waner and Lloyd Waner. Along with the National Hall of Famers, Pittsburgh recognized Steve Blass, Dave Parker and Danny Murtaugh, a trio who played invaluable roles in Pirates history.

The Pirates’ first Hall of Fame class also honors the Negro Leagues with the inclusion of Josh Gibson (Crawfords and Grays), Oscar Charleston (Crawfords and Grays), Ray Brown (Grays) and Buck Leonard (Grays), all of whom are also members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. As part of the ceremony, the organization “signed” Gibson, Charleston, Leonard and Brown to contracts. Signing the deals on behalf of Gibson and Leonard were Sean Gibson (great-grandson) and Rose Fox-Hunter (step-daughter), respectively. (https://www.mlb.com/news/pirates-induct-inaugural-hall-of-fame-class)

And as an addition to Jay’s birthday celebration, I got his name and a birthday wish displayed on the billboard/jumbotron after the fourth inning.

Then, because it was such a special game, PNC put on a drone show to honor the hall of fame members. It was so cool!

This was my first major sporting event, and I got to wear my new pirates shirt, but there wasn’t a program – unfortunately.

It was an amazing day and show. We got to spend the day with great people at a great event. It could have only been better if the Pirates won. Ultimately, the Pirates lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-1.