November 2007

CHAPTER 1:

As soon as the 2007 Steelers’ schedule came out, it was easy to select the games I would be travelling across the Atlantic to see in Pittsburgh on my annual adventure. In November, the Steelers had back-to-back home games against the Baltimore Ravens on a Monday Night extravaganza, and then my favourite adversaries, the Cleveland Browns.

On paper, the fixtures looked good. The first provided a competitive contest against the likely rivals for division champions, followed by the usual rollover of the Brownies. Umm… that was what I suspected when I was first thinking about the trip.

As Steelers’ fans will know, it didn’t quite work out like that.

What I didn’t also appreciate when I chose those games was the impact that the celebrations for Steelers’ 75th Anniversary would have on the trip. A nice relaxing ten days in Pittsburgh? You know this editor, there’s no such thing!

This year’s pilgrimage saw me joined by my friend Pete Ridley. So Friday November 2nd found us flying from Heathrow, via Toronto, to Pittsburgh.

It was a lengthy way of travelling, but any journey to Pittsburgh is worth the effort. The flight was £100 cheaper with Air Canada than anyone else, so that might explain why we were content to take the long route.

Spending that amount of time on an international flight plane, you do the polite thing and talk to whoever is sat next to you. Because of the traumas of booking in electronically, Pete was lucky enough to find himself a few seats away from me.

A poor unfortunate Canadian gentleman found himself next to me and I discovered he had worked for four years at the submarine research establishment just a few miles from my house. It can be a small world sometimes.

We touched down in Toronto and went through US immigration, before we had to make our way to another terminal to take the short hop to Pittsburgh via a prop plane.

As we were going through the security screens, one of the staff asked me to adopt her as my daughter when she discovered another purpose to my visit – Ugg boots and an Ipod Shuffle for Jodie. I declined the lady’s invitation, saying that I already had one adoptive daughter (not in real terms.) Bless her!

We took the bus to the peripheral terminal before boarding the plane. This time, I found myself sitting next to one of the emergency exits.

Before we took off, the stewardess came up to point out the exit and told me I was responsible for opening it in an emergency and asked if I was comfortable with it?

At once I replied “No,” as I didn’t know what lever to pull or what to do if the situation demanded it. Making me accountable for the passengers’ safety when I didn’t have a clue? It just seemed an easy recipe for a double disaster.

The stewardess then tried to sit me elsewhere until she realised I was waiting on her instructions in the event of trouble. The challenge of the English language. Go figure? Fortunately the flight was a good one and no doors required opening until we had landed safely.

We landed in Pittsburgh thirteen hours after leaving London, still in daylight. I always stay near the airport as it’s close to Rock ‘n Roll Ed’s house. Because of logistical challenges when booking our hotel, we had to split our visit between two, with an interim excursion to Niagara Falls.

Our first stay was in the Holiday Inn, which has probably seen better days, but the staff were helpful, after they had overcome the twin barriers of language and my humour.

It’s amazing how a wash and brush up soon freshen a traveller up. So it was down to the bar to relax after the long journey and to meet our friends, Ed, his wife Jodi and Sheri.

Fortunately for all concerned, communications on our travels have improved a lot, and via mobile phones we discovered our friends were waiting for us next door in Jacksons'. I had forgotten that arrangement, due entirely to the hectic week before we left the UK.

Now was the time to start enjoying the holiday .

CHAPTER 2>>>