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Thursday, August 11, 2011

An Amazing Day of Firsts

Last autumn, I saw on FB that U2 had added another stop to their 360 tour. This stop just happened to be in Pittsburgh, the area that I grew up in....where most of my family still lives. This is where my sister lives and she is the biggest U2 fan I know. I have never been to a concert. ever. But I thought "We should do this". I sent her an email and apparently she saw it on FB too and had already been thinking this was an opportunity she did not want to pass up. When our wonderful mother found this out, she decided to get the tickets as our Christmas presents from her!
The tickets went on sale, my mom grabbed up a pair and we were set! Now all we had to do was continue living life as before .......and wait about 7 months for the actual show date. Easier said than done, but luckily we both lead pretty busy lives and it was nice to know we had this to look forward to.
We planned our summer trip to PA around this concert. Things fell into place beautifully. Both my nephew and my son have birthdays around the same time....same time as the concert, too. So on our visit we enjoyed birthday parties, a day at Kennywood and this amazing concert!
On the day of the concert, I had to get my kids where they needed to go. Two of them stayed with my brother, his wife and their kids.....sleepover! And my teen and my son stayed with my mom and my sister's family. I am still so thankful to all of them for pulling together and helping us out. This would have been impossible without them.
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Once the kids were all settled, we were on our way. My sister drove. She's brave like that. We went down in the afternoon, to get good parking. The day was gorgeous! Absolutely perfect! No rain, low humidity and still warm temps. Amazing!
Parking was practically magical. We got into the lot we wanted....the one that would be easiest to get out of. We were second in line for when the lot opened!
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Once parked we headed towards the stadium. I, playing the role of tourist, took many photos. It was so beautiful! We checked out the stadium then headed to the casino. My first time ever in a casino! How cool is that?! Grownup playground! Under 18 not admitted. I tried to get carded but it didn't work. :/
We walked around, checked out the machines, played penny slots and decided where to eat dinner. We also signed me up for a casino card. They just happened to be running a promo, so I got 15 bucks to play around with on the slots! Fun! My sister and I talked, laughed, enjoyed games and free drinks (non alcoholic, of course) and then enjoyed a great light dinner at one of the casino's restaurants. It was a "grown up" blast! I even left with 11 dollars! Woo hoo! (yeah, I don't get out much)
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We then headed back to the car to drop a few things off. We arrived at the stadium and found our seats. Of course I took more photos. We were still plenty early so we went to shop a little. We got mini buttons and key chains! Very cool! Neither one of us wanted to fork out 3o bucks for a T-shirt we will probably never wear, but I proudly show off my key chain every chance I get!
My sister-in-law had tickets for this concert, too. She was coming with a couple of friends. We waited for them on the rotunda, where I took even more pics! (And we munched licorice.) The view of the city and the river was amazing. And it was kinda cool watching all the traffic and crowds we were NOT in. Then we spotted my sis-in-law. They came up and after introductions and hugs, a kind couple took our photo. So nice of them....surprising considering they were from Cleveland. ;)
We had to go our separate ways since our seats were not together. It was nice seeing/meeting them and it was another thing that worked out well! My sis and I found our seats and waited. The concert start time was 7 but U2 didn't come on until 9.
Then it was time......they were about to emerge.
From where?
Right. Near. Us. Awesome! They began the show as the crowds roared! It was a fantastic show! Amazing! I've never been to a concert before, but I just can't see how any other concert could compare to this. Bono brought up a couple to slow dance during With or Without You. And he brought up a young boy during another song. They let the audience sing the first verse of Still Haven't Found What I'm Lookin For and it gave me chills. 60 plus thousand people were there. I would do it all again. Actually I would LOVE to do it again! The whole day was amazing.
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We left a tad bit early to try to beat the traffic. We got to listen to the last song as we walked to the car. We got out of the parking lot just in time, before the crowds got too crazy.
And another first on our way home..........
We both saw a shooting star! It was a fabulous day. Just fabulous!
That night, I snuggled next to my little boy and drifted off to sleep with dreams of my sister and I and our BEAUTIFUL DAY!
TTFN
Have a great day, everyone! Make it special!
~Tina.

2 comments:

Theresa said...

It was a Beautiful Day and I feel so fortunate that we got to share this experience!....thank you sooo very much for coming with me!!! Not sure how we'll "top" that but we'll come up with something...I just couldn't stop smiling as I read your blog...so amazing!

Love you,
Ter

Grandma Jo said...

Great blog, Tina! I'm glad my two daughters had such a wonderful time! You have such a way with words! Everyone should read your blogs!! LYAB! Your Mom :)