The Magic of the Terrible Towel

As a little girl, she named her puppy Bettis after Jerome Bettis, the Bus.  For as long as I can remember, she's been a football fan, and so have I.  We've begged and pleaded and cajoled Wallace into taking us to Pittsburgh, Home of Heinz Field and the Steel Curtain and Steelers Nation. This week, he gave in...

As I've gotten older, Christmas presents don't seem to be quite as important as time spent with family and thinking about the real reason for the season, but I definitely didn't turn this one down.  Yes, it was going to be cold, but isn't that real football weather?  So we packed up our long johns and underarmour gear and headed up north.

Not a bad drive at all, and Caleb sat in the front seat and talked.  And talked.  Snow lined the road next to us but it wasn't as bad as we were afraid it was going to be, and before we knew it, we were in the tunnel.  People had told us about the tunnel, but it really can't be described. You're driving along, and it's looking like Kentucky, kind of hilly and trees, and then through the tunnel, and before your eyes is the skyline.  Pretty awesome. 

And to my left is Heinz Field... and to say that I am like a kid in a candy store is an understatement. 

It's early so we head over to Hard Rock to eat, and then there is a sports store in a shopping plaza and we go into to pick up a Terrible Towel. Emmanuel Sanders is there signing autographs so Caleb takes a pic and pretends like he is his biggest fan... and then he maybe is, because his background pic on his phone is changed and he's buying a tee-shirt for the game. 

We get back to the hotel and Phil Simms is in the lobby, and we hear that the Bengals are staying there.  Sightings galore as we go to get pops and go swimming.  Caleb can't stay cooped up in a hotel room... so he's riding the elevator with a Bengal, #58.  "So, you going to the game tomorrow?" He asks him to make conversation. (That's my husband and my son for you... never see a stranger.) "Yeah, I probably better show up."

We head back out and go to the Christmas village and freeze and have our pictures taken with Santa Clause.  More swimming and then it's bedtime and then it's gametime. Riding down to the lobby there's another Bengal player, and Caleb admires his beats and his phone. "That's what I want for Christmas," He tells him, to which the player replied, "You must have been a good boy."

And then we are there, and the sun is shining right on our seats.  The stadium fills up and I'm watching Troy and Ben and Heath warm up right in front of me.  Terry Bradshaw's daughter sings the National Anthem and there are those terrible towels, waving all around me... and Caleb is like the ring leader.  Waving as hard as he can.

Yes, the Steelers lost.  No, we won't be in the playoffs this year... but I got to see Timmons make an awesome sac and Troy make a couple of really good hits and got to see those towels in action... Heinz Field was definitely worth the drive, and this has already been one of my best Christmases ever... and it hasn't even really started yet.  God bless!