Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been a hockey town for a while now, so if you're a fan of the NHL's other 31 teams but you want to see a road game, you must consider the Steel City. And it goes beyond just watching a good hockey game between your team and the Penguins.
Pittsburgh itself has a lot to offer, even if the No. 1 reason for going on the ultimate road trip here means you'll need to fight some traffic. It begins with taking those Fort Pitt tunnes on I-376, going east.
If you haven't done this yet while on your way to PPG Paints Arena, you need to and it's worth sitting in traffic. Why? Because when you first exit those tunnels, the city skyline pops out. And it's like you entered another world.
Before heading to watch your team play the Penguins, check out The Point and the Three Sisters
Have you ever seen three rivers meet live and in person? If not, then it gives you a good reason to check out The Point, which is where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers merge to form the Ohio River. If you remember the old Three Rivers Stadium that once housed the Steelers and Pirates, now you know where it got its name.
And when the city you're in has three rivers surrounding it, you're going to see bridges. There are over 440 of them in "the 412," A lot of these bridges are some of the city's most iconic landmarks, and if you're an MLB fan, it's more than worth noting that PNC Park points directly to the Roberto Clemente Bridge.
The bridge itself is part of the "Three Sisters," alongside the Andy Warhol and Rachel Carson Bridges. You'll notice that these golden suspension bridges look like identical triplets, and they're often the first bridges that come to mind when you think about the city of Pittsburgh.
Don't forget the unique role Pittsburgh plays in professional sports
This is an unpopular opinion among most sports fans since team colors are a big part of identity, but no other city has been as unique as the 'Burgh. I mean, all three of their major sports teams are black and gold, matching the city's flag's colors.
That's one of the coolest nods I've ever seen in pro sports, and it directly ties the Penguins, Pirates, and Steelers to the city and its people. It fosters pride among its residents and creates a deeper attachment to its sports teams, something that the nickname "City of Champions" has bolstered.
And why is that nickname so synonymous with Pittsburgh? Well, the Pens have five Cups, the Steelers have six Super Bowl wins, and, believe it or not, the Pirates used to be the class of the MLB. The championships and the identical color schemes create a unifying force that no other sports city in America matches.
And don't forget about Pittsburgh's decadence and subsequent rise to a new dawn
To this day, when a lot of us think of Pittsburgh, we're immediately met with a "blue collar" tradition that's forged in steel, coal, and iron. Of course, when manufacturing declined, it hit Pittsburgh harder than most towns in America, and the Steel City seemed to have lost its soul.
Despite the challenges, Pittsburgh's since recovered and is now a recognized outlet for science, tech, healthcare, and education, among other industries. Traces of the old mills remain in operation, but the city is a prime example of what happens when a resilient and hardworking foundation brewed throughout generations of hardworking people, refuse to surrender.
Nobody was about to give up on it, and the product of that resilience shows the second you hit downtown Pittsburgh. So, be sure to take a moment to recognize how well the city made such an epic comeback when it was down and out before stepping in to PPG Paints Arena to watch your team take on the Penguins.
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