July 14 = Day 18

Synopsis:  183.9 miles driven; 3.5 hours on the road; Ellwood City, NY; Visited Great Grandma and Grandpa Kroll's family farm, PNC Park, Heinz Field, Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe, Butler Cemetery and Locus Grove Cemetery

Aunt Shirley and Uncle Tony cooked us breakfast this morning (eggs, bacon, sausage, cereal, etc.) before we hit the road around 7:40 am. We started with a stop at the old Kroll homestead - the house my grandfather Kroll built and in which my dad grew up. The people living there allowed us (I had contacted them before the trip) to take a walk around the property and tell some stories of the past.

We then went into Pittsburgh and got there early enough to go down to the Riverwalk and walk up to PNC Park and to visit the beautiful home of the woeful Pirates. By 9:45 am, we were back at Heinz Field to take the official tour of the place. We visited the regular stands, the better seats and even sat in a luxury box. We visited the Press room, the field and the locker room. We got to walk around and see the Steelers Hall of Fame as well as the six Lombardi trophies.

After some souvenir shopping, we left Pittsburgh and headed for the Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe. Now, there are many locations but we have to go to the Chippewa location (actually in Beaver Falls) because that is where my Grandfather Piper always took us in the couple of years before he died. We feasted on chili dogs and loaded french fries. After lunch, we took at quick run down Blackhawk Road (about 8 miles) to go into Ohio - yeah, another state!

We spent our afternoon going to a couple of cemeteries - the cemetery in Butler where my grandpa Kroll and my cousin Bryan are buried and the cemetery in Ellwood where my grandmother and grandfather Piper are buried. We finished our day with a short stop by the church where my grandpa Kroll pastored for 33 years and then dinner at Aunt Shirley and Uncle Tony's house with Aunt Kathy and her three girls (my cousins).

Hotel Deal of the Day: One night at Aunt Shirley and Uncle Tony's for $0 including home cooked Italian meals!