Dan Antion

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Life jackets – these are important.

This is a Thursday Doors post (I didn’t think the hashtag would fit in the title without causing it to wrap). It’s also a riverboat post, and if that makes you think of “The Delta Pearl,” Teagan Geneviene’s current serial story, well, there is a connection. There’s also a connection to my youth. I’ll get to those, but first, I need to explain why I chose the door I featured today. It’s for The Editor. I’m not going to share the story, but let’s just go with it’s one of those “someday we’ll look back at this and laugh…” stories whose day hasn’t arrived, yet. (Note: while proofreading she said, “I’m not laughing”) – give it time.

Some of you know (because I’ve written about this before), but when I was in high school, I worked on a riverboat. The Gateway Clipper “fleet” (at that time it was 3 boats) plied Pittsburgh’s three rivers for sightseeing and entertainment. Technically, I worked for the catering company that catered the Gateway Clipper Fleet’s events. These included proms and weddings and the regular Captain’s Dinner Cruise. On occasion, I also worked the shuttle run to Three Rivers Stadium for baseball and football games. I loved that job, and I love these boats. Whenever we go to a game but are not staying on the North Shore, we park on the west side of the Monongahela River and take the Gateway Clipper Shuttle to PNC Park or Heinz Field. It’s a fun little ride, it saves money on parking and it helps us avoid gameday traffic. And who doesn’t want to be on a riverboat?

When we were in Pittsburgh in August to see the Pirates lose to the Cubs, we took the shuttle to PNC Park. At that time, Teagan had already started “The Delta Pearl” and I figured she might be able to use more riverboat photos. As if I needed a reason to take pictures of boats, paddlewheels, smokestacks and doors, excuse me, hatches.

I was able to get pictures at the Gateway Clipper dock, on the river as we passed other ships in the fleet, from the ballpark as ships floated by and on our way home after the game. Since this post is about a ballgame, I included a couple of doors from PNC Park as well.

In the 70s, the original Gateway Clipper was of this style.

Thursday Doors is a fun weekly bloghop offered by Norm Frampton. Each week, Norm posts a wonderful collection of doors he has found, and he invites others to join him. People come from around the world to participate and the result is a stunning collection of wonderful doors. If you want to join us, or if you just want to look, head on up to Norm’s place. He will have everything you need to know on his page.

Kind of a door. This is the west entrance to the Liberty Tubes. The tunnel is a little over a mile long. When we exit, we will be right above the dock.
At the dock.
This is why we’re here.
We’re boarding the little shuttle for the early ride to the ball park. There are 9 ships in the fleet, so parking is crowded.
The Empress.
The Empress is in the style of the Gateway Party Liner (that I worked on). You’ve seen this tug before.
The 3 Rivers Queen coming toward us on the Monongahela River.
In the 70s, the original Gateway Clipper was of this style.
We only go down for one game, so we treat ourselves to club-level seats.
The Dutchess, again. Under the Roberto Clemente bridge. From PNC Park.
That’s Francisco Liriano. He was one of my favorite pitchers. The Pirates traded him to Toronto a few years ago and took him back as a relief pitcher this year. I still like him.
The end of the Pirogi Race at PNC Park.
That’s our ride back to our car.
Employees only (unless you need first aid).
Looking at The Dutchess as we pass her on the Allegheny River
Hidden door.
Life jackets – these are important.
Hidden door.

64 comments

  1. Pictures of the River Boats spark thoughts of an earlier time with gambling and waistcoats and genteel manners just before before someone shot the cheat. I always wanted to visit those days. Sigh.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      • Your photos add a lot to my Delta Pearl posts, Dan. I’m sorry to be taking a break from that this weekend, but I need to “exercise” A Ghost in the Kitchen. LOL. Finally got everything ready to go for my book launch on Saturday. Between bad Internet service and Amazon’s antics, it was touch and go. Wheew… finally done. Have a thriving Thursday!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  4. Riverboats make me think of Mark Twain. I didn’t know you worked on one, but I’d guess that was a better high school job than most of us had. The color of blue on the door is pretty. Easy to see.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thanks Ally. It was the best possible high school job. In fact, it was so good that my father made me quit and take a job in a machine shop so I would understand why he wanted me to think harder about going to college.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. Beautiful riverboats Dan. If I even could get myself on one of these beauties, I would glue myself to the ‘life jackets’ door. Why? Because I can’t swim!! Lol.
    🐾Ginger 🐾

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  9. You know of course that I’m now seriously curious about this door incident of which you didn’t write! How could you leave us hanging?!!

    I love boats – big boats, little boats, all boats – so this is a great post …. notwithstanding the baseball 😉

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • They aren’t that expensive at PNC Park. We like them because there’s a place to go in the event of a rain delay (which has happened 3 times). When you buy tickets so far in advance, make hotel and travel arrangements, you want to take you best shot.

      Liked by 1 person

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  16. Of course like Joanne all I’m thinking about is wanting to hear this story you’re not quite ready/able to tell :-D
    I did not know you could take a boat shuttle across the river to get to the stadium. If I do ever make it back there for a game, THAT, is how I want to get there. So cool.
    Fun post Dan.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • That’s a tough story to tell, Norm, especially if I don’t want to come across as a huge jerk.

      I would encourage the boat ride to the park, if not, there are several sightseeing cruises everyday and a nightly dinner cruise. They seem to be serving better food these days.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  18. I’m having so much fun with Teagan’s Delta Pearl and love the contributions you and others are sending. Now I can really understand your connection to the riverboat world, Dan! Terrific!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  19. Since I traveled as a five year old from Indonesia to Holland, I love boats. Then growing up in an area where water was all around us, I love boats/ferry’s even more, because of visiting friends. Wow, you saw so many! They are such a festive sight:)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  24. I. I don’t want to be on a riverboat. I can be bribed to go on a riverboat with food and beer. I can be guilted into going on a riverboat. I will grudgingly agree to go on a riverboat for one reason or another. But I never WANT to be on a riverboat. Maybe a ferry.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  25. What a delightful post! I’ve never been on a riverboat, so thank you. Wonderful photos, especially the Roberto Clemente bridge. It took me a minute to find the hidden door. Best to you, Dan.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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