I would like to thank my wonderful family, Robrandi, Jess, Phil, Megan and Troy for joining me and participating in the New Year 2012 Cruise, Booze & Brawl event. It was a wonderful success and by all accounts everyone had a great time. How will we ever top it next year…?
Our weekend adventure began Friday afternoon with the drive out to the great city of Pittsburgh. Robrandi, Jess, Phil and myself all rode together. Meg and Troy drove separately and met up with us later in the evening at the hotel. Along the way we stopped in Monroeville and had dinner at the El Campesino Restaurante Mexicano. Even though this is a family oriented Mexican style restaurant the food was good, the wait staff was prompt and courteous, the drinks were cold and the chips were pointy.
Leaving the restaurant, we drove through the city, across the Fort Pit Bridge and up the hill to Green Tree and the Doubletree Hotel. This hotel was previously a Marriott and then a Radisson and was just recently purchased by Hilton and turned into to a Doubletree Hotel. The hotel is just 3 miles outside the city of Pittsburgh and conveniently, they offered round-trip shuttle service to and from the Gateway Clipper Fleet at Station Square on New Years Eve. Because our celebration plans included a 3 hour cruise on the three rivers aboard the Fleet’s flagship, The Majestic, this was a perfect location for us to stay.
After checking in and depositing our luggage in our rooms we ventured downstairs to the Rivers Lounge to await the arrival of Megan and Troy. Our bartender, Mike, was very nice and he kept us entertained with stories of his travels to Disney World, his triple bypass surgery, and how, “back in the day, this hotel was the place to be seen in Pittsburgh”. According to Mike, all the visiting professional sports teams used to stay at the hotel and it was also a common hang out for some of the Steelers. Not so much today though.
When Megan and Troy arrived we had a few more drinks, some late night munchies and then we retired for the evening. Saturday’s itinerary included a a late morning visit to my parents house in Green Tree. Then back to the hotel to get ready and depart for the New Years Eve dance cruise. No one wanted to be tired for the big cruise.
Late Saturday morning we left the hotel, grabbed some Starbucks coffee and some Einstein Bros bagels up on Green Tree Road and headed to my parents house for a short visit. The visit was nice. Along with my parents, we saw two of my brothers, three of the nieces/nephews and Elwood. Elwood is the dog who never blinks. He loves Jessie and stared at her the entire time. After saying our goodbyes we returned to the hotel to begin getting ready for the evening dance cruise.
Back at the hotel, as everyone got ready I made a food run up to Vincent’s of Green Tree. Vincent’s is a small restaurant on Mansfield Avenue offering Italian cuisine and pizza. It’s actually pretty good. The cruise offered snacks but not dinner so we did Vincent’s. Close to 7:00PM we all met in the hotel lobby. In short order we boarded the shuttle for the trip to Station Square and the boat dock. The shuttle, it turns out was a Charter School Bus. The trip to Station Square was only 15 minutes but our bus driver drove like a crazy man and when we arrived, we were all feeling a bit queasy. Robrandi remarked that after drinking all night the return trip was going to be interesting if we had the same crazy driver.
Our boarding time for the cruise was 8:30PM so having arrived a 7:15PM we had some time to kill. Right up the street from the Gateway Clipper Fleet dock are like 3 or 4 bars including Pittsburgh’s Hard Rock Cafe, Buckhead Saloon and Bar Louie. We decided to stop at Bar Louie for some “Pre-Cruise” cocktails. Bar Louie is a serious drinking establishment. It has one of the biggest bars that I have seen in a long time. We found a nice table near the bar and had a few rounds. At 8:30PM we left and made our way over tho the Gateway Clipper Fleet dock.
When we arrived at the dock to board the cruise ship we learned that we would be sailing on the Gateway Empress and not The Majestic. The First Mate informed us that originally The Majestic, the larger of the two ships, had a band. The Gateway Empress had a DJ. Because they booked over 500 people for the DJ and only 240 people for the band they had to switch the ships. We sailed on the Gateway Empress with 240 people and the band called Twice As Nice. The Majestic left the dock with 500 people and a DJ.
Once we had the correct ship, boarding was easy. You had to be 21 to board the cruise but I don’t think anyone’s id was checked. On the gangway we stopped and had our picture taken by Sharpshooter Lab. They came around later in the cruise and sold the photos that they took at boarding time. There was an 8×10, a 5×7 and 2 wallets. I think the whole package was $25.00. Upon boarding we were given our table assignment, table 208 on the second floor. When we arrived at our table our waitress for the evening greeted us and took our drink orders. There were several snack tables set up with crackers, cheeses, fruits, chips and pretzels. We dug right in. The ship was all decked out in balloons, streamers, mirror ball and full New Years Eve regalia. It was awesome…!!
At 9:30 PM the gangway swung free and we set sail up the Monongahela River.
The cruise lasted 3 hours from 9:30 PM until 12:30 PM. During this time we sailed up the Monongahela, back down around the point and up the Allegheny River. After coming back down the Allegheny we entered the Ohio River, facing the city just prior to the New Year. The captain’s timing was impeccable. The band, Twice As Nice played the entire time and they were very good. They played a bunch of oldies with lots of slow songs mixed in. There was dancing, drinking, singing, drinking and picture taking aplenty.
With the New Year appropriately rang in and the ship docked, someone got the bright idea to gather up as many of the remaining helium filled balloons as possible and take them out and about the town. The crew were delighted because every balloon that we took meant one less for them to clean up. After posing on the dock for the requisite New Years Cruise Balloon Photos we went down the street to Bar Louie. We just had to show off our plundered booty (hey that rhymes).
No one thought for a second before entering the bar with with over 6 dozen balloons in tow…Hell No…we just barged right in. It was great. We rushed right up to the same table we had at the beginning of the night and set up shop. Somehow our table number, 208, magically appeared, and all sorts of bar patrons came up to have their pictures taken in front of our Balloon Spectacle. I’m not sure if we were the hit of the bar or not, but it was hilarious.
One hour and several more cocktails later we had to leave Bar Balloonie (used to be Louie) to catch the final shuttle back to our hotel. As quickly as we rushed in, we rushed back out onto the street, balloons in tow and headed for the bus. As much as we thought about entering the bar with the balloons, we thought even less about entering the bus with the them. So…onto the bus, with the same crazy driver, and back to the back seats we went. The bus driver didn’t say anything about our Balloon Horde. I’m glad he had side mirrors to see out of because you couldn’t see jack out of the back windows. After we boarded the bus two couples got on and sat down a few seats in front of us. Then we were off on the return trip.
Shortly after leaving the parking lot it became apparent that at least one, if not more of the riders were going to become ill. I am not sure if this was due to excessive drinking, excessive bus swaying by the crazy bus driver or a combination of both. I guess it really didn’t matter which, and I’m sure that is why our Chartered School Bus came complete with a Body Fluid Cleanup Kit.
Next one of the girls, with the two couples in front of us, stood up, put down her window and began to hurl out into the night. Being the avid photographer that I am, could not let a photo opportunity like this go by so I snapped a few pictures of this girl with her head out the window and I believe that someone said, “if she is going to be sick then I’m going to be sick as well”….and then all hell broke loose…!!
The two guys in their group jumped up and charged to the back of the bus with one of the guys yelling at us to stop insulting his wife. Whoa dude….. no one insulted your wife, and we all simultaneously yelled at these two, to grow up, sit down and stop acting like jackasses. It was New Years for crying out loud. Well…that didn’t work, the guys advanced forward and a minor scuffle immediately ensued. Fortunately for everyone the scuffle did not last very long. One of the guys wound up on the bus floor. At the first sight of the blood on the other guys face, it pretty much resolved itself.
Meanwhile, Mr. Crazy Bus Driver had his pedal to the medal and he never stopped the bus the entire time. We arrived back at the hotel in about 13 minutes from the time we got on. Once back at the hotel we all got off the bus and pretty much went on our way. Yes, in case you were wondering, no balloons were broken. They all made it off the bus into one of our hotel rooms…!
Once we made it back to our rooms we chilled out for awhile. After changing into more comfortable clothes we decided to make a trip to the Rivers Lounge for one last cocktail. Standing in the hallway we realized that it was 3:00 AM and that the bar was closed. Everyone chuckled and this was the official end to our 2012 New Year Celebration.
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