Dear readers, I hope you all had a great summer. This school year has been busy. As roles shift and campuses change, I write less and less. I’m still working, but my summer vacation is about to start! We went to Pittsburgh this past weekend to see Taylor Swift’s Times Tour and it was amazing! Last weekend was our anniversary, so this month has been a very busy weekday and weekend. Today’s post is about our experience at the Taylor Swift concert and Father’s Day celebration this past weekend (June 16-18). Read on.
introduce
Taylor Swift needs no introduction, but here are some things you may or may not know about her: Taylor Alison Swift is a multi-time Grammy-winning American singer/songwriter, in 2010, at the age of 20, she became the youngest artist in history to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. In 2011, Swift was named Billboard’s Woman of the Year. She has also been named Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards, Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, among other honors. As of this writing, she is the best-selling digital artist in music history. Credit: Internet Movie Database
Taylor was born and raised in Pennsylvania until the family moved to Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 14. So she calls PA her home and reminds her Pittsburgh fans of it several times during the show. My oldest is a huge fan and that’s why we traveled from Houston to Pittsburgh for the concert!
The Era tour started on March 17th and will end on August 9th. Taylor Swift started her tour in Glendale, Arizona and will conclude in Los Angeles, California. States where she is scheduled to tour include Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania , Minnesota, Ohio, Missouri, Colorado, Washington and California. The last 3 tours have been in California, one in Santa Clara and the last 2 in Los Angeles. I’m sharing this just in case anyone really wants to catch her final tour 🙂 The Era Tour consists of 4 albums – Lover (2019), Folklore (2020), Evermore (2020) and Midnights (2022).
our trip
We flew out of Houston on Thursday night. Since we had to use American Airlines points, we had to make a stopover because American Airlines doesn’t have direct flights. When we go to college to visit our old classmates, we always fly United, which is a 3 hour flight (4 hours if you include the time zone difference since they are an hour ahead of us), but this time We spent a total of 6 hours. A few hours after our flight from Houston to Charlotte, North Carolina, the next flight was to Pittsburgh. We left home at 4:30 pm to catch a 5:45 pm flight which was delayed until 6:30 and arrived in Pittsburgh just after midnight.
Our 3 night stay at the Holiday Inn was very comfortable. After a late night rest we woke up to some free breakfast and went back to bed. The 4 of us started preparing around 1pm. The concert starts at 6:30pm, but it is recommended to arrive at 4pm or 4:30pm. We took an Uber to Acrisure Stadium (formerly known as Heinz field), the venue for the show, at 4:30. The sold-out show has a capacity of approximately 70,000 seats. Even with such a huge crowd, entry was smooth and there was no confusion. We queued for food and were seated around 6pm. The first performer was Gracie Abrams, followed by the girl in red. At 8 p.m., 11-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift makes her grand entrance. She performed for 3 1/2 hours and was as lively, cheerful and full of energy as ever! 72,000 people sang in the stadium. People were standing, dancing, cheering all the time. Many young girls stood the whole time, including the row in front of us. What a breathtaking performance!
The next day was Saturday and we got a late start to our day as we got back late from the concert. We took a stroll down Forbes Avenue to explore more of Pitt’s campus. We visited the Carnegie Mellon campus that afternoon, and we had signed up online. Then we went to see the movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The movie was great, but we and others in the theater ended up being a bit disappointed because we didn’t know it was a two-part movie. Sunday, June 18th is Father’s Day. The kids ordered lunch at an Indian restaurant and bought an ice cream cake. We took some pictures, bought a few things for my old pictures, and got an Uber at 4pm. Our flight was at 6:30pm and we were back in Houston after midnight.
in conclusion
It was a great weekend to watch Taylor Swift’s The Era Tour in Pittsburgh with the family. We visited the older kids and celebrated Father’s Day on Sunday and flew back late at night. Closed on Monday due to Juneteenth, so we could rest and relax after a hectic 3 day long weekend trip from Texas to Pennsylvania. I’m not sure I’d pay $100 each for tickets for the 4 of us and fly to another state for any other concert, but it was worth it!
Dear reader, we are always happy to hear from you. Please let us know if you are a Swiftie. Which is your best concert? Why? Tell us about your first or any concert experience, what was the best part? Any other summer travel plans or ideas, please share.
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Vacationing to Pittsburgh for the first time since the pandemic
