Visitors From Milwaukee

Okay, we all know about the evils and the pitfalls of Social Media.  That's been well documented.  However, Social Media can also be the vehicle for good stuff, so let me share this Feel Good Story with you.

A couple of months ago, I received a Message on Facebook from pal Steve Ozbolt who lives in Milwaukee.  It was a screenshot from a Milwaukee Brewers Fan Group Facebook page.  A guy had made a post to the effect of "I am thinking of making a road trip with my son to see the Brewers play in Pittsburgh over 4th of July weekend.  Has anyone here done that, and could you give me some tips or advice?"

Steve's message to me was "Can you help this guy?"  

"Can you give me his email address?" I replied.  Steve did, and that is how I came to know Tim Zeilstra of Milwaukee and, eventually, his seven year old son, Owen.

I emailed Tim with all kinds of info on hotels around PNC Park, other visitor attractions, restaurants and the like.  At that time, it was unknown how many or even if tickets would be available for Pirates games at PNC Park this weekend.   Long story short - Tim booked a flight and made reservations for the Renaissance Hotel, PNC Park was opened to full capacity just this weekend, and he had no trouble getting tickets.   He gave me his seat location, and about a month ago, I bought tickets for today's game in the same vicinity.

Tim and Owen were scheduled to arrive in Pittsburgh at around Noon on Friday, but screwed up flights totally messed that up and delayed their arrival until after midnight Friday night/Saturday morning.  Because of that, Tim extended their stay one more night, and snagged tickets to Sunday afternoon's game as well.  And when they finally got to the Renaissance, they discovered that their room was on the right side of the hotel, as evidenced by this pic that Tim texted me early this morning.

Later in the morning, I received another text from Tim telling me that he and Owen walked to Market Square for breakfast, and how nice it was and how friendly everyone was.  I asked if anyone had referred to them as "yinz" yet, and he told me that the cab driver from the airport did the night before.  They even got a cabbie straight from Central Casting.

Then I received a text around lunchtime saying "This is really a cool place."  The place:

Well, I said, you can't get more Pittsburgh than the Oyster House!

Then it was game time.  Marilyn and I headed down to PNC Park, and this meeting took place:

We had a couple of gifts for Owen - some Penguins decals, a Pirates tee shirt, and, of course, the Ultimate Pittsburgh sports talisman, a Terrible Towel.  Something from all three teams!  Tomorrow, they will be visiting the Carnegie Science Center on some freebie passes that our pal Barb Vancheri, a volunteer there, arranged for them, see another Pirates game, and will be able to see the City's spectacular 4th of July fireworks show over the Point.

The Brewers also treated them to an 11-2 win over the Pirates, so I was glad for them on that front.  Prior to the game, a Pirates pitcher threw Owen a ball, and he was able to get it autographed by a couple of Brewers players.  Tim also texted me that he had heard from home that the Brewers television broadcast picked up Owen in the stands so he was even on TV back home!

Tim was super nice guy, and I told him what a wonderful thing he was doing for his son with this trip.  And it certainly made MY day to be a small part of it.