It didn’t take much prodding to get my Dad to go along with me to Pittsburgh. I think he felt just as excited about meeting George “The Animal” Steele as I was. Carolyn on the other hand wasn’t all that thrilled at the prospect, so she decided that it wasn’t worth requesting off for – since there’d be so many other worthy requests. So Dad agreed to go, then Carolyn got off without asking, but then got asked to work on the Saturday of the show – April 12, 2014 – so it ended up just being Dad and me disembarking at around 6am that morning.
The ride seemed to go pretty fast, with Dad and I chatting and him playing his musical selections on the iPod that he brought along. Before we knew it we were approaching Pittsburgh around 10am and our first stop of the morning (barring frequent restroom breaks), a place to eat breakfast. Naturally I didn’t want to let any opportunities slip by, so the Dor-Stop Restaurant of course had been one that was featured on the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives episode What’s for Breakfast?
DD&D #85: Dor-Stop Restaurant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The answer to that question was Vicki’s Italian Jumbot, which was a blend of ham, onions, green peppers, eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, and American cheese – all served with Italian toast. It was good…and filling. The Italian Toast was outstanding but the dish itself lacked the kick that would have pushed it over the edge of being one of the great DD&D meals.
Vicki’s Italian Jumbot…what’s not to like?
Dad and I enjoy his first DD&D
Nice and full, we pressed on to the Monroeville Convention Center in Monroeville, about fifteen miles east of Pittsburgh. It was around noon when we got there and the show had opened up at 10am. We were completely taken aback by what we found when we arrived: no parking available whatsoever, and a line that snaked around nearly the entire perimeter of the parking lot. Had we not just driven five hours to get there, it was one of those scenarios where it was tempting to just turn around and go home.
One tiny segment of the overall line to get into the Steel City Con. Note the Stormtrooper keeping things in order
But we stopped at McDonald’s to use the restroom before we even attempted the line, somehow found a parking space in the adjacent shopping mall, and got into the line. It didn’t move fast, but it did move. After about an hour, we got to the front, purchased our tickets and went inside.
I didn’t have a huge agenda by any means. Although the size of the show was pretty big, the number of celebrities present wasn’t too big. I had already met Cindy Williams, Lee Majors, Parker Stevenson, and Nicholas Brendon – all of whom would have been major ‘gets’ had I not already gotten them.
We pretty much ignored the vendors and people in the outlandish costumes and headed directly for the celebrity area. Legendary wrestler Bruno Sammartino had limited hours, we lined up for him first. That took nearly a half hour, and although it was tempting to hop into other celebrities’ lines that had no lines, we got Bruno finished first. Then we moved over to the absolute highlight, George “The Animal” Steele. I decided to bypass Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes. They were ‘maybes’ anyway, and when I saw that they weren’t offering photo ops at their tables, I said ‘screw it’ and ‘screw them’. I ended up with just four celebrity encounters for the day and we were out of there by 2:15pm, about an hour after we got in. You can check out my trail of celebrity encounters from this show starting here.
Dad meets Bruno
Dad assaults The Animal
It was early and we were by no means ready to eat again, so we just made our way back into the west side of Pittsburgh to check into our motel room. Truth be told, we could have easily just driven back, but it was more fun to just relax, hang out with my Dad, and hit a couple more DD&D’s. We checked into the Clariou Hotel – which was under construction, so they were operating their office out of a motel room – and brought our stuff inside.
We relaxed in the room for a couple of hours, posting some of our photos on Facebook and then checking out some videos of George “The Animal” Steele on YouTube. Then we headed back out, going through the Fort Pitt tunnel for the third time, eastward toward our second DD&D of the day, Big Jim’s Restaurant and Bar.
This one had been featured on the episode Long Time Legends – and rightfully so. The recommended items were the Homemade Italian Wedding Soup and the Veal Cutlet ala Parmigiana. The Wedding Soup was quite tasty. As for the Veal Cutlet sandwich…everyone knows that quality comes before quantity, and fortunately the quality was right in there. But as far as quantity, this sandwich blew just about any I’d ever had out of the water – even the giant lunchmeat sandwiches of Blue Ash Chili. Even I, the guy who never likes to leave anything on his plate, couldn’t finish it. I even had some of it as a snack later that night before bed and I still couldn’t finish it. It didn’t get finished until after I had gotten home on Sunday. And yes, it was as delicious as it looked. And it case you’re wondering, the sandwich was $12, so it wasn’t all that expensive for its size.
DD&D #86: Big Jim’s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The delightful Wedding Soup
More than a snack, the Veal Cutlet ala Parmigiana
Dad and I get ready to take on these sandwiches
It wasn’t as big as mine, but Dad’s sandwich was no sloucher either
Pleased with the prospect of eating this
A bit regretful of eating that
What was left…for two snacks
We left the restaurant at about 6pm and headed back – through the tunnel – to the Clarion. It was a nice relaxing evening with the soothing sounds of baseball on the television. I had brought along ample DVD’s but didn’t even feel like watching them, I was enjoying the hotel atmosphere so.
On Sunday morning, we got up fairly early so that we could hit our breakfast restaurant when it opened. I made a mistake however, in thinking that it opened at 9am when it really didn’t open until 10, so we arrived with a half an hour to spare. We decided to just take a little walk around the area and check out the buildings and scenery in the Southside area.
Some of the cool scenery in Pittsburgh’s Southside area
Hilly, like Frisco…but not
We were back at Nadine’s as they opened. This little bar and grill had been featured on the DD&D episode Cookin’ It Old School. Nadine wasn’t working, but she did stop by to visit her establishment while we were there. We had heard tales about how she sometimes offers up seconds to the customers, but no such luck with us. My Dad and I each tried the Fried Bologna Sandwich, which the cook happily cooked up for us even though it wasn’t lunch time yet. It featured peppers and cheese with a side of hash browns and was quite delightful. The price was right too, as both of our meals along with Dad’s coffee totaled $13.27. It was the perfect meal for Dad to treat.
DD&D #87: Nadine’s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The charming interior
Fried bologna generally isn’t quite this good
Dad is bathed in light as we get ready for our bologna
After enjoying our final DD&D of the trip, we headed out toward home. Stopping only for restroom breaks – including one at the West Virginia Welcome Center – we got home in about four and a half hours…at which time I finally polished off the last of that veal cutlet sandwich.
West Virginia was good to me during our 20-minute stay
Follow the short trail of celebrity encounters from this show starting here…
April 2014 will continue with Easter week…
That was definitely a manly-man sandwich!
Dave Chasteen
May 30th, 2014