Steppin' Aht

It was date night in Pittsburgh.  My husband and I were going to have dinner and see a show downtown.

I had gotten a little ambitious on the elliptical treadmill at the Y the day before the show and so my poor old arthritic knees were feeling a little vulnerable. I figured that I would just wear my best black sneakers for the show and avoid steps. I thought that I should be able to do this and be just fine.

But the city had other ideas.  I encountered my first unavoidable flight of stairs in the parking garage.  The elevator wasn't working so I had to take the stairs.  Eight flights down.  Even leading with my bad leg, my knees were not happy with me.

I met my husband for dinner at the “Taste of Dahntahn.” I had never been there before.  Earlier, my husband (not a Pittsburgh native) helpfully started to spell it for me so I could check out the menu online, but I stopped him.  Please!  I am Swissvale born-and-raised –I KNOW how to spell “dahntahn.”

At the restaurant they sat us at a high top table, which made it necessary to either dangle my legs, or tuck them back to rest on a narrow ledge.  Neither a good option for my gently aching knees.  We asked if we could have one of the nearby booths instead, and they explained that those were reserved for 3 and 4 tops, especially before a show.  They did however give us a two-person table (on the floor) in an adjacent room just as soon as one was cleared off, where we were seated next to two “four-tops” which were populated by two people each.

For a full review of the restaurant you might want to check out my husband’s review on Yelp! http://www.yelp.com/biz/taste-of-dahntahn-pittsburgh#hrid:qy4zKZbNGFn9oAJb7otx_g   Just suffice it to say that after having some of the best salad and worst service I've ever had in a restaurant, I headed for the restroom. This turned out to be down a very long flight of steps, which were, for reasons entirely unrelated to my knees, also unavoidable.  My knees were really starting to complain after I went down and back up those steps.

So then we were off to the theater.  I barely have words to describe War Horse, and what an achievement took place on stage that evening.  Let’s just say that the show takes puppetry to a new level, and the overall experience was exhilarating. I almost forgot about my knees. 

Ah, but during intermission my knee gave out with all the old, familiar, pain.  Okay, Pittsburgh Steps, I thought, I give up!  You win.

There were a few more flights to navigate to leave the theater, but I finally escaped the city, and its mad plot to destroy my left knee.

The Steps of Pittsburgh may have taken that night.  However, my daily knee exercises coupled with my chiropractic visits means that my knee was healthy, relatively pain-free and fully functional again on the very next day. Changing to the cycling machine at the gym for the next few days meant I could keep up my exercise routine without further compromising my knee. The Steps may have won that battle, but I’m winning the war.