This weekend, I had two chances to experience one of the biggest and most exciting events of the year in Pittsburgh – the EQT Three Rivers Regatta.

The first night I went to the Regatta, I went with a couple of my friends from school. Caroline and I are Pittsburghers to the core, but our buddy Jake has only visited the City of Champions a couple times, and never when it’s this alive. So naturally, Caroline and I had a job to do.

Jake and I met up on the Roberto Clemente Bridge first. Needless to say, it was a great way for him to experience his first sight of the Regatta. But we were tasked with quite the challenge: finding Caroline somewhere on the river walk. This wouldn’t be too hard if her phone hadn’t died. But despite the thousands of people and bad odds, we located our cell-less friend.

For the rest of the night, we just enjoyed the city. Obviously, we had to include a “Pitt”-stop to Primantis so that Jake could experience the best sandwiches ever crafted. The night ended with the laser show and a nice stroll through town.

Day two of the Regatta came a bit more professionally for me.  Co-intern Alyssa and I covered the speed boat races at the Point for See & Be Seen. But we got there a bit earlier to take pictures of the whole event.

We only expected to get pictures of some speedy boats, but the activities were countless. Among my personal favorites were the stunt bike show and the sand sculpture.

Sand castles and mountain biking have always been two of my favorite summer activities. But these were on a whole new level.

The stunt biker basically defied physics for his tricks; and the sand sculpture was no ordinary beach creation either – it was nothing short of a complete, life-size recreation of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

And after we enjoyed all of the other activities, we went to the riverfront to catch the speed boat races. The course took the boats from Heinz Field to the 6^th Street Bridge and back.

Engines roaring and propellers whirling, the boats took off in heats as they competed to be the prestigious speedboat champion.

Despite the temperatures nearing triple digits, the Regatta proved to be an awesome event. Just another check on the Pittsburgh summer bucket list in the Steel City!