*** #1 Baseball Weekend in Boston ***
I was born on December 20, 1960, and brought home as a gift to my three brothers on Christmas Day. My oldest brother immediately began whispering the names of the Yankees into my ears to make sure I became a fan; Berra, Maris, Mantle; as he did to each of his subsequent 6 siblings. Despite my father's best efforts to take him to Fenway and Pawtucket Red Sox games, all 7 children were wrongfully swayed and became die hard Yankee fans. I was able to celebrate the Yankees winning the Series 9 times since my birth. Sadly, my dad only saw 1 Red Sox win, and by then he may have converted to the Diamond Backs since he had moved to AZ.
In my current home, we are split down the middle – Becca and I are Yankee fans and Dave and Andrea are Red Sox. This usually isn't a problem (unless the Sox are losing).
So, when Dave said he got 4 tickets to Fenway for Andrea's 16th birthday, I wasn't exactly overjoyed but I immediately put on my tolerant hat. I love baseball games so it really shouldn't matter what the team is, right? But this was an opportunity to wrap some other fun around a trip to Boston.
Boston – April 24, 2010
Target leave time: 9:45am
Actual leave time: 11:15 am
Participants: Marianne, Dave, Andrea, Jess (Andrea’s friend)
As soon as we got to Boston, we went to Fenway to get our will-call tickets for the next day. We parked right by the gate, got out of the car, and within seconds, our neighbor, Ward Johnson, was yelling to us from the Cask'n Flagon. He suggested we take the park tour – so we did!
The team was having batting practice when we entered the stadium which limited some of our access but we got to take lots of pictures and hear lots of stories. Fenway will turn 100 in 2 years which will make it a historic landmark and prevent it from ever seeing the wrecking ball.
Since our game was the next day, we headed to the hotel to check in and then to the North End for grub. This is the first time I went to the North End without having to burrow under a scurvy urine-filled overpass to get there. Walking the new greenway above the big dig was amazing – what a great improvement to Boston! I love waking into the North End – the crowds, the lights, tiny streets, and FOOD! We were so hungry and knew that lines would be growing quickly so we took a side street and went into Assaggio Ristorante and got seated immediately. A glass of chianti and bread dipped in olive oil and parmesan held us over as we waited for our baked artichoke. I ordered veal saltimbocca but I must say that being a fabulous Italian cook makes me overly critical and I think this one could have been a bit better. I was a little disappointed but still stuffed and pleased with just enough room for a cannoli at Cafe Vittoria. It was a long day but still not done. We walked off our meals strolling the greenway to Faneuil Hall. Andrea and Jess shopped at Newbury Comics and Dave and I watched the numerous groups of giggling bachelorette parties evidenced by their veil strewn tiaras. Next stop, the subway to the theatre district for a 10pm showing of Blue Man Group.
This was actually my 3rd time seeing BMG but I thought Andrea and Jess would love it and I was able to score ½ price tickets. There was a cold vent blowing right on us so we had to keep our coats on and hoods up. The show was exactly the same as it was some 10 or more years ago but still funny and unique. When it was over, we were so tired, so we hailed a cab (on the wrong side of the park) to take us back to the hotel. Sleep came quickly.In the morning, we made no gallant efforts to get the day going. We had 4 showers to get through (and 2 were teenagers) and we had to pack up. We left just after 11am and took the T to Fenway. Since the lazy morning took up most of our lunch time, we hit the vendor carts outside the park. I had a chicken teriyaki with peppers and onions while sitting on the curb straddling my water bottle. I was a little jealous of the patrons sitting in cafe tables outside the Cask'n Flagon having beer and drippy cheesy burgers served to them but when game time arrived and they impatiently waited for their checks, we crushed our foil wrappers and took off.
On our way to our section 30 row 15 left field line seats, we saw another neighbor, Dan Ford. When I say neighbor, I'm not talking about someone who lives in the Berkshires, I'm talking about my tiny cul-de-sac – small world? I think so.The forecast said rain but the blue and white sky said “not today folks.” I made the kids take every sweatshirt they own and I had Under Armour under my turtle neck (did I mention that I was a Girl Scout?).
Play ball! Red Sox vs Baltimore Orioles
The colors of the crowd were mostly red, white and blue with a spattering of Baltimore orange, and specs of bright yellow food schleppers . Dave secured a lemonade and bag of peanuts and the girls had ice cream in little hats all before we even took our seats. Andrea and Jess took off their sweatshirts to display their fan shirts. I unzipped my coat…a little. I wanted a beer to go with the peanuts but at $8.75 for a plastic cup of Bud Lite, I decided I could wait for a frosty mug of girly beer with floating fruit for $4.25 when I got home.
I will admit that I had a great time. I sang “Take me out” in the 7th and did the wave in the 8th. I Ohhh’ed and Ahhh’ed when I was supposed to and felt (a little) bad for the loss. I think Sox and Yankee fans are actually very similar. They are incredibly passionate about their teams, and their teams are defined by their beautiful and beloved cities, oh, and the food vendors even sound the same: “Get yaw beah heah!!”
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