Boys 2, Dad 1

Boston is a very historical city, maybe the most historical city, with things to visit like the Freedom Trail, Bunker Hill, the USS Constitution, The Old North Church, among others.  It is also a hands-on city, with things like the Aquarium and the Museum of Science.  It is also a beautiful city, with things like Boston Common and The Charles.  So, you may be asking yourself, what did the Volks do in their one full day in Boston?  Answer - D, none of the above.  We basically spent the day at Fenway, and it was perfect (well, almost perfect, the Red Sox couldn't hit their way out of a paper bag and lost 4-0).

We got out of the hotel around 9:30, and walked a few blocks for a nice casual breakfast, then walked the 20 minutes or so to Fenway, arriving there a little after 11:30 for a 1:35 game.  The hope was to watch batting practice.  But since the Sox and Rays played a doubleheader yesterday, they skipped batting practice.  So we found our seats and grabbed some gourmet lunches at the concession stand that was behind us.  A little background on the seats.  Before the season begins, the Red Sox hold a lottery for the right to buy certain types of tickets - Opening Day, Green Monster seats, Right Field Table seats.  I enter every year, and every year I get the "thanks, but no thanks" email.  But this year I was chosen for the Right Field Table seats.  When it came time for me to buy the tickets online, I looked at the schedule and found a Red Sox - Yankees game on Aug. 30 and bought 4 tickets (all that you are allowed with this type of ticket - I figured I would buy a single seat for the 5th ticket).  I then assumed that we would work our trip this summer around being in Boston on the 30th.  However, we learned later on that we had to be back home by the 29th, and we would not be able to use these tickets.  So I called my brother's ticket guy, and worked out a swap where I sent him my 4 tickets (that he valued at $200/ticket) for 5 tickets that he valued at $160/ticket.  I told him that it was a day game, and if possible I'd like to be under the overhang in case it was very hot (and it was).  He said he would take care of me and sent me the tickets.

Well, we were covered from the sun alright, but there was a slight issue with the seats, especially one of them.  See if you can figure out what is missing from this picture, taken from Seat 5 (we had seats 1-5):

If you guessed "the batter" you win!  $160/ticket, and we can't see the batter.  I kind of wished that the pole was blocking John Lackey, but no luck there.  While she was still interested in the game (about 3 innings), Amanda sat on my lap in Seat 2 so she could see the batter.  Eventually she stopped caring and went back to her seat. 

[Now Part 1 of the food portion of today's blog]  During and before the game, collectively we ate/drank: two hamburgers, chicken fingers with fries, an Italian Sausage, 3 lemonades and 5 bottles of water.  I think the food bill was higher than the cost of the tickets.  Oh well, welcome to the big leagues.

I have to say, other than the fact that we were in Fenway, the game itself was a little boring.  Not a lot of hits, and the most exciting thing was when Jacoby Ellsbury was caught in a run-down between 3rd and home.  That woke Debbie up.  When the game ended, we learned that they were going to allow kids to run the bases, so we headed to the "corral" and waiting for our turn.  Eventually they led us onto the field through the centerfield door, and we walked around the warning track to first base, where the kids then took off from 1st to home (having trouble uploading pictures, so I may have to do it in a 2nd post).

After they were done, the kids decided they wanted to head back to Quincy Market for dinner.  They are nothing if not consistent.  We hopped back on the T (veterans by now) and got to Quincy Market around 6:30.  After once again surveying the options, Amanda opted for a gourmet cheese quesadilla, Brian went with the chicken terriaki that Amanda and Ethan has last night, Ethan went with a bread bowl of clam chowder, Debbie just had clam chowder and I had another lobster roll.  After the mandatory ice cream dessert, we decided to head back to the hotel to de-schvitz and get some rest.  But as we were leaving Quincy Market with our ice creams, the boys spotted one of their camp counselors sitting inside.  He was in Brian's age group, but the other group, and was one of the tennis counselors.  Brian said hi and we headed outside to eat.  While outside, Ethan then spotted the head of his part of camp, Brenda, with her family watching a street performer near where we were going to sit.  So, both boys went over and said hi and I took a picture that, if I remember, I will send to the camp for their newsletter.  Last night I saw someone I knew, and tonight they saw two people, so they are winning, for now!  After making sure there was no one else in the crowd that they knew, we got back on the T and went back to the hotel for the night.

Tomorrow, mostly a driving day to Syracuse, with stops at the can't miss Bed, Bath & Beyond and, time permitting, the International Boxing Hall of Fame outside of Syracuse.  I am guessing that, other than me, most will rank that Hall of Fame only slightly higher than the Country Music Hall of Fame, but you never know.