To collapse in a heap, Episode 2

So, I left off where Day 1 in Boston ended, but there are a couple of things I left out: We had to get up ungodly early to catch the shuttle to the airport, so by the time we were done with dinner and about to head over to Fenway, I was exhausted. I've never done this, but I fell dead asleep on the hotel bed, face-down, and stayed right there for an hour and a half. That's crazy tired.

So, when the game was over that night, I was ready for bed. Besides that, we had to get up kinda early to see a few sights before our Fenway Park tour. Since there's a Dunkin' on every corner in Boston, we grabbed breakfast and coffee (there coffee is surprisingly good, but I forgot to ask for splenda instead of sugar with my coffee, so it was ridiculous sweet, but good nonetheless).

We ate, walked around Yawkey Way and the neighborhood nearby, where there is a community garden that was so cool. Since I live in a state best known for its wide-open spaces, I had never been familiar with not having my own backyard. Some of the plots were beautiful, with koi ponds and climbing roses. Others had neat little rows of veggies, and maybe a stool to sit on and contemplate.

We headed back to the Fenway area, which is so neat because the ballpark is literally carved into the neighborhood. In the area we saw:



Manny Who? (Shortly after Manny Ramirez left Boston for the greener pastures of LA)



So, we went on a very cool tour of Fenway Park with a very knowlegeable young lady named Christina (I think) and we got to go to some really cool areas of the park that I'd probably never get to go unless I bought a heinously over-priced ticket to be there.



From the top of the right-field deck ...



From the 406 club boxes looking at the retired numbers (this was before they retired Johnny Pesky (# 6)...



And of course...



From the left-field foul pole atop the Green Monster.



Best. Tour. Ever.

So, from Fenway we decided to go to Cheers after a beer at the Cask n' Flagon. We also thought we would walk, which is very ambitious because it's REALLY FRIGGIN' FAR!



We got to Cheers, and of course, it was packed. Nobody knew our names, either. Well, besides Norm, nobody knew us.



We hung out for a while with the Cheers gang ...



And then we went on a stroll through Boston Commons.









And then we did some window shopping. I then spied a yarn store!



Then we hoofed it back to a subway station and made it back to our hotel to change and get ready for the game. So, we get to the ballpark and there's all sorts of crazy fun going on.



And Dave and I are drinking a few Octoberfest Sam Adams and we start to get really hungry. We're standing in the beer line, though, not the food line (priorities?) when this guy gets in line behind us with THREE sausage dogs, done up just like I like 'em (plenty of peppers and onions with spicy dijon mustard). Dave turns around and asks him where he got the dogs, and the guy says "You can have this one for $5." Now, I don't know about you, but I have this thing about second-hand food/drink. So we just laughed it off. But the guy was serious. Which is kinda gross. His friend shows up and we all start joking around and Dave says we're from Texas, and the guy says, "I'd have never guessed! You don't sound Texan, but you [me] do a little." WTF? No one says I have an accent. If I have a Texas accent, then Dave sounds like one of the Waltons.

Anyway. We get dogs, we couch our asses down in our excellent seats, and we proceed to watch the longest game I've ever attended. It was 14 innings. Fourteen riveting innings.

I once saw Josh Beckett pitch when he was still in high school, pitching for the Spring Lions. He's still got it.



And we saw Terry Francona get up in an official's face ...



and we saw Kevin Youkilis and his funky stance.



But nothing was more beautiful than cheering with the dedicated fans of Boston for 14 innings. We lit up Fenway until we couldn't anymore.



After that, it was showers and bed, because we had to get up early for the journey to NYC.

More on that, next time...