Lets Go Out to the Ball Game...

Boston Fire Department
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Today we headed off on foot from the Hotel in the direction of Boston Common. The concierge said it was a nice 20min walk, turn right out the front of the hotel, up to the fire station, then down Boylston St which runs into the Common. So off we went, with the intent once we got there of doing the Hop-On-Hop_off thing for the rest of the day.

After a little while we reached a park, but thought it was quite quiet, not well signed or paved and not as full of tourists as we thought it should be. So onward we trod, trying to find the central monument. After walking around for about 45min we could not orientate ourselves with our tourist map, and Joe dove for the GPS function on his phone. We soon after learnt that GPS coverage was not good in the area, so we were walking around blind. We were getting to look at the local residences which had that english feel.

Lets go RedSox Lets Go!!

Fenway Field from outside
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By now it was 11am and I was getting really cranky as we were just supposed to be walking 20min to the Common and stopping somewhere for coffee and a muffin or something. It was now nearly an hour and a half and you can imagine - Andrea was not happy.

We saw people eating food outside a market and took the plunge and went inside. This place was a mixture of ready-to-eat foods and a small grocery store. We decided on a large serve yourself buffet salad and a slice of pizza. Once outside in the dining area, we attacked this food with ferver until only empty containers remained.

Boston University Residences
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Some serious effort needed to be made to locate our position - so I looked towards the sky, and what did I see? The mighty Prudential building. This was on our tourist map, and after inspection, had found that we had headed "down" Boyston street the wrong way, and had been walking around the Boston University precint. We had by this time nearly walked a full circle, and were pretty close to our hotel.

Once here, we hopped on the Trolley bus which stopped right outside of the hotel (should have just done this first), and asked the driver about tickets and he said they could be purchased at stop #1. So we looked at the route map and sat tight waiting for that stop. The Trolley first passed the famed Fenway Park - home of the Boston Red Sox. We were headed here tonight for a game, so this kind off helped with our anticipation of this.

Church of Christian Science
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When the Trolley pulled up at Boston Common, I decided that we should get off and have a walk around, and then drop in at the Trolley Store to get our tickets. Now this park was more like it, very busy, lots of tourists and locals about, and even the local sqirrels were running around. We walked by the Frog pond, which the local kids swim in during the summer and ice skate on during winter. We also saw the George Washington Statue - him upon his mighty steed, and a Revolution Monument, for the men who went into battle.

Boston Common Central Monument
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Once at the Trolley Stop Shop, and finding that the trolley ticket was good for only one day till 5pm, and it was now 2pm, we decided to leave the Hop-On-Hop-Off for the next day. I did however buy a Boston RedSox cap, as this shop sold official team souveniers. After this we  took our tourist map and decided on a round-about walk back to our hotel via the Back Bay area. We walked down Commonweath Avenue, which can be described as a wide footpath avenue between the two way traffic. On this avenue between each cross-block, a different statue dedicated to important figures in the history of Boston.

Squirrel in Boston Common
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Once back at the hotel and a brief rest, it was a brief walk off to Fenway Park for the RedSox game. As we got closer the crowds walking got bigger and bigger. Once inside the gate in the main concorse, we bought hotdogs and pretzels and sat down to eat. As game time approached we made our way to our seats. The choice of location ended up being fantastic, with a birdseye view of 3rd base and HomePlate. There were many park vendors walking around with HotDogs, popcorn, beer, potato crisps, water etc. These proved amusing to watch as some had their products attached to big sticks, others hoisted them in boxes above their heads.

Frog Pond in Boston Common
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The game started and we watched in wonder at the pitchers throwing the ball at speeds as high as 98 miles per hour. Would the hitter hit the ball, would be foul-strike it, would the pitch be bad, would the hitter walk, would there be a home run?? This anticipation ebbed and flowed in us and the other 38408 people in the capacity crowd. After two hours and 10 innings, the score was tied at one run each. The game can not be a draw, they have to keep playing another full inning until there is a winner. So on we stayed, 11th, 12th, 13th inning. It was now 11:45pm and everyone was wondering if this game was ever going to finish. Normal games usually are finished between 9:30-10pm.

Frog Statues at Frog Pond
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Finally in the top of the 14th inning, the visitors, the Tampa Bay Rays, hit a home run with two bases loaded, this pushed them into a lead 4-1 and there was a mass exodus before Boston had their half of the inning. we decided to stay to the end, and watched with excitement as Boston managed to get 3 bases loaded, with no one out. All they needed was a home run to bring home 4 runs and win 5-4. Then, with the crowd on their feet for each pitch... One-Out.. One runner home... Two-out..... Three out!!! Those Sox had lost! The fans were not happy, but all agreed that it was a great game - nearly two games in one. We walked back in the throng of people to our hotel, and after an early morning BLT, called it a night.