2011 BBT Day 5: Fenway and the Freedom Trail
Fenway Ballpark and Freedom Trail Tours: Boston, MA
Boston is to beautiful and historic not to poke around a bit before we headed southwest for our next ballgame. We started our day by taking the earliest tour of Fenway which was nine in the morning. Nine o’clock is pretty early when your on vacation, but I didn’t have much trouble getting motivated to see this ballpark again. We were given a history of the park and taken on top of the Green Monster. The Monsta’ seats would be a great place to watch a game, but very expensive. We were taken through the Red Sox Hall of Fame and shown some of the baseball artifacts they have inside the park. The tour concluded on the Budweiser balcony with a history of Ted Williams’ longest home run at the park. I would have liked to have gotten on the field, in the dugout and locker room, or even in the press box. They explained that they gave so many tours a day it would disrupt too much to have that traffic all day. It’s still worth it, though, just to be inside the park for a little while longer. When you leave Fenway, you feel incomplete…like part of your soul was left inside, and it’s constantly beckoning you back….
On toppa da Monsta
Red Sox Hall of Fame
Retired numbers and the Ted Williams seat
Statue of Ted Williams
After the Fenway tour was over, we jetted down to the Boston Common to catch the next Freedom Trail tour. We were given a history of the Common, the State House, and were able to see some of the oldest cemetaries in the country. It was fun to hear the real stories behind legendary heroes Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock. I guess I should have paid more attention in history class in school, because some of this stuff sounded new to me. For lunch we ate at Cheers, which still stands as one of my favorite shows of all time. The building didn’t look much like the show, but the bar itself and a lot of paraphernalia were from the set. Our time in Boston ended by seeing the U.S.S. Constitution, or Ol’ Ironsides, which was simply amazing. I really wish we had more time there, as there is so much to see and do.
A cold Sam Adams....sorry....
I'm taking over for Norm
Jersey of Sam 'Mayday' Malone
Statue of Samuel Adams
The U.S.S. Constitution
Photos property of M.I.B.
Minoring In Baseball 
lol. Love the picture where you are taking over Norm. I can’t believe that as many times as I’ve been to Boston _well, many times we land there late Sunday and head to N.H. for work but still could have made time. Then there was the weekend I was at Boston to watch the Dodgers.
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We also were not taken on the field during the tour but friends of mine that had taken the tour the same day later on or the day before were taking on the field. Our group was bigger as was part of the Dodgers road trip organized by the Dodgers so maybe they could not handle the big group on the field…who knows. Still it was great taking the tour. Love the pictures and your report as it made me feel like I was back there.
Emma-watching the Dodgers and Red Sox would have been a classic. Fenway is such a magical place.
–Mike
I didn’t make it to Cheers, but that show was a little before my time! Did you get a beer at the Beantown Pub and cheers Sam Adams?
Alicia-I thought the Fenway tour would be a little more intrusive, like maybe on the field or in the dugouts. Cheers was great! I’ve been catching up on the show on Netflix, and it’s timeless. I didn’t make it to the Sam Adams though, just ran out of time. First day there we came from a game in Portland, and the second day had to hit a game in Connecticut.
–Mike
Awesome post, Mike! I remember reading it back after you wrote it, but now that I’ve been to Boston, it’s extra neat to read. Looks like it was an amazing visit!
Malcolm
http://theballparkguide.mlblogs.com/
Malcolm-Boston is a great city, and we need to go back, because there is so much more to do that we missed out on! Have a fun spring.
-Mike