Boston Day 3 - Fenway and Charles River Cruise

Day 3 was a bit of a letdown when I woke up and realized it was not my birthday anymore. Sure, I was still kind of celebrating, but would Boston be as wonderfully exciting without cheers of Happy Birthday from strangers and oodles of fireworks? Well yes, yes it was.

We started the day with cupcake breakfast! Ok, actually I had a bagel first...but there were still cupcakes. I had two minis - cappuccino and carrot cake.I'm not as big a frosting person as some, but I could eat gallons of cream cheese frosting. And peanut butter frosting...but that's another story.

Next up was a trip to Fenway. The Red Sox were out of town for the weekend, so we couldn't actually see a game. We were stuck with a little tour. But I think this was probably for the best. The combination of the Red Sox beating the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series (more on that later) and them always being ahead of the Orioles makes a very anti-red Sox person out of yours truly. Seriously, up there with my hatred of the Yankees. Anyway, it's probably for the best that we couldn't go to a game because if ever I was going to get in a baseball brawl, this was prime opportunity.

So, Julie and I set out on our first trip of the Boston subway (the T) and made our way to the stadium. Thanks to the DC Metro I managed to navigate the T with no troubles. I can do cities, yay!

The tour tickets are first come, first served, so we had an hour to kill once we got there and got tickets. Of course the answer was beer. Melissa + Red Sox = intoxication. Ok, I didn't have that much to drink. But you know what I did have? A slice of watermelon soaked in beer. Oooh yeah.

Watermelon, Bambino Ale, Boston Red, and Beantown Nut Brown

 

And then it was tour time. I couldn't believe how small the field was - but I guess old stadiums are like that. One of these days they may upgrade...maybe. A few take aways from the insider info.

~Yes, the Curse of the Bambino was broken when the Red Sox beat the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series. You're welcome, Boston. Please, don't make me walk past hundreds of newspaper front pages celebrating this tragic event in Cardinals history. It makes me want to cry. Thank you, however, for not having your tour guide ask "Does anyone know who the Red Sox beat in that blessed World Series?" because it might have led to me being arrested, and that's no way to spend a vacation.

~The story of the Green Monster is awesome. There used to be just a small fence back there. When the owner discovered people were watching the game from bars behind the fence (you know, instead of paying to get into the stadium) he built the wall so they were forced to pay to see the game. So greedy!

~The Green Monster is so overrated. It's supposed to hold the best, most expensive seats in the stadium. And while I'm sure a home run ball hit up there is a great prize, you can't see a lot of outfield action from that view. I will never know if balls hit back there were caught or what. Lame.

On top of the Green Monster

View from the Press Box - I could get used to this.

"Oh yeah, the Great Bambino. Of course! I thought you said the Great Bambi."

 

That evening we took a boat tour along the Charles River. It was lame because we had music, not any tour guide telling us what we were passing. But pretty cool to cruise around and get a new look at the city.

 That evening we got lost looking for Harvard. And by lost I mean we were following Julie's friend who apparently likes to wander instead of walking to a particular destination. But we found Harvard, saw it by dark, and had beer.  Only two things to say about Harvard: 1) Had a cool old church, 2) Why do you need lawn chairs on the quad? Are Harvard students too good to spread out a blanket picnic style?

Boston Day 2 - Happy Birthday!

Ok, I used to hate having my birthday on a holiday. All my friends were busy or out of town. Some family members wished me Happy Independence Day and forgot it was my birthday. Way too many red, white, and blue cakes. But as an adult I have embraced it. It's awesome always having off/being able to take a long weekend. And who doesn't love celebrating their birthday with fireworks? Sure there are still the downsides but if I had to pick a holiday for a birthday, this is certainly a good one.

And Boston...great place to feel patriotic and really fall in love with the day.

The day started at the Old State House (and the site of the Boston Massacre), where the read the Declaration of Independence every year. It wasn't really read until the 18(?) thanks to the joys of long travel in those days, but why wait? Anyway, this was pretty awesome. I, and I think most people, don't pay too much to the details of the Declaration, but it's pretty moving. I was all fired up afterwards. It's a giant "fuck you!" If more people were able to revolt like that, or stand up for their beliefs so eloquently, people might actually be moved to change. Standing on the street with a sign of Obama with a Hitler mustache? Not really as powerful as this strongly worded letter. I feel ready for a revolution!

Birthday confetti!

 Next we took a trolley tour of the city, to get our bearings a bit. helped when we were walking the Freedom trail later and could pintpoint some of the locations.

Bunker Hill Monument

Kennedy roses

 

We had cannolis for lunch in Little Italy. Where they also have weird street art.

And then more wandering/Freedom Trail.

Paul Revere's House

Yeah, we saw a lot of dead people.

Sam Adams

Paul Revere

Mother Goose

The birthday included an awesome birthday sash. I'm doing this every year - it was so fun. I have never had so many people wish me happy birthday. And I got free cookies.

There was sangria and then we headed out for the Boston Pops and fireworks.

The Pops were fun, but there was not nearly enough patriotic music. And you can't see the fireworks from there, so we were forced into an insane crowd and had to stand for the show because it was just crazy town. Still, it was a great firework display.

Go America!

And me!