Robbie and I have been waiting patiently for the Brewers to go to Boston and play in Fenway Park, so when the schedule finally came out a year ago, we were very excited to find that the Brewers went there this season. So basically, this trip had been penciled in since last August. Earlier this year I asked our good friend Erin if she wanted to come with, and of course she said yes! She and I have been friends since childhood and she is the biggest Wisconsin sports fan I know besides me! I went to a Brewers/Red Sox game in Boston in 2008 as part of a college graduation gift with my mom and brother, but neither Robbie or Erin had been to a game before. Robbie took a class trip to Boston but they were only able to tour Fenway. And Erin had never even been to Boston before! We booked flights and our hotel in June and I literally had a countdown going since then! We were all excited for this trip!
We all booked our flights into Boston to arrive at roughly the same time on July 28th, and they were afternoon flights, so when we all got there, we were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! I looked at both ours and Erin's flight path, and both flights met up in the Cleveland area! Cool!
It was so good to see Erin (we hadn't seen her since 2019 when she came to Cincinnati for games here)! Once we got into the city, there was a metro line, the T, one block away from our hotel! Very convenient!
We wanted to take it easy that evening, so after we got situated in our hotel, we made our way to the harbor to have dinner. We ate at a place called Joe's and were able to get a table outside! While the food was good, the service was pretty sub-par. What restaurant doesn't bring us silverware with our food?! Anyway, it was fun to watch life happen in downtown.
After dinner, we strolled along the harbor and ended up at Faneuil Hall! Faneuil Hall is next to Quincy Market, and being it was 8:30pm, most of the crowds had thinned out so we walked through the market and got ice cream as a dessert! It was the best way to start our trip!
Friday was our Fenway Day! We had a tour scheduled at 11am, and tickets to the game that night at 7:10pm.
We got to Fenway about 10:30am to be sure we knew where we were supposed to be. When we got there, we met this guy who told us that the gate we were at was where the visiting team bus arrives about 5 hours before gametime. So we made a mental note of that for later!
Everyone who booked the tour met at the team store right across from the stadium, and we were split into 2 groups. Most of the tour were Brewers fans which was pretty cool!
The first place we went on the tour was up the "wow bridge." It's called The "wow bridge" because most people say "wow" when they see the field from this ramp. And of course, it's called The "wow bridge" for a reason. The views once we got into the field area were beautiful, and the park is so distinct from others I had seen! I took it all in from that spot for sure!
Then we made our way to the oldest seats in baseball! These were the small blue seats that are under the overhang of the first level. When these seats were built in 1912, people were built much smaller than they are now, so we all smushed into these tiny seats while our tour guide gave us a history on Fenway. Not only were the seats small, the aisles were small too. These seats were good enough for the tour, but I'm glad we had different seats for the game!
After the oldest seats in baseball, we made our way to the Green Monster! Or, the "Green Monstah" according to Bostonites! When the 3 of us were looking at tickets to the game, we considered sitting in the Green Monster. But tickets were like, $600 per ticket, so that was a quick nope. But, it was a lot of fun to sit there for a while during the tour. These seats used to sell by lottery only, but now they are open to the top 1% of the Boston fan base!
After the Monstah', we went around to Fenway Farms, a new garden area behind the concourse on the home plate side where they grow produce and use it in their food that they sell at games. Any leftover produce goes to local food banks. Someone also comes in everyday to tend to these gardens. That was a pretty "green" idea!
Next, we went through the historic press boxes! All the spots were labeled for each press representative that covered the game. The reps that we saw included the Boston Globe, the local TV broadcast, and the away broadcast (which still had Clevelands name on the table, but I'm assuming the Brewers broadcasters were slated to be there later that night)!
Then we moved to right field and to the area to see the spot where Ted Williams hit the longest homerun in Fenway history, at 502 feet. This spot was marked by a red seat in the grandstands, and from that spot, it sure did look that far! The outfield allowed for great photo opps too!
After the outfield, the tour ended in a little museum/shrine to more of the history of Fenway! Our tour guide was fantastic, and the tour itself offered some new areas that I didn't get to when I went in 2008! I would 100% recommend this tour to anyone going to Fenway for a game, and it's only $25! I was expecting it to be more, so I was happy with the cost!
After our tour, we shopped a bit at the team store. Earlier before the tour I saw someone wearing a shirt that said "So Good ! So Good! So Good!" During the 8th inning, Fenway sings along to Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, and ive loved Neil Diamond since I was a kid. So I looked for it but they didn't carry the shirt, so I ordered it online. I would've legit worm that shirt to the game that night if they had it in stock!
When we were finished picking out our souvenirs, we had lunch near the park. We wanted to stay by the park to see the team get dropped off, so we ate at Sal's Pizzeria, right across from Fenway! We had about an hour until the busses would come, so it was a perfect time to rest our feet and eat with a view of Fenway!
When 2pm rolled around, we made our way to Gate A, where the guy this morning promised the team bus would be. When we got there, a handful of other Brewers fans were there too, so we figured he was right! Sure enough, security barricaded part of the street and in comes a bus. The first person off was our ace and 2021 Cy Young winner, Corbin Burnes. After Burnes came Adrian Houser and Eric Lauer, another part of our starting rotation. Then came Brent Suter (more on Suter later), and even though he was on the phone, he still acknowledged the small crowd. Then came our 2021 Reliever of the Year, Josh Hader! And last off that bus was short stop extraordinaire and funny man Willy Adames! I had never seen a bus drop off players at an opposing park, so it was pretty great to experience it at Fenway! We were like, their groupies! Haha! It felt like such an exclusive club! I guess some players walked to Fenway from the hotel, which was practically around the corner, and we saw reliever Brad Boxburger doing just that! These players are in my living room every single night, so it's fun to see them in their street clothes just being human. Sometimes we forget that they are just normal people but doing cool jobs! In my eyes they are celebrities! There were other busses coming, but we wanted to get back to our own hotel to clean up and rest before going back to Fenway for the game!
We weren't at our hotel longer than 2 hours before we were right back at Fenway! We wanted to get there when the gates opened so we could watch batting practice. We entered at the same gate that the players came into, but this time, the energy was up with all the pregame pomp and circumstance!
We found our seats, which were in the Pavillion level along the first base side. These were the newest seats added to Fenway with plenty of room to stretch out. The views from our seats were amazing!
Batting practice was pretty cool, watching players mash the ball over the Green Monster and into the grandstands! We had a good time with that!
When batting practice was over and gametime was approaching, the feeling of being at such an historic place sunk in for me, and while the Red Sox were showing a highlight reel of big Fenway moments over the song Castle on a Hill by Ed Sheeran, I will admit I got overwhelmed with emotion. It was a feeling I have never had at any other stadium before, and this was stadium #22 for me! Erin described it as a religious experience, and im going to have to agree with her! Then the National Anthem was sung, which always makes me emotional too, so I had to wipe a tear or 2 away from my eyes as the game started!
The pitching matchup was the Brewers Brandon Woodruff vs. the Red Sox Austin Davis. In making plans for Boston leading up to our trip, we were hoping to see either Corbin Burnes or Brandon Woodruff. Burnes pitched the game before Fenway, so we were happy to get the chance too see Woodruff!
The first few innings were scoreless, and it was a little frustrating for me that the Brewers bats were quiet because their pitcher was a rookie, but we do have trouble the first time around with our line up. We eventually scored 1 run in the 6th when Yelich crossed the plate on a fielders choice. It felt good to be winning at Fenway! And it was a sigh of relief because all season we always seem to have trouble getting that first run out of the way. But that lead didn't last long because the Red Sox scored one of their own in the bottom half of the 6th off a double by Verdugo. However, in the top of the 7th, the Brewers broke the tie after a Yelich single, scoring Tyrone (Tobelerone) Taylor!
Woodruff pitched a gem into the 7th inning, allowing just 1 run and 4 hits. His location was great also, as he struck out 9! Around this time in the game the skies grew dark, and it was fun to watch Fenway come alive under the lights!
After Woodruff came out of the game, the best of our bullpen was on display as Boxburger came in and finished the 7th, Devin Williams handled the 8th, and Josh Hader shut the door in the 9th! The Brewers scored 2 more in the 9th and came away with the win, 4-1! It wad so cool to see a Brewers win AT Fenway! We couldn't leave the park without a jab from a Red Sox fan though, saying that "at least the Celtics beat the Bucks in the NBA playoffs." LOL! OK dude!
Now, after the game, we didn't leave Fenway right away. Being the Brewers team bus dropped the players off at Gate A, we figured that's where the busses would pick them up, too! It was important that we stayed to wait for them, and our Reliever Brent Suter is the reason why. Before Brent Suter made it to the big leagues, he was coming up in our farm system. We were living in southern California at the time, and we made several trips to Spring Training and got to meet Suter on several different occasions. There was even a point where HE recognized US. Crazy! And, we were at his first Opening Day in San Diego in 2018. He is one of the most down to earth players, and one of the funniest guys on the roster. And, he grew up in Cincinnati. So, when we moved to Cincinnati, I had a shirt custom-made with his name and number on it; Suter is not as popular a player to have his shirt sold at a team store or online. We have followed him literally from the minors to this point. So I brought my custom-made Suter shirt to the game in Boston, with an autograph pen, and we stood at the bus gate until he came out. We had his shirt on display and got his attention when he came out for the bus. He turned our way, his eyes got wide, and he said "I gotta sign that!" It was one of the coolest moments of my baseball life! I was able to get this picture with him and his autograph (on the top of the 5)! And not only that, he stuck around to sign and take pictures with every single person who was waiting too! I will never forget this moment, and we are currently looking to frame this shirt and photo to keep forever! It was the best way to cap off the night!
Saturday we took it easy in the morning. We didn't leave our hotel until noon! We made a rough itinerary for the afternoon, and our first stop was having lunch in Boston Common! We spent about 45 minutes watching life happen around us and it was a nice way to start the day!
We then took the T to the harbor and got off at Faneuil Hall, the site of the Boston Massacre. One thing we wanted to do in Boston was follow the Freedom Trail, several different spots of historical events. So we started at Faneuil Hall. When we got there, a tour guide was in period clothes discussing the massacre, and I'd assume several other historical events. We didn't do the tour, instead opting to go at it ourselves.
From Faneuil Hall we went to the Old North Church where a lantern signaled "One if by land, two if by sea", to let the troops know how the British were coming.
Our next stop was the site of the molasses spill on the harbor. This was a crazy event in history. In 1919, a molasses tank exploded in Bostons North End, spilling more than 2 million gallons of molasses through the streets. This disaster killed 21 people. Just imagine a loud explosions and seeing 25ft. waves of molasses rushing down the streets. You literally couldn't move and it would swallow you whole! It's one of the most bizarre stories I've ever heard in history!
We then walked to the house of Paul Revere. His house was in Little Italy, and it was also near one of his famous statues on his horse. We would've gone in but the line was super long. What I couldn't get over was the fact that the city grew around these historic monuments while still preserving them so well!
After this, we walked back towards the city and took the T back to our hotel to get ready for ballgame #2!
We had tickets to just Friday and Saturdays game, and being we got there so early the day before, we were settling into our seats right after the first pitch. This was a 4:10pm start, and we were very aware of getting this days tickets. We didn't want the sun beating down on us, so on Saturday we sat in the Pavillion level again, but in the left field corner by the 1st base foul pole, right under the Coca-Cola ad. The sun was directly behind us and we were shaded! This was actually a cool place to sit because right next to our section was the Green Monster!
This game saw the Brewers Eric Lauer vs. the Red Sox Nick Pivetta. The Brewers wasted no time getting on the board, scoring in the first 2 innings. Our first run came off a single by Rowdy Tellez, then catcher Omar Narvaez homered in the 2nd.
In the 5th inning our right fielder Hunter Renfroe, who we actually acquired from the Red Sox, hit a loud 2 run homerun and it went over the Monster! Coming into our trip, we were hoping to see a Brewer hit a homerun over the Monster, and it happened! We had the best sighting of it because we were able to see into the Monster seats! Cool moment!
One unique aspect to Fenway is their scoreboard. This scoreboard hasn't changed since the stadium was built, so in between each inning someone would come out from behind the green monster and change all the scores on every other game being played on a given day. And they have to do it within a minute and a half, otherwise the Red Sox will be fined by the MLB for delay of game! This guy was lightning fast each time he came out!
Boston scored a few more times during the game, but the Brewers added on late, including another homerun by Tyrone Taylor in the 9th to seal the 9-5 win! It was very exciting to see 2 Brewer wins at Fenway! Usually we don't have a good track record for Brewers wins when we are in attendance, but this trip helped the cause!
After the game, we snuck down to get pictures at field level. We ignored the ushers directing us out for a few minutes to bask in our wins! What an absolute blast we had at both games. Nothing came close to the emotions I had in Fenway, and because of that, and all the history I side of Fenway, this park shot up to #1 on my list! I thought nothing could stand up to PNC in Pittsburgh, but Fenway usurped it for sure! I can't imagine what it's like during the playoffs or the World Series. Maybe one day I'll find out!
When we got back to our hotel we ordered room service and relaxed! When Erin came to Cincinnati in 2019 we started a running game of Rummy 500, and I found the scores sheet in a notebook and brought it to Boston, so we picked up where we left off and played a few hands this night as well!
On Sunday the Brewers were going for the sweep in Fenway but we didn't have tickets to this game. We didn't want this 1:10pm game taking up our whole day, and we didn't want to be in the sun the whole day. Plus, we wanted to see more of historic Boston. So we set out for brunch mid morning instead!
After brunch, Erin and I parted ways from Robbie. The 2 things we wanted to do Robbie had already done in high school, so Erin and I took on the day ourselves. Our first stop was the Bunker Hill monument. Bunker Hill was the site of one of the first major battles of the Revolutionary War. There was an adio tour we listened to around the monument, too.
We also tackled the 294 steps to the top, and the views did not disappoint; although the windows could've been cleaner. Oh well, we get the gist!
After Bunker Hill, we went to the USS Constitution. This was my favorite stop of the day! The USS Constitution is most notable during the War of 1812 in defeating British warships. The USS Constitution is also called Old Ironsides because of its strong build!
We were able to board the ship and look around, including going down to the cannonball and living quarters! It was so cool to live this part of history!
I never did well in my history classes because I don't learn well from a book. I retain information and learn much better if I actually experience history, so being able to SEE these sites in Boston allows me to better understand America's history. I was so glad to have seen what we did!
We got back to the hotel to see the final innings of the ballgame. It's a good thing we didn't go to this game because we lost bad to a score of 7-2. The Red Sox hit like, 8 doubles in a row. So, it all worked out in the end!
Being Sunday was our last day in Boston, we went to the harbor one last time and had dinner at a place called Tia's on the Wharf. I'd highly recommend this place. It has a great offering of all types of seafood, and I got to have my Boston Cream Pie to end my trip!
We decided to walk back to our hotel, but on the way, we went to the site of the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party was a protest on Britain's tax on tea. You may have heard of the quote, "no taxation without representation." This was another event I had "learned" about in school but never really understood it until I was there! We got to the Boston Tea Party site late in the evening and no one was around so we were able to really take it in. It was just so cool to think that all these historical events actually happened where we were standing, centuries ago. I think about this whenever I go somewhere historical. It's hard to fathom at times!
Monday morning all of us had an early wake up call for the airport. Erin left an hour before Robbie and I got up. And even then, Robbie and I were out the door by 6:45am! I didn't want this Boston trip to end, especially with Erin joining us all weekend! What a fun time we all had! Fenway was such an experience on its own, but with all the history Boston has to offer, we could've stayed another week and still not have seen it all! I guess we have to leave something for next time for there to BE a next time! Cheers to a great weekend!
"I'm yours, Boston" - Big D and the Kids Table
