I've preached about getting into a city as early as possible and last night confirmed that. My flight from LAX to Boston was supposed to arrive at 3:15, but it was a little late and the airport shuttle was too. And there was Boston rush hour traffic. So I didn't get to the hotel until 4:30. Since I'd been up so early, I wanted to relax a little bit. I was prepared to leave the hotel a few minutes after 6 PM, even though the front desk told me it'd take only 20 minutes to get to Fenway Park. Well, the shuttle they said would take me to the subway wasn't there. So I walked 20 minutes to the subway. Then I found out that the station stop I was supposed to change trains at was closed. So instead of taking the blue line to the green line, I took the blue line to the orange line to the green line. I didn't arrive at the stadium until a few minutes past 7. By the time I got to my seat, the Yankees had already scored. They did that a lot last night. They won 14-5.
I don't want to make it sound like I don't like the Rodeway Inn. It was perfect for me. I didn't have to splurge on an airport shuttle. They did pick me up at the subway station after the game. They even had a computer right as you walk in, so that you can print a boarding pass. Which I did. The room had a flat screen, which I never turned on, and a nice big comfortable bed. It provided everything I needed. Thumbs up to the Rodeway Inn.
Fenway is old and small, two traits I haven't been excited about since I started this quest. Unlike Wrigley, which felt dank, and Dodger, which has no real personality, I did feel something at Fenway.
I didn't go through the whole food selection, because I was running late. The pizza didn't look cookie cutter, although it wasn't very good. Perhaps another choice would've been better.
I broke one of my rules when getting a ticket. I've said that you shouldn't skimp on tickets. If you're spending $300+ round trip airfare and another $120 for a hotel, why buy a ticket that won't give you the best experience? I'll tell you why. I got a bleacher seat for $48. Seats where I wanted to sit started at $130. I'd decided that was too steep. So my view wasn't very good.
And that takes you out of the game a bit. That it was in the 40's and windy also did too. I had a nice heavy jacket, but no gloves. Come on. Who'd think you'd need gloves for a baseball game in late April? It was Tom Brady weather! The bleachers did give me a chance to mingle with the Yankee and Red Sox fans and they were animated with each other. Even as the Yankees were piling on the runs. And the seat did give me a view of Pesky's Pole. I've never seen a foul pole where the outfield curved like that right afterward.
In the 6th inning, I decided that since people had left, I was going to sneak down to a better seat. What's nice about Fenway is that you don't have to take the stairs to go to a lower level. So you don't have to worry about an usher stopping you. Once you get past the usher at the top of the tunnel, you can sit where you want. And I did.
That gave me a great view of the game and the Green Monster too. In fact, sitting down here also gave me a great view of their monster scoreboards, something you won't find at Wrigley.
And I even got a chance to hear them sing "Sweet Caroline" in the 8th inning. So overall, I enjoyed Fenway.
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