Up

It was a race to the finish - the Fenway Park finish that is.  We left New Jersey and arrived in Massachusetts 6 hours later.  We quickly switched over to the assault mini-van and headed for the Boston "T".  The subway was a great adventure.   The Green Line took us right to the Fenway stop.  Halfway to Fenway the subway was full.  We detrained and headed for the park.  We cut through pathways and around warehouses and then all of a sudden - walla - Fenway Park.  Great ambiance outside.  A lot of hustling and bustling restaurants and souvenir stores. 

This page got a little long so here are some links to each section:
| Fenway | Cape Cod | Plymouth | Boston |

                                                                                                        Connecticut gas:  $1.30 /gal

Boston Red Sox were playing the Baltimore Orioles at night.  Our seats were the most incredible and the temperature was perfect baseball weather.  The problem was the game went just over 2 hours - we wanted to stay all night!   See below for views,  old Giants and more.

The next day we headed out for Cape Cod.  We stopped in Sandwich which is the oldest town on the now island.  (In the early 1900's the Army Corp. of Engineers dug a Cape Canal which created an island and a quick cut through for boats at the  bottom left of a U shaped Cape.)    We also drove into Hyannis for dinner and then headed home.

Today we headed for Plymouth.   The Roemer party saw Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower replica.   This town was very charming and had lots of good restaurants.  They had coffee shops,  Mexican food,  Italian food and lots of English Pub type restaurants.  It was easy to get to and easy to stroll to several historic sites.    They do have a great Plimouth Plantation which is a recreation of life in Pilgrim time.  We ran out of time to see that.

For new notes on Boston, click the link above or scroll down for details!

Here is the historic Fenway Park.  It was sold out tonight - 33,000.  There is a movement by the owner to build the new Fenway Park.  It is all designed but seems to meeting with resistance.

Are these seats incredible or what??  Thanks Mike!!  On the third base side of home plate.   The foul ball area is so small you can practically reach out and touch the players.

Yes that's Will Clark with the Green Monster behind him.  He is shaking the hand of a fan next to us.   He is a little heavier than in Giant days but he went 2-4 with a single and a double.  

The ball boy gave Colleen a ball.   It was a foul ball off Harold Baines bat.  She said we need to find a special place for it at home.  She knows baseball!!

In the bottom of the ninth,  the Red Sox were behind 5-2.   The hometown crowd was quiet. 
What does it take to get these guys to cheer?
Baltimore won 5-2.

As we were heading to the T we took one parting shot.   A lot of hustle and bustle after the game too!

The kids had a great time on Sandy Neck Beach.   It is a public beach which sticks out for 6 miles into the Cape and is full of great dunes.  This part of the island is more sparsely populated and full of old quaint villages.   Onset is a particularly quaint port town. 

When we entered the park we were warned that the GREENHEADS were present.  Being ignorant westerners we asked "What are green heads?"  The park ranger replied that they were flies that really hurt you when they bite.  She said we could come back in a few weeks and they would be gone, but no refunds today.   We took the challenge.   Phil and Patrick got bit but not too bad. 

Here is the sand castle the children built.  The cape water is clear and very shallow for quite a distance out.  

We were called out of the water because of a threat of an electrical storm.    We did hear some distant thunder.

We did travel down to Hyannis.  We are still very much aware of the tragedy which occurred here one week ago.   We didn't want to explore too much here.  This is a picture of the JFK memorial overlooking the harbor at Hyannis.  Many visitors left flowers and the flag was at half mast.

Here is the famous Plymouth Rock.  It is not very big - Phil says it is the size of a water heater.   It did not become famous until more than 100 years after 1620   when a resident retold a story he had heard from a Mayflower sailor.  Will was not impressed.

It was a nice day.  Not too hot!   

Here is the downtown Church of Saint Anthony's Shrine.   This place is amazing.  As you can see it just folds into the city like any other building except it has a church on the first and second floors plus the chapel.   On weekdays there are 15   Masses and on Sundays there are 20 with one starting every half hour almost in the morning on alternating floors.

It is conveniently located right off the Freedom Trail through the historic sites in Boston and around the corner from Macy's and Filene's.   We drove into Boston, parked and walked. 

Here is the Park Street Church.  After Mass,  Mom, Michelle and Madeline went to Filene's to shop.  The rest of the crew went up to the Old South Meeting House.  This is the building when it was decided to "throw the tea into the sea".

Park Street Church is also very old.  They read the Declaration of Independence from its steps.  Behind the church is buried Paul Revere,  John Hancock,   Samuel Adams and others.

Then we heard thunder and the sky turned very dark.  Park Street Church is on the corner of the Boston Common.   We made a run for the nearest Old Town Trolley.    We just climbed aboard when it started to downpour.  It was a torrential downpour. 

Our tour guide was named Brendan and he could  be Jay Leno II.  As we crossed the bridge toward Cambridge,  Brendan said, "It's a good thing I have been doing this tour for four years and can do it with my eyes closed because I can't see a thing."   He had the whole trolley in stitches even though we couldn't see a thing.  The rain eventually stopped but 2-3 feet came down and several low lying streets remained flooded in sections.

This is the State House in Boston on the Boston Common.  This is where our trolley ride began.

Other interesting facts:   75% of Boston is landfill.  The newer section of Boston (around 300 years old) is called Backbay.

We saw the home of Cheers.  It looks just like the TV version.

Houses on the Boston Common share walls with neighbors on each side but are several stories high and cost 8-9 million.  We thought our neighborhood was bad!

This is a replica of the Beaver on Griffin's Wharf.  Of course it is not really Griffin's Wharf - that is 150 yards northwest under the landfill.

They do a great job of duplicating the committee meeting with the crowd to re-create the meeting which drove the colonist to dump the tea into the Boston Harbor.  Then we proceeded onto the boat and ...

DUMP THE   
  TEA!!

This is Normandy Farms Campground.   They also have a baseball field, basketball court and 2 playgrounds.  We didn't spend too much time here - well except when we tried to swim Saturday night and had to get out because of lightening.

They do have a recreation program here though with activities going on all day for different age groups and they had a dance Saturday night.   Quite the happening place and great handouts for sightseeing!

The purple in this picture is lupines.  They are so beautiful and can be found along all the ponds and marshes here and as we went into New York.

Boston also had the Old North Section with a lot of fun historic sites and the Quincy Market which is an open air lively market.  Then there is Bunker Hill  with a monument that looks like a miniature Washington monument according to our kids.     The city  was a lot bigger (by tall buildings) and diverse ( by theatres) plus all the colleges than I would have thought.

On to Cooperstown and our trek back.  This is on the separate web page from here.   To follow our trip,  go back up a level to the Home Page and then down to Trek Back Home.   Or:

Link to Trek Back Home