Sweet Caroline

The song 'Sweet Caroline' has been stuck in my head ever since my visit to Fenway Park, so I decided that it was an appropriate name for this entry. They always play the song at Red Sox games, and it is also featured in the movie 'Fever Pitch'.

As most people who read this blog know, I went to visit my best friend from college, Hollis, in Massachusetts over the weekend. I arrived there on Thursday night and traveled home yesterday afternoon. It was a great trip and I was very excited to see Hollis and the little Elisabeth currently residing inside her belly. On Friday, Hollis and I went shopping. After all, it would not be a proper Karyn and Hollis visit if shopping was not involved. On Saturday, we went into Boston (they live about 45 minutes to an hour outside of the city).

Our first stop was Harvard. I wanted to go there, walk around campus, and drink coffee. Yes, I know, very Gilmore of me. Here is a picture of Hollis and I outside one of the Harvard gates:




I also bought a Harvard t-shirt. It makes me feel smart. I think that when I wear it, I will pretend that I went to Harvard while talking to strangers. I wonder if I can pull it off....

Our next stop was the North end of the city, aka Little Italy. We went to Pizzeria Regina for lunch. It is one of the most famous pizza places in Boston. We then went to an Italian bakery and had the best cannoli of my life. Seriously, it was SO good. I can't even describe it. This part of town was amazing. There was so much history. Little Italian grandma's walking around, going to the market. I imagine that if I had been there 75 years ago, the streets and storefronts would not look much different, only the cars and the clothing.

We walked the Freedom Trail to Quincy Market. It was a Saturday of great weather, and the people were out. It was very crowded, and there were way too many tourists there. We continued walking the Freedom Trail to Boston Common, where it was necessary to rest on a bench.




After spending some time in the commons area, we hopped on the T and headed towards Fenway Park. This was definitely the highlight of the day. As we were walking towards the park and it was in my sight, I said to Hollis and Rich, "Is it wrong that I am much more excited to see Fenway Park, than I was to see Benjamin Franklin's grave?"

It happened to be a great day to go on a tour of Fenway, because there were people out on the field practicing for the opening day festivities which took place yesterday. We saw them hoisting the new World Series Champions flag up and down the pole,




we saw people bringing out the HUGE World Series banner,




and we saw some of the old banners from 1916 and 1918 (that is Pudge's Pole on the right).




The first stop on the tour was the .406 Club (named for Teddy Williams batting average). There is an awesome view of the park from there, but I'm not sure I would want to watch the game from behind glass, I guess that is why they are remodeling it after this season. They took us through the Red Sox Hall of Fame, however, I won't bore you with the pictures. We got to go sit on the Green Monster, here is a picture of me up there. I was very excited about the whole thing.




Usually, the tour takes you into the dugout, but because of the festivities going on down on the field, we did not get to go. We did go sit behind home plate though. It is truly unbelievable how close people at Fenway Park get to sit.

After the tour, we wasted some time across the street at Boston Beerworks, where Rich had 'Victory Red' beer that was first brewed on October 27th, 2004. We got back on the T and headed to one of the fishing piers for dinner. We ate a restaurant with no name. It was comparable to the food that I get when I am at home in the Keys, making it very good.

After our tiresome day tour of Boston, we took it easy on Sunday. We went to Church in the morning, had a picnic in the front yard, and went to see 'Fever Pitch'. I am so happy that I went to Fenway Park before seeing the movie. I kept thinking to myself, "hey, I've been there!" Despite what Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore did on the field after the World Series, I think every Red Sox fan should see this movie (yes Andy, this means you). It was good, and I will own it one day.

Finally, this picture was taken at the Commons. Anyone see anything wrong with it?