The weather could not have been better for our trip to the Back Bay of
Boston and environs.
It
was an absolutely beautiful morning with brightblue skies, low humidity and temperatures in the 70s. We were on a strict
schedule, so the main tour group left the Grange parking lot at 10 AM headed
for route 9 and Boston. On the way they picked up four Model As in Wellesley
and two in Chestnut Hill making a total of twelve (12) As.
Although there were many traffic lights to deal with along the way, the
group made it into Brookline Village by 10:45 AM and made the left hand turn
onto Brookline Avenue. We chugged by the Dana Farber building, the Beth
Israel Hospital and the old Sears building and then passed the ballpark on
the starboard side. We then turned down Landsdown Street hard against the
famous left field wall and we parked in an enclosed garage right behind the
centerfield bleachers.
The group was then instructed (!) by the tour leader that they were to be in
the
souvenir shop across the street from Fenway Park by 1 PM for the 1:30 PMtour. Until then, everyone was "on their own" for lunch and shopping. Some
ate at the Red Sox cafe on Brookline Avenue called "Game On" while others
had lunch at The Boston Beer Works, Uno's or another of the many
eateries that are near Fenway.
Fortunately our group of twenty-seven adults and four children was a
"private" tour because it was apparent that the regular tours had upwards of
one hundred people participating! At 1:30 PM we met our tour guide Bob who
explained that he had been a Red Sox fan since his first trip to Fenway Park
in 1947.
Bob
has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the Sox and theballpark. We visited the press box first and we got an explanation on just
how the electronic scoreboard is controlled and how the writers and
reporters watch a game and file their stories. From the press area we moved
on to the 406 club and got an even better view than we had from the press
box area! All along the way our guide Bob told us all kinds of stories,
anecdotes and answered our questions about the ballclub and the ballpark.
We
then went up to the top of the left field wall and got a chance to sit inthe so-called Monster Seats for what many call the best seat in major league
baseball. The view from up there was spectacular being 37 feet off the
ground (we learned that) with great sight lines to the rest of the park.
The last part of the tour took us down to the front row along the third base
line where our guide wrapped up the tour telling us about the field itself,
the manual scoreboard in the wall and lots of other interesting trivia.
Time seemed to fly by with the tour lasting over an hour!
As we made our way back to the parking garage, some of the children gotautographs from some of the players arriving early for the game. Most of
the Minuteman tourers left for home by 3:30 PM but a few of use made our way
over to the Maparium at the Mary Baker Eddy Museum for a quick tour there.
No breakdowns (of course) and nothing but a fun day.
Photos by Bruce Marshall and Gene Laks
