boys of Summer Book - Entry #61

July 9, 2004 - Dan

Boston, MA

We arrive at our guest’s home at 4:30 a.m. It’s a funny feeling walking into a house when you have not met the owners and it is 4:30 in the morning.

Fortunately the Bartons left us a welcome note so that we know that we are in the right place. I am only able to sleep in until 9:30, so here I am up and writing. What an amazing day! We meet some of the Bartons neighbors and they recommend we take a train to Fenway, a great idea!  

After a short walk from the train station, we arrive at the Fenway and it is alive with activity three hours before game time. We meet Colleen Reilly, the Red Sox P.R. rep. and a truly thoughtful person. 

Mom:

We left at 2-2:30(PM) for the game. We took the train in from Newton. The family arrived and told us that would be a much better route than driving. We got right off at Fenway. That was my favorite experience as far as baseball goes. 

To walk around there -- t-shirts, peanuts, the people. Colleen, our Red Sox ambassador, was just amazing! Loved her job, her team, her city. 

Bob:

Boston - whoa! Baseball!!!

The house we’re at is beautiful. We had a great start to the day -- the best I’ve slept in two months, maybe more. 

We went to the game and took the train getting there. How cool was that? Shades of the BART and trips I made as a kid riding in to the old Coliseum as a kid. The T-Line was money - and it saved us big money as parking around Fenway is nuts!

Within all of it was this overwhelming excitement about the city of Boston. I love the feel of this place. We get there, round the corner and BAM there’s the stadium. It's a carnival every game day. The streets shut down to cars and open up to people. We spoke with a third generation peanut vendor on the street. We spoke with a security guard on Yawkey. Everyone had a smile, a wink, a "Go Sox!" shout and a couple dozen great stories. 

So we meet our liaison, Colleen Reilly -- give me a break. How freaking cool is she? So fun. So sweet. So gracious in getting us all around Fenway. She got us on the field, an interview with Peter Gammons, seats next to her dad in the second row behind first base, a bag of goodies with BoSox hats and shirts and her unbelievable spirit and kindness the whole way. There aren't enough apples there to tell you how much I like 'em.