Boston Part 5: Lobster!

I had made a 7:15 dinner res at Atlantic Fish. We took the T over there, which was super convenient. It was just a few stops from our hotel.

When we arrived, I was sure glad I made a res as the place was packed. We were seated immediately and got drinks. Since I've been obsessed with white wine sangrias lately, I got a berry one. It was pretty good.

I wanted to order the New England Lobster Feast for two (2 lb. steamed lobster served with clam chowder, mussels, steamers, corn on the cob, and new potatoes), but Adam reigned me in a bit as it didn't sound that great to him.

No matter. I got my OWN lobster instead. I ordered the 1 1/4 lb, which was the perfect size for me! Instead of apps, we both ordered the New England Clam Chowder, which was wonderful! I'm going to need to look up some recipes and make some. YUM.

Our food came pretty quickly, and it was fabulous. Truly delicious. I've only ever had lobster tail before, which I wasn't overly impressed with, so getting the whole lobster was a little overwhelming. Luckily for me, they cut it up a bit so it wasn't quite as daunting. It was just so flavorful and amazing, especially the tail. I finally understand what the fuss is all about!

Adam ordered the San Francisco Cioppino (with lobster, shrimp, clams, fish, scallops and
mussels simmered in a spicy saffron shellfish broth) so he was in on the lobster action too.

 

He loved his meal as well, so it worked out to go our separate ways instead of splitting the feast.

Since it was a little messy, we both got awesome bibs to wear. Ha.

We had a really fun time and great experience at Atlantic Fish Company! The prices were in line for a nice seafood restaurant, and as far as I know, it's not a chain (I'm kind of anti-chain except for Chipotle). I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Boston!! It was a great way to wrap up our trip.

After dinner, we took the T back to the hotel where we packed up and relaxed.

Our flight Monday was at 11:50. We got up, finished packing, and headed down to breakfast. Once again, I had a yummy made to order blueberry pancake and Adam had an omelet. We checked out, and then walked down to the BRT station where we took the Silver Line to the airport. It was about 10:30 by the time we got to the airport, which made us a bit nervous.

Lucky for us our terminal was pretty empty. When we checked in, we got asked if we'd be interested in sitting in the Emergency Exit. Extra leg room? Yes please!

At security, I had my first experience with the body scanner which was somewhat traumatizing. Especially since I had a hair tie in my pocked that showed up and resulted in me getting a pat down. Lovely.

Right before boarding it was announced that there was a maintenance problem, so our flight kept getting delayed. Fortunately, it was a false alarm and we were only an hour delayed. Though if we had been making a connecting flight that hour may have screwed us up! Luckily it was on the return flight so we didn't really care.

We got back to MSP around 3:30 instead of 2, and were picked up by Adam's dad. Then we were reunited with Chester! It was a short trip, but we sure missed the little guy. He was in good hands with Grandma & Grandpa L though! He even had an adventure going up to the cabin! I'm kind of jealous since we haven't been up there yet and he has twice! We plan to fix that this weekend though!

So, in conclusion, Boston was a good time. As Adam said in an e-mail to me the next day, "I like going on adventures together!"

Boston Part 4: Second Game at Fenway!

Fair Warning: This post is very long with way too many photos. But I couldn't narrow it down any further. So you get what you get, and you don't have to look!

For our second journey to Fenway, we went early so we could explore a bit and take lots of photos. But it was maybe a little too early. The game was at 1:35; we got there a little after 11.

Our first stop was at a Red Sox store where I got a mini Fenway pennant and Adam got a Red Sox hat. I still don't understand why, but he likes it so I'm not judging.

Then we entered at the Yawkey Way entrance. They block the whole street off on game days, and you can only enter with a ticket. On the street are lots of vendors, food carts and live music. It was quite the scene.

There are giant baseball cards above one of the stores on Yawkey Way.

Inside, we wandered around the stadium. I liked the big concourse in the outfield. It was really open and less dungeon like than the concourses behind the diamond.

I even got a photo with the Green Monster!

We had a big breakfast at the hotel, so we weren't quite hungry yet. So we got drinks. A beer for Adam and a Raspberry Lime Rickey for me. Delicious!

Eventually, we made our way to our seats. They were much more modern this time.

 There we discovered that we were literally right next to the bullpen. As in we could have reached out and touched players as they entered and exited it. Without straining. Crazy!

See, that's my yummy drink.

The line up for the day

I knew our seats were in the outfield by the bullpen, I just didn't realize how close they were. Lucky for us, it was the Away bullpen so we got to see some Twins players up close and personal.

That's Rick Anderson behind Adam! Freakishly close.

Like Butera and Mauer,

starting pitcher Nick Blackburn,

and the whole bullpen.

Salty even made an appearance!

 I kind of felt like a creeper, especially with my big lens. But I didn't feel stalker enough to NOT take photos! Haha.

Some American Idol winner sang the National Anthem. It was actually really well done!

Kris Allen?

Sitting next to the bullpen made the game extra interesting.

We watched Mansihp Manship warm up. 

Busted creeping!

And Perdomo warm up.

We also watched Perkins move around the bullpen.
 

And other various stalkings.

When I wasn't being entertained by the bullpen, I watched the game too.

This is what the view from our seats looked like. We were in the 4th row off the field.

View to our left

Ben Revere playing center field. And the Green Monster in the background.

Of course the Twins lost, but at least they made it interesting in the 9th with a few home runs.

One of which, by Doumit, was hit right behind the bullpen. Adam was wearing a light blue shirt, which really stuck out in the sea of red, so we saw ourselves on Sports Center! And on the Twins website. Sure we're little dots of color, but we know it's us!

Here's the video from the Twins website

After the game, we took the T back to our hotel to rest for a bit before our dinner res. As we learned throughout our visit, the T is pretty easy to get around on and very convenient. I wish MSP had a subway system!

Fun times at Fenway! What stadium will we visit next? I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the 2013 schedule so we can plan our next ballpark trip!

Boston Part 3: First Game at Fenway!

Saturday evening was our first game at the legendary Fenway Park. It is the oldest stadium still actively used in baseball, and is actually celebrating it's 100th year this year! The stadium itself is kind of quirky and not that amazing in itself. But when you account for all the history, it's a really interesting place. Legendary in fact. This is ballpark #5/30 for us (together).

I was somewhat disappointed by how my photos of our first visit to Fenway turned out. My favorite lens, our wide angle 10-18mm isn't working properly, so I wasn't able to get the wide angle shots that I favor. Arriving, we were a bit rushed as we were running a late (not actually late, just not early like I wanted to be) to the game since the Freedom Trail went long and Adam wasn't feeling well. Add that to the fact that we were just taking it all in, and I really didn't take a whole lot of photos. Nor did we walk around during the game and explore/photograph anything. Oh well.

Our seats were interesting. Being that it's a 100 year old building, there are a lot of support beams. Support beams that block your view. Oh, you wanted to watch the game? Sorry, I'm just holding this building up.

We sat in the Grandstand, and I'm guessing that these wooden seats were original. They definitely needed a little TLC! But they were cool and historic, even if they were quite narrow.

 We grabbed hot dogs, and were entertained by the New England style hot dog bun. Wait what? It's like a piece of bread folded in half, except it's still kind of a bun. Hard to explain. Yes, I never knew it existed either. Just google it.

I also indulged in some ice cream so that I could get my mini-helmet that I get at every ballpark.

Now here are lots of photos of the park and a few of us.

There's the Green Monster!

 Note the guy changing the scoreboard in the background. He ran out between each inning to update. Sometimes he had to use his ladder. It was neat to watch.

Wally the Green Monster mascot!

It was quite hot & humid with no air flow. So we were sweaty.

The Twins didn't play a very great game. That is until the end. Imagine this scene-
Top of the 9th. 2 outs. Mauer at the plate. Full count. Red Sox fans are getting belligerent. Taunting Mauer. Cheering. Mauer swings. AND HITS A HOME RUN OVER THE GREEN MONSTER! OMG!!! UNBELIEVABLE!

Now watch the video from MLB!

It was epic. It was amazing. We were jumping around and screaming like fools. I don't think our Red Sox neighbors were happy with us. And we didn't even care.

A show of the crowd leaving the park.

It was a great game! Amazing in fact. We were giddy the rest of the night.