It may have taken place 3 weeks ago, but with the problems I've had with the Dell and having to rebuild it I couldn't get the pictures off of it and posted…until now.
Originally James and Megan were supposed to go with us to the game but so much time passed between all of us talking about James had a golf tournament he was in so they couldn't go. We were lucky to find anyone to be able to go because it was so last minute so at least someone got to enjoy the game, and it was cool that Flack and Nikki were around to go to the game at all. It would have totally sucked having the tickets go to total waste. If we didn't get them to come at the last second, this would have been a scene very common to us:
Flack and Nikki met us at the T-Stop we always use to go into Boston since I am not a fan of paying $100 for a parking spot at a nearby garage or lot. Sorry, call me cheap, but that shit doesn't fly with me.
After getting our Charlie Tickets and hopping onto the train Nikki showed the Niff some of the $1.00 coins she was given as change when she got her Charlie Ticket, at which point the Niff decided it was nice to throw Nikki's money around and drop it onto the oh so clean floor on the train about four dozen times before the lady sitting next to her finally handed it to her. After that I knew we were in for a good time.
When you are on a crowded train, one of the best things to do when someone stares at you is to just ignore them. Most people do. Unless you are Flack. If you're Flack, you pull up your hood, keep your reflective aviator glasses staring straight ahead and try to freak the guy out even more. Not sure how this would work if you tried it and were looking at a true nutjob, but who knows. Maybe it would knock them back into reality. Then again, maybe it would set them off. It would be funny to see though, wouldn't it?
The walk out of Kenmore to Fenway is always entertaining. The three most overheard phrases are, "Ya got tickets?", "Ya need tickets?" and "Programs!!! $3.00!!!!" A fixture on any walk to Fenway is the Jesus Pamphlet Guy. Dood has a giant sign that says if you read his pamphlets you can be saved. I would love to know what this man does for a living. I see him EVERYWHERE. He never says anything. EVER. He just stands with one in each hand looking straight ahead with his hand open waiting for you to take it. I always do. Makes the guy feel needed, or at least that is what I tell myself.
We got to Landsdowne Street where our gate was to get into Fenway and I headed right for The Sausage King. It is imperative that I get a sausage with all the works or no matter what the Sox lose. Always happens.
So I wolfed it down in two point five before we went inside the beauty that is Fenway Park. I hope it is still standing when we have kids some day. I remember my first game, and am just so psyched for people like Steve that can bring Alyza to Fenway and have the same experience that we had when we were kids.
It didn't take long for us to find our seats. They were AWESOME. I've sat there before in the bleachers for a Sox/Yankees game and it was one of the best (visually) games ever.
Most stadiums have this convoluted row numbering thing where it seems like you are in the right row but the number is actually off a row because it is displaying the row number for that row above the seats. Odd to explain but if you've ever been to Fenway or Gillette you know what I am talking about. Sure enough about 15 minutes into sitting in our seats a couple in front of us proceeded to think that everyone else was in the wrong row except them. Figures.
The weather was perfect. It wasn't freezing out like when we went in April and we weren't in the direct sun for long. The view was awesome, and it was the bleachers, the best place in Fenway. You feel like a bigger part of the Fenway Faithful when you are out with the Bleacher Creatures for some reason. It's like the pulse of the park.
Like I have said before, I am a huge fan of the random paparazzi photos and that night was no exception. I took a trillion pictures and one set of 3 in a row really freaked me out. I was taking pictures of Flack and Nikki in fairly quick succession and as you can see, it looks like Nikki is moving but Flack isn't…very…weird…Mr. Unabomber.
Before long the Niff and I were thirsty and she maneuvered her way down into the bowels of Fenway to snag us a drink and some peanuts. Peanuts are a great snack because they have an almost unlimited shelf life, they don't get hot/cold and go bad, and you can eat them at your pace. There is an added bonus in that you get to drop the shells all over the ground and have someone else clean them up. How can you beat that??? We didn't think so either so we did this to prove it:
One of the highlights for me was biting into a peanut and having the shell explode into the hair of the girl in front of us. I could have told her about it, but not sure how she would have taken it and it was only a small piece of peanut shrapnel. Figured she was better off not even knowing.
Fenway is one of those awesome places to people watch. You see all walks of life. If you are really lucky (like we were) you will see a Femullet in person. The Niff did her best to get a picture to document this rare phenomenon:
The Hot Dog Guy in our area had just about the raspiest voice known to man. He could have given the Godfather a run for his money. He tried to be loud, but I'm guessing he had a tough time since it sounded like he smoked 3 packs of Marlboro Reds a day when he wasn't slinging processed "beef" at Fenway for $4.50 apiece.
There was a kid in our area that was doing his damndest to get the wave going but for some reason the security asshole must have been showing off for his new boyfriend that night and didn't like the wave happening so he kept squashing it. Asshat.
The game was pretty slow, and we acted on a hunch late in the game that the Sox wouldn't win it as momentum went the other way so we decided to beat the rush and duck out a bit early. It turned out to be the smartest move because in the end the Sox did lose, we beat all the traffic in the T-stations, and we were home "reasonably" early. Even though the Sox lost, a good time was had by all.
Even by the FanFoto guy I was taking illegal pictures of taking pictures of other people…
Fenway is one of those places you can't get enough of when you are there and never want to leave, and will do anything and pay just about whatever it takes to get you there in the first place. Going there twice this season was special, something I would do all the time before the won it all a few years back. Maybe it makes it even more special when I make it there now. I like to think it does.
































It's not just what they do, it's the conversations they have, it's how they break down their thought process, and it's just a million other things that are not easily pinpointed. I love the fact they don't have a million friends and the show centers around a core group of people. They have that square dynamic: Jerry has been best friends with George since high school, Jerry dated Elaine for a while, and Kramer is connected to all of them through being Jerry's neighbor.