Beautiful Boston

Tuesday 7 August 2012 – Boston Bound

Day 116 and 44 to go

Well it is comforting to know that ANZ are keeping an eye on our spending, calling us at midnight to confirm our travel card had been used in New York. DUH! Well not used but declined, as seems to be the case at most places here. What is the point of preloading a card with US dollars if you then can’t use it? So far the only way we have been able to access our money here is through an ATM and then they wack you with fees!

We have Aussie dollars with us to change but that is a rort too. We know the Aussie dollar is worth more than the US at the moment but the best rate is 85c, how does that work? Come on US you need to let go and get over it, some currencies are performing better than yours, that is just the way it is.

Right with my gripe out of the way … 5am uhhhhhhhh! I do not like alarms. Paul hadn’t slept much so he was up and out at the sound of the bell. Knowing we didn’t have much time I followed suit, mechanically going through the motions and was ready in 10min. Not bad when you are half asleep.

We returned to the lobby and checked out, then stood on the sidewalk waiting for our Dail7 car to arrive. At 5.30am as planned it arrived and we were driven through the just waking up city. The dark of night was just lifting and there was a pinky tinge just kissing the sky.

The trip to JFK only took 30min as the roads were relatively quiet. We drove through Queens and then passed Flushing Meadow before pulling up at terminal 8 at 6.00am. We made our way into the terminal, printing our boarding passes and paying $50 for our checked bags. Didn’t know we would have to do that, but seeing the flight cost us $5 for the 2 of us I shouldn’t complain.

With the bags dropped we proceeded through security screening and it was off to our gate to sit and wait for boarding at 7.30am that didn’t take long and before we knew it we were up and away saying goodbye to New York.

The flight to Boston is a short one. It seemed that no sooner were we in the air we were beginning our descent. I hurridly tried to finish the semi-frozen OJ I had been given before we touched down at 8.50am

Once off the flight we were off to collect our bags that came through quickly and then we grabbed a cab to drive us to our hotel. At 9.45am we were at the front door. Unfortunately we weren’t able to check in so we stowed our bags, enjoyed their free breakfast and with a map and suggestions in hand we went out onto the Boston Streets.
Our first step was across the road to Fenway Park and home to the Boston Red Sox baseball team where we bought tickets for the match tonight against Texas Rangers. Once that was sorted we made our way to the subway catching the green line into central Boston.

We got off at Boston Common and followed the Black Heritage trail through Beacon Hill. Here there were many beautiful tree lined streets and old red brick houses. I could feel Paul beginning to relax after the hustle and bustle of New York. Boston is a lot cleaner, calmer and a lot less busy both on the road and the pavement.

We made our way down to the Charles River. From here we sat and watched the kids taking boats out though it wasn’t particularly breezy. It reminded me of sitting by the Swan at home. It was a beautiful day with summery blue skies.

We then continued to follow the Black trail returning to Boston Common that was crawling with people enjoying the fine weather. Many kids were playing in a large water park it looked like great fun.

We returned to the subway catching it this time to Green Street where we would then walk to the Samuel Adams Brewery. Once there we completed the free beer tour that was very entertaining. We were given free, small tasting glasses and Paul was able to get his fill of three different beers.

The fun didn’t stop there though. We caught the party bus to a local pub, Doyles. The driver, Jason, was a right nutter but so much fun. It was a shame the ride was only 5 minutes.

We found a seat and ordered lunch, Reubens, a delicious meat, cheese, sauerkraut sandwich with sweet potato fries. This was on Jason’s recommendation and we weren’t disappointed. It was by far the best meal we have had in the US.

Not only was the meal great we were also given a Samuel Adams glass to take away, for once we didn’t need to nick one. With lunch done we returned to the party bus and were dropped back at the subway to make our way back to the hotel with so many Red Sox fans heading to Fenway.

We were finally able to check-in at 3.40pm and were given a room on the top floor.

We made our way upstairs and through the rabbit warren before locating our room. It was lovely to be in and being able to have a rest while watching the Olympic volleyball. 

I was able to get on to free wifi to do some organising for tomorrow’s excursion out to Cape Cod and then it was time to get ready and head to the ball game.

The streets around the hotel were thick with people. We joined the throngs passing a programme stand along the way where we bought a book. We also stopped at the merchandise stand to buy a hat and shirt to support the home team.

We then entered the ballpark making our way to our seats behind home plate. The stands were filling with spectators as the time inched closer to the first pitch. I checked out the stadium and the “green monster”; a giant green wall behind third that makes it very difficult to score a home run from this position.

At 7.10pm the game began. We were sitting amongst Texas fans, but it wasn’t really a problem. The game was quite slow for the first 5 innings, but after this Texas made a play for runs putting 4 on the board in their 6^th and 7^th innings.

The 7^th inning stretch saw the crowd get vocal singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”.

When Boston went to bat their pinch hitter came on and scored the only home run of the night, hitting over the  “Green Monster” and bringing in 3 runs. That got the crowd really going, breaking out in song again.

At one stage they showed USA Olympic competitors and the crowd went wild, however; when they showed the medal count with China on top they broke out booing. Paul and I were really shocked at the poor sportsmanship. It seems they are being groomed to see China as the next enemy. It really was disgusting.

Unfortunately for Boston, Texas scored 2 more putting the game out of reach and at the end of the 9^th with the score at 6-3, we made our way back to the hotel getting in at 10.45pm

I finished up with some computer things before going to bed.

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