Take Us Out to the Ball Game...and Basketball Game...and Marathon!

Last January, Eric and I realized we needed to take advantage of Boston's unique sporting activities, including its sporting events. So we went online and purchased tickets to an already sold out Celtics game, thanks to some season ticket holders that didn't want to show up. Here we are in our prime balcony seats!


Just after this shot, we took a trip to the concession stand to enjoy the culinary delights of TD Garden: chili cheese fries (a first for me!) and a soda. We figured that since it was the first quarter, we wouldn't miss much, but as soon as left our seats, we heard cries booming from the stadium announcing the arrival of one Shaquille O'Neal!

He scored.

The people screamed.

He scored again.

The people screamed louder.

We placed our order.

The people screamed again.

And as we returned, chili cheese fries in hand, fully prepared to see the greatest Big Man of his era dominate the game, we saw a familiar form limp towards the locker room tunnel, then bend over as if to throw up.

We never saw Shaq again.

My mother was very disappointed in me for missing this history in action.





After the game, Eric took this picture near Faneuil Hall. Behind me is the Boston Custom's House (now turned Marriott timeshare), one of Eric's favorite buildings in Boston. (Upon further reflection, Eric is unsure whether this really is one of his favorite buildings, but, in his own words, "I think I just liked everything that night." Groovy.)

A week later, we donned our Red Sox t-shirts and found ourselves in historic Fenway Park with tickets in hand to a coveted Red Sox-Yankees game! Armed with my Uncle Artie, a diehard Yankees fan who dared to enter enemy territory undercover in a Fenway Park t-shirt, my Aunt Stefanie, our friend Matt, and my mom, we ate hot dogs, snuck Italian sausages (yup--I know what you were up to when you disappeared, you, uh, person who will remain anonymous here!), and begged over and over again for the cotton candy man to please come up our row since you've already gone up and down everyone else's five times screaming, "Caaahhhtton Candy!" (He never did, but thanks to Matt and Uncle Artie, I got not one but two bags of the delicious stuff, which, btw, tastes delicious dipped in red wine; just eat it quickly before it melts away.)


Fenway looking as good now as she did 99 years ago. Uncle Artie told us all sorts of stories about the park--he was a good historian to have in our midst. He also taught me how to keep score, until he messed up the scoring sheet! I also learned the liberating feeling of throwing pistachio shells on the ground and about home runs over Lansdowne Street. Unfortunately, there weren't very many of those, at least not from the Sox, but Uncle Artie stood up and cheered when the Yankees accomplished the feat!


Finally, today is Eric's 30th birthday! And, to help Eric celebrate, Boston threw a marathon. How convenient! So we spent the late morning watching runners cross the finish line. I was too short to see most of them run past the crowd, but Eric and the sound of the crowd cheering let me know one was zooming by, and I would jump up and down and holler support! We felt like the whole city was cheering for Eric's birthday, and the marathoners were a convenient distraction to get them motivated! Plus, we got all sorts of gifts--free chips and hummus and bagels and bottles of fruit juice and water and chocolate milk. We left overloaded with free treats and a whole city cheering us on! Eric says he wants to try to run next year; I think it's the perfect goal for one's 30th year of heart beating, lung pumping life!