As I write, I'm sitting in what I'm pretty sure is the Best Damn McDonald's in the country, or at least east of the Mississippi. As the incredulous dude who was just here said, "Man, this is the best McDonald's EVER! You'll never see one like this in the 'hood! You're lucky if you can even get a SEAT in the city." And I agree. It's tastefully decorated, it has a fun-looking kids' play area, and most importantly, free wifi. I'm here because we're getting a much overdue oil change so we don't end up stranded somewhere in New England.
So, let's see. I want to talk a bit about Fenway.
I realize I haven't been in all that many different major league ballparks. Obviously I'm trying to remedy that. But Fenway is so far my very favorite. It's really too bad I'm not a big Red Sox fan because I would be happy to have season tickets (I also don't want to give up a kidney or other organ). Our Fenway experience is a rare case in which all of the dire predictions we received from caring friends or read in books turned out to not come to be. We expected the traffic would be horrible around the park, that it would be difficult to find parking, that the bathroom lines would be miles long, that we wouldn't be able to buy beer without a Mass. driver's license, that fans would be obnoxious (okay, maybe that one was a little bit true...). No, not really - they were all extremely welcoming and friendly, especially the guys on the street outside bars when I was walking back to the car to meet Kris who was trying to buy underwear (long story). Hmm. Anyway, the warning that we would "bake in the sun" was pretty accurate, but other than that, our experience was completely positive. Getting around inside and around Fenway felt as easy as Community Field where I see the Burlington Bees play in the town where we grew up. Seriously. I've been in much longer concession lines there than we ever encountered at Fenway. The way the park is set up is very interesting - with a plaza, which gives the feeling you're on a street in a little community. See photos: 
Our seats were in the bleachers, which is a notorious party zone. It was fun because we had nice people around us and were thrilled to be in the first row which meant that the Red Sox bullpen was directly in front of us. We can now identify any Boston middle reliever for you should you wish. The starting pitcher for this game was Tim Wakefield, which meant Doug Mirabelli was catching because he's the only one who can catch Wakefield's knuckleball. This allowed Jason Varitek
to be close enough for us to spit on through a good portion of the game. He caught in the bullpen for Manny Delcarmen who was not terribly impressive this outing, Hideki Okajima, and Jonathan Papelbon who scared the crap out of the Red Sox fans when, with the score 8-5 he loaded the bases with no outs in the 9th. He struck out Jim Thome then got a double-play off Paul Konerko batting and ended the game. So no riots, but it was close.
The only complaint we might have about the location of our seats is that at every break a kajillion little kids would scramble to the bullpen and ask for autographs, all claiming it was their birthday (true for some, their names got on the board and everything).
At one point, one of the kids seated near us tossed his hat over the bullpen so that Julian Tavarez could sign it. The kid lost it trying to pull it back through and Tavarez didn't see. Varitek tossed it back over at the next break and a young woman who had come up to the bullpen grabbed it and started to run off. We all jumped up and screamed at her, causing a small scene, Kris went after her and the frightened 20-something woman handed it back and the hat was safely returned to its rightful owner. Crisis averted.
My McDonald's break has come to an end and we need to get on the road to catch the ferry to Martha's Vineyard so I must close my post. We don't know how available internet is where we'll be so I hope we'll be giving more news soon but if not, we wish you all a good week. Until then, here's a photo of us at our New Favorite Ballpark. I apologize that any photo of me that you'll see here will be horrible.
So, let's see. I want to talk a bit about Fenway.
I realize I haven't been in all that many different major league ballparks. Obviously I'm trying to remedy that. But Fenway is so far my very favorite. It's really too bad I'm not a big Red Sox fan because I would be happy to have season tickets (I also don't want to give up a kidney or other organ). Our Fenway experience is a rare case in which all of the dire predictions we received from caring friends or read in books turned out to not come to be. We expected the traffic would be horrible around the park, that it would be difficult to find parking, that the bathroom lines would be miles long, that we wouldn't be able to buy beer without a Mass. driver's license, that fans would be obnoxious (okay, maybe that one was a little bit true...). No, not really - they were all extremely welcoming and friendly, especially the guys on the street outside bars when I was walking back to the car to meet Kris who was trying to buy underwear (long story). Hmm. Anyway, the warning that we would "bake in the sun" was pretty accurate, but other than that, our experience was completely positive. Getting around inside and around Fenway felt as easy as Community Field where I see the Burlington Bees play in the town where we grew up. Seriously. I've been in much longer concession lines there than we ever encountered at Fenway. The way the park is set up is very interesting - with a plaza, which gives the feeling you're on a street in a little community. See photos: 
Our seats were in the bleachers, which is a notorious party zone. It was fun because we had nice people around us and were thrilled to be in the first row which meant that the Red Sox bullpen was directly in front of us. We can now identify any Boston middle reliever for you should you wish. The starting pitcher for this game was Tim Wakefield, which meant Doug Mirabelli was catching because he's the only one who can catch Wakefield's knuckleball. This allowed Jason Varitek
to be close enough for us to spit on through a good portion of the game. He caught in the bullpen for Manny Delcarmen who was not terribly impressive this outing, Hideki Okajima, and Jonathan Papelbon who scared the crap out of the Red Sox fans when, with the score 8-5 he loaded the bases with no outs in the 9th. He struck out Jim Thome then got a double-play off Paul Konerko batting and ended the game. So no riots, but it was close.The only complaint we might have about the location of our seats is that at every break a kajillion little kids would scramble to the bullpen and ask for autographs, all claiming it was their birthday (true for some, their names got on the board and everything).
At one point, one of the kids seated near us tossed his hat over the bullpen so that Julian Tavarez could sign it. The kid lost it trying to pull it back through and Tavarez didn't see. Varitek tossed it back over at the next break and a young woman who had come up to the bullpen grabbed it and started to run off. We all jumped up and screamed at her, causing a small scene, Kris went after her and the frightened 20-something woman handed it back and the hat was safely returned to its rightful owner. Crisis averted.My McDonald's break has come to an end and we need to get on the road to catch the ferry to Martha's Vineyard so I must close my post. We don't know how available internet is where we'll be so I hope we'll be giving more news soon but if not, we wish you all a good week. Until then, here's a photo of us at our New Favorite Ballpark. I apologize that any photo of me that you'll see here will be horrible.
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Just in case you were curious about that other McDonald's - McDonaldz in tha 'hood - the Onion takes you there.
Good thing all those friendly guys didn't see a photo of Shalar - I'm sure they wouldn't have been nearly as welcoming.
Hope Kris found some underwear. Aren't blogs *made* for long stories though?
Sounds like if Fenway was closer to either of you, there might be an extra kidney on the market. Must be a great place to watch baseball.