The Sawx of Summer: My Great Red Sox Nation Invasion of 2016

From the desk of:  GO FISK YOURSELF

Hello, my name is Michael, and I'm an incurable road tripper.  I pack light bags, fuel my car, and set about visiting multiple baseball towns over long weekends.  

That makes me happy.  In turn, seeking out new places to eat, drink, and be merry makes my wife happy.  It's what we do.   Like Corona and lime ... a perfect combination.  

Tip of the cap, Pook!

I've been venturing to Fenway Park since 1993, however I did not incorporate the Red Sox into this year's plans.  Instead, I finally set about accomplishing my long time desire of driving throughout New England and visiting Boston's affiliates.

It joys me to say things could not have gone any more perfectly.

Scheduling required splitting this trip over two weekends covering six days.  It involved six states, three hotels, five ballparks, one statue, and over 1,200 miles of glorious open road.

RED SOX NATION INVASION: PART I

First, a bit of a recommendation, and some friendly advice...

I love staying in Quincy.  It's literally next door, about 10 miles away from downtown - an easy 15 minute drive.  All things being equal, booking a room there costs far less than in Boston.  On this next point, I'll be blunt.  If imbibing, the "T" makes Quincy an extremely convenient base camp as well.  

Getting there, I did something I wouldn't ordinarily do - drive there on a Saturday morning during 4th of July weekend.  I would have preferred driving Friday night and waking up there.  But such as life.

Besides, the plan was making this trip a hit and run affair.  

But, boy, did we maximize our time.

After checking in and freshening up, we continued driving deeper into Massachusetts.  Our first order of baseball was a 6:30pm game, with the Lowell Spinners hosting the Aberdeen IronBirds at LeLacheur Park.

Road Trips 2016: Lowell Spinners

The Red Sox were hosting the Angels that same evening.  We listened to a portion of the game during our drive back to Quincy.  Then managed to catch the rest of Anaheim's absurd 21-2 trouncing of the Red Sox over dinner.

Sunday morning and early afternoon were about checking-out of our hotel, and hanging out in Back Bay.

That's when it dawned on me to visit Cy Young's statue.  I can literally say I've been meaning to see it for decades.  One will easily find it neatly tucked into the nearby Northeastern University campus just off Huntington Avenue.  Hence, the Huntington Avenue Grounds of Boston's bygone era.  The site commemorates where Denton True Young helped the Sox win baseball's first World Series in 1903 over the Pittsburgh Pirates.  On this particularly hot summer day, his statue stood like an oasis under the protective shade of trees.

Road trips 2016: Cy Young, Boston

I would tell you the best part of "my" trip still lay ahead.  However, my wife says my face said it all - that visiting Cy Young was the true highlight of my trip.  I do know this ... when I imagined him still pitching for the Cleveland Spiders, my face warmed as if speaking to a burning bush.  Only she would notice that.

Ultimately, she might be right.  But visiting McCoy Field was the main goal of this trip. We bid downtown Boston farewell, and began the 45 mile drive south towards Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Road Trips 2016: Pawtucket Red Sox

The PawSox were hosting the Columbus Clippers this evening.  It was a particularly special visit for me because McCoy Stadium is the oldest operating ballpark triple-A baseball.  Opened in 1942, next season will mark its 75th anniversary.  Despite a renovation in 1998, I spent every inning soaking in McCoy Stadium's unyielding nostalgic charm.

After a lemonade and one last stop in the gift shop, the time arrived to start heading home.  We predetermined waking up in Brooklyn on the 4th of July would be best.  Who wants to deal with that traffic?

Next morning after breakfast, I was boarding a train to Coney Island for the annual Hot Dog Eating Contest at Nathan's Famous.

Brooklyn ... how sweet it is.

RED SOX NATION INVASION: PART II

We hit the road again one month later.  This time Portland, Maine was our main objective.  But you simply can not drive from Brooklyn to Portland without expanding your itinerary.  You must make it worth the time, effort, while still keeping it in budget - let's be real.  Otherwise, why bother?

After work on Friday, August 5, 2016, we commenced our two person exodus from the city.  

Traversing Brooklyn, Queens, and Bronx to the city line is pure torture no matter what time of day or night.  I wanted to make a late afternoon exit from the city.  At the same time, I didn't care to embark on a long distance drive too early in the evening.  I prefer driving on less congested roads late during the coolness of night.  As a rule, I don't care how long I drive so long as I wake up at my destination.

The situation called for a Bridgeport Bluefish game ... obviously.  

Road Trips 2016: Bridgeport Bluefish

Roger Clemens sporting his familiar #21 for the Bluefish

After escaping city traffic the Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Connecticut would serve as our staging area.  The break proved spot on, affording an opportunity to eat, drink, and refresh.  I personally enjoyed watching the Long Island Ducks defeat the Bluefish (featuring honorary manager Roger Clemens pictured above).

Hell of a way to kill time, I thought ... stopping to watch a baseball game on my way to see more baseball games. 

Life is good.

But it soon came time for making tracks deeper into New England.  Next stop, Manchester, New Hampshire for Fisher Cats baseball - Toronto's double-A affiliate in the heart of Red Sox Nation.

After a good night's sleep, Saturday's first order of business was eating breakfast.  With that out of the way, touring Manchester occupied the rest of our morning and early afternoon.

The real attraction, however, lay in the hotel itself.  Once checked in, there's really little or no reason to leave.  The plan was eating a late lunch at their full service rear patio, uniquely comprising the ballpark's left field stands.  Live music from the adjoining Sam Adam's Bar and Grill kept the atmosphere energized throughout the left field corner.

Road Trips 2016: New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Dining while taking in warm-ups and batting practice was supremely enjoyable.  But as game time drew closer, we bid farewell to the patio because I need physical tickets!  I need pictures ... I need pins, and a program.  Basically I need stuff ... souvenirs ... evidence.  By the 6th inning, I was quite satisfied with my plunder.

We agreed taking in the rest of the game and fireworks show back at the patio was best.  Another round of wings and Coronas seemed a perfect way to close out our time well spent in Manchester,   New Hampshire.

After filling our bellies Sunday morning with another hearty breakfast, we continued trekking 

northward into moose country, Maine, for a 1:30pm game between the Portland Sea Dogs hosting the Akron Rubber Ducks.

Upon arriving, I tried investigating to the fullest of my NYC paranoia, every reason to avoid parking in one particular corner spot directly across Hadlock Field, and could not find one.  Luck was on my side I guess, as the spot turned out being fine.  I knew immediately that I needed to perform some sort of good deed once I returned home.

Road Trips 2016: Portland Sea Dogs

After the game it was on to the Portland waterfront, where we planned on eating a late lunch at The Porthole, featuring live music and damn good food.  We walked off our meal with a good walk about town.

We did not stay overnight in Portland, electing instead to start our drive back to ... Quincy!  That's right.  Going back to work on Monday was not an option.  We actually wanted to spend more time in Back Bay, but after the drive, settled for watching the Red Sox on TV again over dinner and wine at the hotel restaurant.

After Monday morning breakfast at our favorite spot, we took our sweet ass time getting home.

And so went my great Red Sox Nation invasion of 2016.

Coney Island: 2016 Hot Dog Eating Contest

~ 100 ~

YEARS

Happy Birthday Nathan's Famous!

Congratulations on triumphantly hitting the century mark in grand New York City fashion, flair, and food!

Thanks for your unyielding resiliency through decades of good times and bad, and most recently returning from Hurricane Sandy stronger than ever, and for continuing to serve as one of the bedrocks of Coney Island - all year long, ever year since 1916.

My son and I are 2nd and 3rd generation native Nathanites.  As part of the love of Borough, we greater Brooklynites wear your very existence like a red badge of courage where ever we go.

Birthplace of the hot dog, you're among the TITANS of Brooklyn institutions.  Within every bite, an enduring freakishly historic and delicious reminder of an era when Coney Island was the preeminent vacation destination of the entire east coast ... and never apologized for nuthin'.

A modern trip to Sin City, Las Vegas, would be nothing more than adult day care compared to the hey day of Coney Island, where Six Flags met Oktoberfest and Vaudeville met Jackass at the Hotel California on the Island of Moreau.

July 4, 2016

The first hot dog contest did not take place between four immigrants 

on July 4, 1916, in order to decide who was the most patriotic among them.  

Suffice to say this tradition as we know it started in the early 1970s.

JOEY CHESTNUT

regained the title, breaking his own record,

scarfing down a new record 70 hot dogs with buns. 

Meanwhile, on the way back home...

I couldn't help myself, so I also contributed two bucks

YBR?

You Breed Raptors?

!dinosaur cloning research!

MEMORIAL DAY 2011 and Four Hours In Brooklyn

MEMORIAL DAY

MAY 30, 2011

To All the Great Men and Women Who Gave Their Lives

in Defense and Support of our Nation; To Those Who Fought And Gave Us Our Independence; To Those Who Preserved It; And To Those Lost Protecting and Maintaining Our Way of  Life at Home and Abroad,  

A Respectful Memorial Day to You.  And To All The Families Who Gave Us These Brave People To Serve Causes Beyond Our Homes and Communities, As a Veteran, I Thank You and Salute You. 

No Plan?  No Problem!  This is Brooklyn.

Hey!  They didn't put a guy from Brooklyn in every old war flick for nuthin' ya know!  One in every seven people in America can trace their families through Brooklyn.  I like throwing that one out there.

A friend from Chicago once made a joke to me about Brooklyn, calling it the Borough Where Everyone Leaves.  It was just that; a joke, and a smart one because I understand the truth in what he said.  However, it's a crack that's haunted me since he made it.  Not because of what or how he said it.  Who hasn't heard that line before?  But it's just something that stayed with me because it's different than hearing that line on an old TV documentary or reading someone wax nostalgic in some writer's article.

No one knows the truth in that joke better than me and my fellow natives who have always called this place home.  We know it well.  But then I leave my house on a day like today and have Four Hours In The Life, that confirm for me I live in the greatest place on Earth.

I didn't leave my house till 2:00pm this afternoon.  I had no particular plan today.  The wife and I looked at each other and kicked around some ideas.  We decided on Coney Island.  We wanted to have a beer or two so we left the Trolley home.  Only a few stops away, in very short time we were in the Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue Station.

As expected, we arrived to a Sea of Humanity.  Anyone accustomed to the NYC Subway system knows the above picture represents Order.   The scene depicted above moves to the beat of urban choreography, and with the purpose of an ant colony marching from point A to point B.  Then the  crowds exit and disperse along Surf Avenue and into Coney Island; and to the limits their imaginations.  They do this at the Atlantic Ocean seaside strip off Brooklyn, just like they have for well over a century.

The best ocean breeze you ever felt smacked us right in the face as soon as we stepped onto the platform.  Unfortunately, it was a station induced phenomenon.  We didn't feel the coolness of the ocean breeze again until we hit the Boardwalk.

Ruby's Bar & Grill on the Boardwalk is looking at a very clouded future.  Change$ and good ol' Capitalism are taking over a modernizing Coney Island, while many parts of the Old Neighborhood Coney feel are being pushed out.  The building in the picture to the left dates from the late 1800's and is just the kind of old Coney that is being torn down building by building and lot by lot .

It was unsettling not seeing SHOOT THE FREAK in their usual spot along the Boardwalk.  That's why it was a no brainer for Mrs. TROLLEY and me to head over to Ruby's and lower our body temperatures there on this 90 degree day.  And with Coronas in hand and sunglasses at the ready, me and the Mrs. were down for some brews, the breeze, and taking in the abundant eye-candy heading to the beach.

But another real look around shows Coney's former self is fading.  These signs read like hieroglyphs and hints that another era in Coney is ending rather than pointing to a place to eat.  A new Coney is trying to take a turn at being Brooklyn's Back Yard now.  That in a nutshell however, has been the history of Coney Island; Change.

The Coney Island Museum and the Eldorado's Bumper Cars are still holding their own on the Surf Avenue strip.  But literally right behind them, looms major Change; and yes,

with a Capital C.

......As in Coasters!

Say hello to the newest machinery and attractions introduced to Coney Island designed to make you scream.  Then again, screaming is a relative term when speaking about Coney Island.  It's what's made it one of the oldest, oddest, peculiar, and most spectacular places in the country; Ever.

But Coney Island Classics like Dino's Wonder Wheel, the Cyclone Roller Coaster and the Coney Island Freak Shows, along with very special people and native Brooklynites dedicated to preserving everything worth preserving about our little Playground By The Seashore make sure, in the face of change, nothing really goes away, and keeps everything the way I remember as a kid, in a relative sense of course.

The Brooklyn Cyclones Baseball Club has been one of the greatest occurrences in my life much less a welcome addition to Coney Island.  I'll get into more of that later in the month.  But after our beer, me and the Mrs. headed over to the MCU Park ticket office because I needed a couple of more tickets for two particular games.  Their season starts in a little over two weeks from now.  So as a little teaser, here's a picture of the back of the scoreboard!  LOL

I was sporting my Roberto Clemente jersey today.  I ran into this gentleman and we thought it a cool idea if we got together for a picture of Hall Of Fame jerseys.

Talk of Cyclones Baseball also is an alarm clock signaling the Coney Island Mermaid Parade is also right around the corner.  If you've never been to one, do it.  As for me and my better half, we were satisfied with our Coney experience for the day and were getting hungry.  We decided to leave Nathan's Famous for a less crowded day in the near future.  But just as a reminder, the Nathan's Famous National Hot Dog Eating Contest is only thirty-three days away!

CLOSING SHOTS OF CONEY ISLAND

 

Views from the train platform @ Mermaid Avenue/Stillwell Avenue

(Nathan's ~ Parachute Jump ~ MCU Park)

Me and the Trolley Lady came up with a plan to jump on the Q-train and skip over to Sheepshead Bay and eat at Randazzo's!  Pure Genius!  We were strolling down Sheepshead Bay Road in no time.  Emmons Avenue was just as glorious on this sunny Memorial Day as Coney was.  After a short wait, we sat down for some seafood freakin' insanity.  We had worked up quite an appetite by this time and decided to get a little of everything.       ...And two more Coronas!

Then the Crab Cakes came!  We were stupid in love with life this afternoon.  Or maybe we were just really hungry.  But it couldn't have worked out better.  After paying the bill, we were in dire need of a walk.  There are few places on the planet better to take an after-dinner stroll than along Emmons Avenue.

Feeling good after an easy walk we stopped into the local Car Service and eight bucks later we were home by 6:15 pm.  And that's how my wife and me spent our Memorial Day Holiday.  In just a bit over four hours, we had accomplished so much and moved around exceedingly well!

It goes to show - We had no plan this afternoon.  But in Brooklyn, you don't need one.  All you have to do is leave your house.  That's the way it is here.  So getting back to what my friend in Chicago once said to me... 

Hey, they can leave if they want to.  Life is a choice in many respects.  But for my part, I know I live on the greatest piece of dirt protruding out of the world's mighty oceans.  So g'head - Beat it if ya wanna leave.

Mike.BTB