The hotel we stayed in was not the largest & with the craziness that occurred when our boys came in to the breakfast hall, it was clear that they had not had to contend with a group breakfast order many times before. There were waffles & pancakes & eggs & cups of coffee all over the place. In the end, all the boys were able to grab something to eat & retreated back to their rooms in order to grab their things ready for our journey in to the city.
The 9am leave was met by all boys after the warning the previous night that anyone who was late would be dropped for the next game. The boys boarded the buses & the music was soon pumping. All apart from in Coach Stevenson's wagon who, despite Donald spending over $20 on a $5 Aux cable, had forgotten it leaving them with the roulette that is American radio.
The journey to the city centre was smooth & a lot easier than the reverse journey was the previous evening. Once the cars were parked, we wandered over to the pickup venue for the morning's activity. A Duck tour of Boston.
For those unaware of what this is, we boarded an amphibious vehicle & had a guided tour of the city by land as well as in the river!! Whilst on land, we drove around the city whilst our very entertaining tour guide/driver offered us some interesting facts (& in his words, some even more interesting lies) about the city. Straight away, Coach Chamberlain's profession as a history teacher struck fear in to the tour guide when he thought that he would have to go by the book with his tour & get his facts correct. Upon questioning Coach Chamberlain about his knowledge of the city & it's history, he soon realised this would not be a concern. . .
As is the norm for a Duck tour, once we had retracted the wheels & entered the river, the driver opened it up for members of the touring party to be captain & drive the boat. Without hesitation (& almost in unison) the whole squad nominated Jake Hobbs. If anything though, Jake didn't put up too much contention to this having already got in to the Duck spirit by purchasing his own quacker!!
After floating around the river & then heading back to the Duck Centre, we disembarked from the vehicle & then headed towards the busiest tourist region of the city. Quincy Market. It was a good half hour walk that required us to walk through the centre of the city which the boy's didn't necessarily appreciate. The frequency of shops & restaurants that offered free wifi was greatly appreciated though as it was now midway through the 2nd halves of the opening Premier League games (& for Coach Walton & Sam Ansell, half way through the latest Championship games) as well as the opportunity to update Instagram & SnapChat to friends at home (parents - we did suggest this could have been a great chance to touch base with you to tell you that they are having fun. We cannot say whether they heeded our suggestions though).
Quincy Market, as suggested earlier, is the busiest area of the city for tourists. It is also home to the best shopping district in the city, something I'm sure all the boys really enjoyed. Looking at the amount of bags that they carried away after their exploits, Foot Locker & Abercrombie & Fitch enjoyed our visit!!
After doing our bit for the US economy, we made our way back to the cars to deposit our purchases before heading to our evening entertainment. An evening at the ballpark to watch the Boston Red Sox take on the Houston Astros. This is something really special as Fenway Park is the oldest ball park in America & the Red Sox are a very successful team, so to be able to watch the game is something amazing & truly American.
The Coaches made good use of the concession stand & the available souvenirs, whilst the boys took their seats for yet more individual & team selfies. The game itself was a big scoring affair, with the Red Sox winning 10-7 thanks to 2 huge Home Runs from David Ortiz. Unfortunately a combination of a lack of understanding of what was going on with the tiredness from the day before meant that our boys may not have fully got to grips with the ins & outs of the game.
During one innings change, the coaches agreed that for his over priced Aux cable purchase (& subsequent forgetting of said cable), Josh Donald would be the worthy carrier of the bun bag for the following day. Roche handed over responsibility just after he had added his Red Sox ticket stub to it as a momento.
Upon the finish of the game, a short walk back to the cars allowed our boys to see Boston by night, although it was no less busy than during the day as game day in & around Boston is a spectacle. Having parked just along from Boylston Street where the marathon finish line is every year, we were able to take a few moments on our walk back to think about the impact that the bombing there in 2013 could have had on the city & it's people.
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